Google Local Spam Hall of Fame: We Have Some (real?) Winners

After several days of heated competition, the judges are pleased to announce the winners of the Google Local Hall of Fame Name Abuse competition. As a reminder there were two categories to determine the longest name: Longest Name in the Wild (winner will be announced in a separate post) Google Character Limits on Name Length …

Continue reading

Google Local Spam Hall of Fame: Game Going

Yesterday I challenged the community to: 1- Find a business with a name (spammy or not) that is longer than 171 characters 2- Determine exactly how long name spam can be The Contestants so Far On Twitter, Brandon Schmidt submitted a solid contender, weighing in at 204 characters. Although as he points out “if they …

Continue reading

Google Local Spam Hall of Fame: Game On!

Sometimes even I have my breath taken away by the ability of law firms to attempt to manipulate the Google Local algo but this name (spam? hey maybe this is their name, who knows?) raises the bar for everyone. Just how bad is it? Well there are lots of ways to measure but one is …

Continue reading

Google Testing (or Rolling out?) New 3-Pack Carousel

Downdated 6/22: This was reported by Barry Schwartz as first spotted in November by Velentin Pletzer and seen off and on in June by tl;dr Marketing. The current widespread visibility implies that this might be the rollout and not a test. Over the weekend, my mobile devices are all seeing a new 3-pack with a carousel display …

Continue reading

Google Maps Updated to Include Black Lives Matter Plaza

As noted by John Gruber, sometimes the pen can send a mighty message. Or rather in this case, a paint brush. Yesterday (Friday), The Mayor of DC declared part of a street that runs near the White House “Black Lives Matter Plaza”, inaugurating the new plaza with giant yellow letters and a brand-new street sign. …

Continue reading