We awoke today to an updated local listings layout from Google  Upon first reaching a local page, the layout looks pretty similar, with the exception of a new panel at the top of the page featuring an image and business NAP (name, address, phone number) info. But if you scroll up, you’ll get a large [...]

Yahoo is rolling out an interesting new ad unit, as seen in this SearchEngineLand article. The ad unit is being sold on a cost-per-lead basis, which sounds awesome. What doesn’t sound awesome is that it resides below your branded organic result. While I always recommend a client hedge their bets by purchasing paid advertising in [...]

Google has once again made a change to the search landscape, this time shifting search filter options from the left rail of results to the top of the page just below the search field. They’ve already announced this is a permanent change as opposed to a beta test, and they are positioning the inspiration behind [...]

A few months back, Google decided to use its acquisition of Zagat data to incorporate a 30 point rating system into its Google+ Local listings. The problem, as a wise man pointed out, was that a 30 point scale isn’t really all that meaningful to most consumers. After all, what’s the real difference between a [...]

There’s something ironic about a company who seeks to unify the world under its digital ecosphere embracing offline activity, but Facebook is doing it, and they’re quite wise to. The question is, will you follow their lead (if you aren’t doing so already)? We’re all wrestling with the idea of proper channel attribution these days. [...]

At this point you’re certainly aware of the increased importance location listings play in your marketing mix. Their increased visibility in search results (which is based on consumers’ ever-increasing appetite for local content), their importance to mobile searches, the high trust factor consumers ascribe to them, and the high user intent behind local search (72% [...]

Google announced this week that it will be rolling out vanity URLs for brands (first in a beta stage, then at an undetermined date on a widespread basis. This represents another step in Google’s commitment to making G+ a true marketing destination for brands, which is another reason you shouldn’t be ignoring G+. As we’ve [...]

You supply Google with the right information for your locations, optimize them for local markets, and nurture the local dialogue. But, Google still manages to pull different information from somewhere and present that in the results. Chances are, this information was once good information and maybe still is “not wrong”, but it is not what [...]

Hopefully you’ve prepared a mobile-optimized experience for your web site based on the continued growth of the mobile market, the high purchase intent that users exhibit, and the fact that many of your competitors haven’t done so. But if you are still holding out for another reason to embrace this opportunity, here’s a great one: [...]

Back in May we observed a big shift in the Google search results for a host of local service and retail queries. I documented some of the observations in my  local search expert (designed experiment on links)  column on Clickz  entitled “Was the Penguin Update in Fact the Honey Badger Update?”. In effect Google’s Penguin update [...]