Mike Blumenthal

We knew that this day was coming. Like frogs in slowly warming water that ultimately reaches a boil we hardly noticed. On “average” screen sizes on the desktop, there is little else that can be seen besides ads and the new Pak. Thus in many search results that return a new Pak, only 3 listings …

The new carousel replacement, like the carousel, shows for entertainment and recreational searches. This entertainment pack almost always (but not quite always) starts at position one right below any ads. I wanted to see which terms that previously showed the Carousel were now showing the new Entertainment Pack. When the original local Carousel first came …

Update 7:00: Greg Sterling notes that Google has confirmed that this is now being rolled out. Per James Gibbons and Brady Callahan on Twitter, Google is testing another variation of their Carousel Replacement. I was able to see the test in Safari on my Mac but not in Chrome or Firefox. Mileage may vary. It …

Google is in the middle of a transition for bulk users from the Places Bulk dashboard to the My Business Bulk dashboard. Like the single location transition before this, it is frustrating and appears to a bulk user in the old dashboard to move excruciatingly slow*. But the technical aspects of the transition are not easy, …

Google has just announced several updates to the mobile capabilities of My Business. Business Owners can now respond to reviews via the MyBusiness mobile app (Android today, iOS very soon) Call Analytics from within MyBusiness – this was a feature that was rolled out temporarily last month, but is now (permanently) available in mobile and desktop …

Moses and Rooth Attorneys at Law is a two location criminal defense practice with one office in central Orlando and one in New Smyrna Beach on the coast. I wanted to do a visual mapping comparison of pre and post Pigeon impacts like I did with Barbara Oliver Jewelry & Co. to see the impact of Pigeon both …

Update: We have sold out of the early bird ticket special. Stay tuned. The most comprehensive and advanced Local Search conference.  Advanced LocalU is the only conference of its kind and provides you with the knowledge and tools you need to help your business and the businesses of your clients to prosper in local search. …

Justin Mosebach an Internet Marketing professional with YDOP – Internet Marketing just sent in the very helpful tip for Apple’ Maps Connect: Interestingly, if the phone call with the code doesn’t work the first time, you have to wait 1 minute until you re-try it. If that next try doesn’t work, you have to wait …

Apple is slowly and steadily moving into the local space long occupied by Google and doing so with a slow and steady intention. I noticed with the rollout of their business listing product, Map Connect, that they were soliciting venues for their indoor Mapping project. Clearly they are looking for large scale venues with large …

Greg Sterling has reported that Apple has rolled out Apple Maps Connect, a small business listing option for Apple Maps. The service is dead on simple, designed for one off listings for the business owner or someone acting on their behalf. It isn’t clear the maximum number of businesses that can be associated with and …