Semmy’s: Honoring Search Articles from 2009

The Matt McGee‘s annual Semmy Awards have been announced and 3 of my articles published this year have been nominated. My thanks go out to Matt (and his many minions) for all of his effort in recognizing the many great articles from throughout the year. It is a monumental task to track, collate and order …

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Google Maps and Reviews – A reader’s perspective

Earlpearl, a frequent contributor here and elsewhere, recently wrote up this detailed opinion about Google’s use of reviews as a comment on the Plastic Surgery Co. Settles with NYS over False Reviews piece that I wrote this past July. I thought it too full of interesting tidbits to leave buried in the back library. Even …

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Local Links of Interest

Google No Longer Accepts Emergency Data Reports – Miriam Ellis Solas Web Design Miriam responds to Google’s apparent lack of support for emergency listing accuracy in Maps. The Guide to Canadian Citations for Local Search – David Mihm, Mihmorandum An excellent resource for anyone living north of THE border that is managing a local listing. …

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What is Location Prominence?

In the local space a number of us have reported on and studied factors that affect ranking in Google Maps. One factor that has been difficult for us to qualify, much less quantify, is that of “Location Prominence.”   In the organic world all are familiar with the concept of PageRank, a reiterative view of the …

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Loci 2008: David Mihm’s Significant Local Posts of 2008

David Mihm, a web designer and search marketing practitioner from Portland, writes for Searchenginland and has his own blog, Mihmorandum, that focuses on local search. David, for me,  epitimomizes the ideal of learning through cooperation and collaboration. He created the well received Local Search Ranking Factors project and was a key contributor on the research …

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Local Links of Interest

Google Maps Doubles Streetview Coverage – Google Lat Long Blog we’re doubling the amount of coverage in the United States. This will bring Street View to some new cities, like Memphis, Birmingham, and Charleston (SC), and also to a few states for the first time, like Maine, West Virginia, North Dakota, and South Dakota.  Google …

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TIVO Delivers: Local Ads

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Tivo was now offering up the ability to order a Domino’s Pizza from your couch. Apparently the pizza offer pops up if you fast forward thru a Domino’s advertisement (that will teach you). You can choose pickup or home delivery via a simple pop up screen. If you …

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Google Maps: One (data) Ring to Rule Them All

Yesterday I asked whether Google Map’s upward trend continue? Can Mapquest maintain its market share? Or like the IYP space does Google just have too much presence in search to not win this race also? From where I sit, these Map & IYP Market Share comparisons only look at a narrow sliver of Local results …

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