Mike Blumenthal

As part of the changes to Google Places that took place in early August, Google’s Jeol Headley noted on Google + (in response to a question by Linda Buquet) that an update to a business’s description could take a long time. It appears possible that the alternate phone number field is under the same regime. …

Did you know that the Google category synonym “all you can eat” is associated with Chinese & Japanese restaurants in the US but only with Japanese restaurants in Australia? That and other amazing facts can be gleaned from a recent upgrade adding international categories to our Google Places Category Tool We have finally added categories …

I just received this email from Netflix. Hmm… lets change, piss everyone off and back off… Dear Michael, It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs. This means no change: one …

Nyagoslav of Optilocal was first to highlight this recent Google Places Quality Guideline update: You also can’t create a Places listing for an ongoing service, class, or meeting at a location that you don’t own or have the authority to represent. Please coordinate with your host to have your information displayed on their Place page …

It appears that on certain search results that Related Places, that have been typically showing at the bottom of a business’s Places page, are being moved to the main search results and showing up under “similar pages” results at the bottom of the page. The new results are not widely returned. I was only able …

There is a reported service area bug in the Google Places Dashboard that has an easy work around but terrible results if you aren’t aware of it. (Thanks to Steve King of Simpartners for also highlighting the issue to me.) When a business selects service area the “Do not show my business address on my …

SEOMoz was given a chance to test a Mirmetrix eye tracking device. The used the opportunity to analyze the impact of Universal results generated by Blended results, the 7-pack, shopping and videos inserted in the SERPS. I was of course most interested in the Local results. Their conclusion? These results also suggest that the in-page …

I don’t hvae time to write a post today, even though I have tons of things to write about. So I will provide you with this gem. I have no idea what will replace the local newspaper in the future. For now though, it is an endless source of pleasure. This article in the local …

With Apple’s announcement of the release of the new iPhone 4s and iOS5 came the expected announcement of the tight hardware and software integration of their Siri natural speech technology. It appears to be integrated at the highest level of the user interface. Mobile search on the iPhone has been broken. Google offers up voice …