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PODCAST

The Near Memo

Greg Sterling, Mike Blumenthal & David Mihm

Exploring the big stories for the week at the intersection of local business & marketing across the spectrum of search, social and commerce. With Greg Sterling, Mike Blumenthal & David Mihm.

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All Episodes

34:29

The Limits and Future of AI Impact on Maps; Search...

The Near Memo ·

2024/12/12

Send us a textAI and Maps: Current Limitations (many) and Future Prospects (good): We explore a recent piece by cartographer Kames Killick on how AI will be shaping the geospatial landscape & mapping, despite the mixed results today. Current tools struggle with complex queries, such as mapping open businesses along a route and broader queries that AI should be able to handle. Despite limitations, innovations like geo-trained AI and object classification suggest potential for enhanced loca...

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34:50

GBP’s Naming Shift, Fishkin’s Search Query Insights,...

The Near Memo ·

2024/12/06

Send us a textExtended GBP Business Names - Spam or Legitimate Descriptors?We explore Google's growing tolerance for extended taglines & descriptors in business names via the Google Business Center and its impact on local SEO strategies. Examples include businesses embedding descriptors like “best plastic surgeon” or “sexual harassment lawyer” into their names that were escalated to Google but were deemed acceptable. These additions act as taglines and significantly boost search visibilit...

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31:00

GBP Suspension Woes & Support #fails, Siri...

The Near Memo ·

2024/11/23

Send us a textGoogle Business Profile Suspension Woes (01:32–11:03)The discussion highlights rising frustrations with Google Business Profiles, focusing on increasing suspension rates and difficult reinstatement processes. Businesses face bottlenecks with video verification and unclear policies. Legitimate operations often fall victim, showcasing systemic flaws in Google's automated support and limited pathways for resolution. Siri’s AI Search Evolution (11:03–20:35)Siri’s transformation...

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55:19

Exploring AI Overviews, SearchGPT & Google’s...

The Near Memo ·

2024/11/15

Send us a textAI Overview and Google Search Trends: In a discussion on AI search trends, Mark Traphagen from SEO Clarity shared insights on Google’s search generative experience (SGE) and its limited functionality in delivering localized results. His analysis highlighted that SGE results in the U.S. tend to be highly informational (91%) and less transactional, especially for keywords related to products. According to Mark, Google’s AI-driven search lacks the capacity to enhance local se...

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46:22

A Google “Pardon”?, Siri’s Search Improvements,...

The Near Memo ·

2024/11/09

Send us a textGoogle's Antitrust Battle: Legal and Political Shifts: As Google’s antitrust trial unfolds, recent shifts in U.S. leadership may change the tech giant’s outlook. With Trump’s election win, the likelihood of drastic regulatory action against Google, such as a breakup, appears to be reduced. The new administration’s stance on big tech could soften the Justice Department’s approach, shifting from aggressive oversight to a more business-friendly posture. While there’s bipartis...

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33:28

AI in Local SEO, Siri Finally Gets Local Search, ...

The Near Memo ·

2024/11/01

Send us a textAI in Local SEO: Challenges and Opportunities: We dive into how AI is reshaping local search. Key insights from Andrew Shotland’s analysis reveal that Google’s AI overviews appear inconsistently in local searches, mainly showing up for broader queries, while lower funnel searches rely on the local pack. New platforms like Perplexity, with licensing from Yelp, seem to offer promising results for complex local queries, potentially challenging Google’s dominance in local sear...

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57:10

Conversation with Raj Singh, the founder of...

The Near Memo ·

2024/10/26

Send us a textIntroduction and Background (00:01 - 10:30)The conversation opens with Greg Sterling introducing Raj Singh, the founder of Soloist.ai, an AI-powered website builder targeted at small businesses and freelancers. Raj shares his background as a serial entrepreneur, highlighting his previous ventures, such as Pulse, acquired by Mozilla, and his journey through the tech landscape from file-sharing companies to AI-driven website creation. This segment sets the stage by exploring Raj’s...

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26:44

Apple Expands Business Connect, Which Directories...

The Near Memo ·

2024/10/18

Send us a textApple Expands Business Connect Beyond Brick-and-Mortar: It was announced that Apple Business Connect will now include a broader range of businesses, such as e-commerce, work-from-home, and service-area businesses. Businesses will still undergo the Apple verification process but will benefit from a consistent brand presence across apps like Mail, Apple Pay and ultimately Messages. While non-brick-and-mortar businesses won't appear on Apple Maps, their verified logos will be visib...

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34:38

Google Tests AI-Organized Carousels in Local,...

The Near Memo ·

2024/10/13

Send us a textGoogle Tests AI-organized Carousels in Local Search Results for Restaurants & Bars: Recent test search results for local businesses on Google, particularly restaurants and bars, have been dominated by AI-organized carousels. Searches like “best cocktail bar” now return multiple carousels sequentially down the page, with categories such as rooftop bars, artisanal cocktail bars, and budget-friendly options. These results feature large visuals, ratings, and addresses, all...

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38:39

Places Sites in US? Allure’s Ongoing Google Review...

The Near Memo ·

2024/10/05

Send us a text Google's Place Sites: A Compliance Gesture or A True Shift in Search?Google is rolling out a new feature called "Place Sites" in North America, following its initial launch in Europe as part of compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The feature presents a carousel of aggregator search results, such as Yelp and TripAdvisor, prominently placed in top positions for local queries like restaurants. The idea is to redirect traffic to competitors to address accusations of...

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36:53

Search Tactics for EU Hotels, Google’s Updated Spam...

The Near Memo ·

2024/09/28

Send us a textHow Individual Hotels Can Win in EU Search: Our research on hotel searches in Europe, revealed that Booking.com dominated user clicks, especially through ads, while Google's Hotel Finder and Business Profiles saw significantly fewer interactions. One surprising discovery was the prominent role of ads, with over 50% of mobile clicks going to ads, particularly Booking.com.We explore how Google’s algorithm and ad strategies favor aggregators like Booking, rather than individua...

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38:06

Google tests Review Badge of Shame in UK; Google’s...

The Near Memo ·

2024/09/20

Send us a textGoogle Testing Review Badge of Shame & More in UK for Review Abuses:Google has rolled out a new review “badge of shame” and a new help document titled "Business Profile Restrictions for Policy Violations," introducing stricter actions for businesses engaging in deceptive review practices. Currently being tested in the UK, the policy includes a tiered system of penalties, such as preventing new reviews, unpublishing existing ones, and displaying a "badge of shame" for b...

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36:35

EU Consumer Research in Hotel market, The impact of...

The Near Memo ·

2024/09/14

Send us a textGoogle and Booking: The Symbiotic Gatekeeper Relationship in European Hotel Search - We dive into our recent user behavior research findings about hotel searches in Europe. We recruited 100 users each from Spain, France, and Germany, asking them to find hotels in Paris or Rome, and observed how they interacted with Google's search results.The European hotel market is quite distinct, with behavior in hotel searches differing drastically from other verticals, as w...

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45:02

The Google Review Fraud Landscape in Maps & LSA and...

The Near Memo ·

2024/09/09

Send us a textGoogle Review Fraud Landscape (10:04):Estimates that 18% of reviews across various platforms are fake.Home service industries, such as locksmiths, moving companies, and HVAC, are heavily affected.Legal sector is also impacted, with fake reviews prevalent among personal injury, criminal defense, and DUI lawyers.LSA Review Fraud (21:25):Lead generation scammers are stealing business from ethical businesses using fake LSA reviews.They overcharge consumers and use higher ad revenue ...

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43:18

LSA Gets More GBP Features, Google Maps Gets Cleanup,...

The Near Memo ·

2024/08/30

Send us a textLSA Increasingly relying on GBP Features: We delve into Google's ongoing “fixes” of LSA features, where reviews and booking tools for LSAs are being integrated from GBP. This move is seen as an attempt to streamline operations and reduce costs, especially in light of Google's recent staffing cuts as well as improve LSA’s ineffective review moderation. While operational efficiency might improve, Google’s tolerance of abuses in GBP means that the risk of review fraud in LSAs ...

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40:37

GBP Phone Hacking Problems Persist, New FTC Fake...

The Near Memo ·

2024/08/23

Send us a Text Message.Google's PR Smoke and Mirrors: Old GBP Phone Hacking Problems Persist Despite Promises:Spammers and scammers have been able to hijack business phone numbers on Google listings with alarming ease, despite Google's assurances that such problems were swiftly resolved. We conducted an experiment, changing a listing's phone number through a fake business listing. The results were shocking—within minutes, the suggested phone number change was accepted, largely due to th...

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47:01

The Increasing Role of Brand in SEO

The Near Memo ·

2024/08/16

Send us a Text Message.The Role of Brand in Seo: We speak with guest, Mordy Oberstein on the role of branding in SEO, particularly how it has re-emerged as a significant factor in conversions and SEO. We explore the interaction between brand and user experience, and the introduction of Google’s emphasis on brand in its algorithms.Brand Differentiation and Local SEO: We delve into how brands differentiate themselves in the marketplace, particularly in local SEO contexts. What are t...

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35:24

GBP Bugs & AI-Driven Layoff Concern, Sale of CNET &...

The Near Memo ·

2024/08/08

Send us a Text Message.Google's Local Business Service Woes: Persistent Bugs and AI-Driven Layoffs Spark Concern: There have been ongoing support and technical issues with Google Business Profiles. Major bugs affecting local business profiles have persisted for months and in several cases years, including image misassignments and overzealous suspension algorithms that remove legitimate reviews. Google's support and engineering teams have struggled to resolve these issues, partly due to ...

en-us

27:45

MindTrip brings AI travel search, Search Shenanigans,...

The Near Memo ·

2024/08/02

Send us a Text Message.Segment 1: OpenAI & MindTrip bring AI to search, will it matter?Last Thursday, OpenAI made waves with an announcement about Search GPT, a prototype aimed at revamping the search experience for ChatGPT users. Promising a two-column format, it aims to ease the search process and challenge traditional search engines like Google. The prototype has the potential to streamline user experience while emphasizing publisher control and cooperation.In related news, a new...

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44:39

Reframing how search ranking works, Google Doubles...

The Near Memo ·

2024/07/27

Send us a Text Message.SEOs need to reframe how search ranking works - click thru data being the most important factor: Click data is a cornerstone of Google’s ranking algorithm, as highlighted by recent DOJ findings. Google uses its heavy reliance on click data to grasp new trends swiftly as well as to “understand” page quality. Traditional SEO elements like title tags, meta descriptions, scheme, great photos and content provide enduring value but with a new twist. These elements ...

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231 results

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