Mike Blumenthal

Update 02/11/10: These Google LBC categories have now been placed in a searchable database too located on the Google LBC Categories page of my website. Picking the right category with the Local Business Center is one of the keys to success in Google Maps. Categories are critical to being considered relevant on any given search …

I have received several reports from the locksmith industry (who else?) and elsewhere of a new “black hat” ranking tactic that seems to push listings to the top of the 7 Pack by using a Wikipedia webpage as the Map’s landing page. For example, the links on the search for Locksmith Toronto ON head off …

Google, which started their Favorite Places campaign in July by placing large statues in front of high profile businesses in major cities, is expanding the campaign by sending a Google Maps “We’re a Favorite place” poster to 100,000 of the “most sought out and researched businesses on on Google and Google Maps”. According to Google …

In the third week of November, readers sent me screen shots of a new Google Adwords Local Display Type that included a Blue Map Pin & address. Readers continued to ask about the test as it showed up in their markets so I asked Frederick Vallaeys, a Product Evangelist  for Google AdWords, for more information …

I just received this email from a user testing Local Listing Ads in San Francisco: Dear Local Business Center User, Thank you for participating in the free trial program for Local Listing Ads, in Google Local Business Center. We’re writing to let you know that we’re ending the trial period for this feature and are …

Google has long looked across the web for geo signals that reinforce their understanding of your business and its location. Since October 2007 Google has been indexing both geoRSS and KML files for inclusion in the Maps index as user generated content and related that geo information to your business listing. In the first quarter …