Tag Archives: google maps

Google adds “Neighborhood Vibe” to Maps

Wouldn’t it be nice if Google Maps gave you an instant flavor of the particular area you’re looking at? The platform, after all, is no longer used for driving directions alone⁠—it’s a fully fledged discovery engine for almost every purpose imaginable. Well, that’s exactly what the search giant has done. At its recent Search On […]

Google rolls out Pirate update and a host of Google Maps upgrades

In the world of local search, some updates are more significant than others. This month, we saw Google tinker with some settings, retire some features, and threaten some serious consequences with its latest algorithm update. Let’s get to the details. Google’s new Pirate algorithm update obliterates traffic for offending sites In early February, Google launched […]

November 2021 Local Search Roundup

The holiday shopping season has arrived, and some shiny new updates from Google are already waiting under the tree. Read up on what’s new in local search this month, so you can stay up to date—and help keep your business on the “nice” list. Google My Business gets a new name Google is renaming Google […]

Instantly boost your Google My Business rankings by removing spam

Googles finds more than 25 billion spam-filled pages every day. Last year, Google users submitted more than 230,000 reports of spam, 82% of which resulted in pages being taken down. Very simply, spam is part of the experience when it comes to internet staples like Google Maps and Google My Business (GMB)—but some suffer its […]

The Maps Race: Google vs. Apple

Every brick-and-mortar business knows it: maps channels are fast becoming the de facto driver for local lead generation. Whether you have 12 locations or 12,000, your local customers are not only browsing maps for your locations (and those of your competitors) but making their purchase decisions entirely in-app. Although these apps have evolved relatively slowly […]

Now You See Me, Now You Don’t – Local SEO Pt. 2

In part 1 of this series I introduced the concept of local SEO and illustrated its importance to digital marketing. In the second installment, my goal is to provide actionable insights into two questions: 1. Why do regional or local business with a single or small number of locations often outrank large enterprise brands with […]

How Not to Respond to Negative Reviews

An Ottawa restaurant owner was convicted of criminal libel this week after she harassed a customer who had posted a negative review of her restaurant. Instead of ignoring — or, better yet, responding nicely — to the less-than-favorable online reviews, the owner unleashed her anger at the customer by setting up a fake dating profile […]

Apple vs. Google: The war that everyone is talking about

Apple’s recent launching of its own mapping software, to replace the default Google Maps on iPhone and iPad devices, has been described by industry pundits and observers as the latest escalation in a war that is heating up between the two technology giants. Both companies have been focusing on mobile for several years now, and […]

Google Places and Third Party Snippets

Recently, I stumbled upon a change in Google Places, when looking for an ATM within the mall. Below is a screenshot of the Places page. The strange piece of content here is the snippet from Wikipedia. “All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License – Wikipedia.” Alone this info would […]