Mike Blumenthal

At GetFiveStars I just penned a post:   Can 5-Star Reviews Backfire?       And based on research published in the Harvard Business review I think it very likely that having a review profile that is “too perfect” can be bad for business. Let me know what you think.

Two weeks ago I saw that Google had eliminated a public Help file URL from which a user could contact Google My Business support. This evening I saw this Tweet from Miriam Ellis: Hey @GoogleMyBiz, been on hold on your phone support for half an hour. Anyone manning Twitter right now? — Miriam Ellis (@Miriam_Ellis_) …

This week’s Deep Dive at LocalU, with Mary Bowling and myself, looks at the data behind a discussion between by myself and David Mihm for StreetFight magazine about Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and local. We dig into the details of a case study for a single location and ask the questions: What are the critical KPI’s for a location-based business? How can …

Google has significantly upgraded the interface and functionality of the photos section within the My Business Dashboard. The new interface replaces the arbitrary categories with tags and allows for a simpler interface for the cover photo, the profile photo and a business’s logo.  Although there is no ability to add custom tags, it is a …

Every Monday, Mary Bowling and I will discuss last weeks news in local. We cover everything from the strategic developments to the very tactical updates that occur. Join us at Local U for Last Week in Local: If you are interested in sponsoring this weekly show also please let us know.

I have no idea when this was added but when you are searching via Safari, it is now showing a direct Yelp or TripAdvisor answer with a click to call option immediately available. It is not clear who is providing the click to call services. My money is on Yelp and TripAdvisor. Does anyone know? It …

This morning I spotted a new Google Local Shopping ad that places local inventory in a pack like display with a Map. This new ad unit is obviously a display test of their shopping campaing local inventory ad unit as it is not visible by many. For the history see Jennifer Slegg’s write up here. It …

Confederate Memorial Day is celebrated as a public holiday in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas. Although in Texas it seems to be referred to as Confederate Heroes Day and is celebrated on January 19th. Apparently there though it is considered an optional state holiday  “meaning some state employees will come to work while others do not”. …

Village Dental Care, a general, cosmetic dentistry, and orthodontic dentist in Bowral,Australia, had access to the beta trial of Google new SMB website builder pop up in their Google My Business Dashboard and their dental marketing company, Smile Marketing1 kindly shared access to the account for me to take a look at the product. It …

Update: For a more in-depth look at the new product see: Google GMB Website Builder Beta First Look. It seems that the day has finally come when Google is going after the many small businesses in both the developing and developed world that don’t yet have a website or at least a good mobile one. No …