Loci 2009 – Important Articles in Local Search

1. Particular postions, points or places 2. Centers of activity, attention, or concentration Each year, I invite folks whose opinion I respect to provide the readers of this blog with lists of the articles from 2009 that seemed most important to them. The people contributing come from a range of positions and job descriptions, some …

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Looking for a Legend In All the Wrong Places

Zebedi recently posted this comment on my Get a Virtual Office With a Keyword Stuffed Maps Listing article. I thought it worth highlighting and responding: As a small business person, I cannot find an SEO that can tell me how to genuinely appear in search results in the areas we genuinely service. Why is it …

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Local Search: News of the Weird

I love the intersection of Map and life and sometimes the things that I read provide a new angle that just wasn’t obvious before. This recent post in the Google Maps forums raises all sorts of questions. It falls into the category of “no wonder they are getting a divorce”: Date: October 31, 2009 4:17:25 …

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AOL is Now Selling Local 10 Pack Spots

A reader recently pointed out that AOL is now selling all the spots in their “Local 10 Pack” on a CTC and possible PPC basis through YellowPages.com and ServiceMagic. I don’t follow AOL search hat closely so this may have been happening for a while.   Here are several sample searches: Attorneys near Olean, NY 14760 Local Sponsored Listings Allen Dyer Doppelt …

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Local Links of Interest

MapQuest: A Symbol Of Everything That’s Gone Wrong – John McKinley, Silicon Valley Insider John McKinley, a former AOL President of Digital Services, offers a concise and pointed critique of Mapquest’s loss of market dominance and what needs to be done about it. Local Search Behavior by Industry Category – David Mihm, Mihmorandum Do the …

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Will Google’s Streetview Data be used to replace TeleAtlas?

When Google expanded StreetView coverage for the U.S. in December. I was struck by the visual on their blog. Google is not a company that often buys data from others. They usually either buy a company or they build it themselves. This map begged the question: Could Streetview Data be used to replace TeleAtlas? In a …

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The Semmy Nominations Announced

The Semmy Awards, founded by Matt McGee to honor search marketing content online, has announced the 2008 nominees in the following categories: SEO PPC Small Business Local Search Google Blogs & Blogging Link Building Social Media Analytics Search Tech Rants LOL Funny! Online Marketing / General Reputation Management Viral Marketing News & Announcements Design & …

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