Understanding Google My Business & Local Search
Search Results For "API"
Google makes it easier to embed Maps AND generates new Maps traffic
Google’s new upgrade to easily allow Maps to be embedded on a web page has been widely reported. I figure the test of any new “easy to use” technology and whether it will propagate widely is the “Mike Test”. That is, if I can figure out how to use it in 5 minutes or less …
TechPro’s CEO speaks about Google Maps Bulk Upload abuse
This morning I had a long and interesting conversation with the President & CEO Gabriel Howard of TechPros, one of the companies that was involved in the Bulk Upload issues reported last week. The interview is lengthy and is included at the end of this post in its entirety. The upshot (as reported by the …
New Google Blog-Google LatLong
Google’s newest blog, Google LatLong covers the all of Google’s geographic products and should be of interest to anyone interested in local search. Here is what they have to say: Welcome to the Google “geo” blog. As web mapping (dare I say “the geoweb”?) matures, we’re finding that we have a lot more to communicate …
Google Map’s medical center phone data: Code Red!
Last month there were reports of errors in Google Maps listing for Duke Medical Center phone numbers. Not only were the numbers often times wrong but Google Maps was listing as many as 5 phone numbers for a single facility, few of which went to the central switchboard. To Google’s credit the Duke Medical Center …
iBegin Source – a radical approach to local data
Ahmed Farooq of iBegin.com contacted me several weeks ago to alert me to a new product that his company is releasing today: iBegin Source, a free and low cost source for business data in the 50 states. Traditionally business data from InfoUSA and the like is expensive and very restricted in its use. For example, …
Google Maps traffic up significantly in 2006
Comscore released their data on biggest traffic gainers for 2006. One of their conclusions related to Local: “Google’s popularity has been driven by… the rapid uptake of some of Google’s applications beyond traditional Web search…examples include…62-percent growth in visitors to Google Maps” With Google’s recent upgrade of the Local OneBox this trend should continue in …
When does the future happen
According to Comscore, roughly 11 million, of the current 200 million cell phone users, use their mobile phone to do local search. Of those 11 million, I believe that many are like me: “soft” users i.e. users that only use the service occasionally due to the limits of the hardware & software interfaces and the …
Google Upgrades the Local OneBox Results
Google is now presenting an enhanced local onebox that includes a map and more details from their Google Maps database. The effect of the change is to totally dominate the main search results with details about the top three local businesses. There are a number of additional options to access more information & directions from …
Comscore’s numbers on mobile search
There is a fair bit of optimism that mobile (see Get Ready for a Surge in Mobile Search) is going to dominate local search in the very short term. The numbers are mouth watering to venture capital: 200 million cell phones in the US alone and research that 30% will use local search on their …
The prodigal son of a search engine comes home
How is Google integrating Google Maps data and what does the future hold? Over the past 14 months, Google has been integrating ever more local data into its main search results page. This use of Maps data on the main results page indicates how important Google thinks that local is. The first major change of …
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