The Near Memo

Send us a textLocal Search Ranking Factors - Big Takeaways and big changes from previous years:  In this segment we take a bird’s eye view of the survey, how it was crafted, its history and the big takeaways.  What has changed the most? What is new? What are the LSA ranking factors? What are the basic must do activities to get started in the ranking arena. Local Search Ranking Factors - Difference makers & lesser known tactics:  The factors we explored in segment 1 are essentially table stakes. If you really want to compete in local search rankings it is important to implement the difference makers. These efforts are reflected in survey answers 11- 30. This applies to both the local pack and the organic results. Beyond the difference makers in local search activity, we explore some of the dark horse tactics. These are factors that are buried and may only work in certain markets, verticals or a particular situation. But when they do work, they work very well. Local Search Ranking Factors - Conversion factors and myths:  Not every activity will lead to increased ranking but could very well lead to increased conversions. It doesn’t matter if you are ranked #1 if the supporting information doesn’t reinforce your position, the searcher will just scroll past you and land on someone else's listing.  The days of searchers blindly picking the first result are long gone, so we explore those attributes that make your GBP  listing THE most appealing.And don’t forget the myths. Like an imperfect process, many techniques lead nowhere but sound good. The problem is they waste your time. Learn which are tactics are really just not effective despite what some say The Near Memo is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.near memo ep 107Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Send us a textFTC proposes new rules to rein in subscription abuses:  The FTC has  been on a roll fighting the many “dark patterns” of the internet. Last week they added a $245m  fine for Fortnite to pay for consumer restitution of inappropriate charges incurred after a single misleading click. This week they proposed a rule  to eliminate abuses of the “Negative Option rule” which requires consumers to proactively seek out and navigate complicated scenarios to cancel subscriptions. The rule when approved will give the FTC to impose requirements across a large number of industries that will hopefully rein in subscription abuses.  The Bard goes local, sort of:  Bard, despite hallucinations, was competent at making local recommendations and that use case could be expanded. Is a chat interface the best way to surface local data or is Maps really the best search metaphor?  The Bard use case is more generative and less searchy:  Google is positioning Bard for more creative uses and unlike Bing is NOT integrating it into search in any meaningful way. This may be because it behooves them financially to not do so. Regardless, Bard is capable of some things that Bing just can’t do. While Bing is controlling the conversation about AI and search, Google seems to be heading in a different direction, one that leverages AI as a content creation tool. The Near Memo is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.near memo ep 106Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Send us a text New Google GPB Bug: Your Business is not visible to customers:There is a new bug where thousands of business profiles are being told by Google that “Your Business is not visible to customers”. This message has meant many things: you have a new listing and we will show it when we trust it, your listing has recently been reinstated, your listing is suspended and now somewhat randomly, just because. This bug reflects Google’s willingness to test new product features on real world businesses despite the pain it may inflict AND puts spotlight on their terrible support. TikTok rolling out search ads, will they come to local?:Greg has become addicted to TikTok just in time for the US to ban it. Now they have started to roll out search ads. Given that it is not what users or businesses expect, it will take a great deal of outreach for TikTok to succeed as a search engine. TikTok is a great discovery capability that they have not leveraged. Even if they succeed as a search engine they are still leaving the local opportunities on the table. What would it take for them to leverage this potential? This is a market opportunity that no one seems to be exploring. Social mapping tool Gowalla returns to the scene & might just succeed:Bought and shut down by Facebook in 2012. It has been relaunched as a similar looking product that might just succeed in a new era of smartphone users that are willing to share their location with their friends and family. GoWalla was always a very personal tool and the relaunch reinforces this vibe with an approach that combines curated businesses and your friends. The Near Memo is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.NearMemo Ep105Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Send us a textGoogle LSA expands to new categories & faces spam:  Google has added new, high value categories to their Local SErvice Ads program. They continue to target ever more service type businesses. While the pricing for this simpler product has gone up due to the added auction capabilities, in many markets it is still a good value. It is also important for service type businesses to watch for first mover opportunities in their local markets. With this link: Local Service Finder - Pro List businesses can assess which categories in which geographies have more opportunities. However in some urban, highly competitive markets like personal injury law & locksmiths, not only has pricing gone crazy, spam has as well. Google has added a new LSA spam review reporting form to cope with some of the fake review issues. ChatGPT making rapid and differentiating inroads into SAAS tools for Local:  The players in the local space have all become pretty similar to each other offering listings, review management, Google Posts with little to distinguish them. But with the advent of large language models in general and ChatGPT specifically, many have begun to offer unique tools on top of their core products that leverage the generative AI capabilities. The value of generative AI will first be realized in the SAAS world where the benefits can be easily added to existing products to increase business productivity. Hubspot’s ChatUX shows how this can be integrated into a CMS and Uberall shows how it can improve access to a company’s granular data like inventory. Why every company needs a “how we use AI” FAQ:  Wired recently published an article on how they will use generative AI tools vis a vis their written and visual content. They detail whether they will use AI to write or edit articles (they won’t), whether they will use it to generate ideas and headlines (they might) and whether they will use it to create story graphics (they won’t due to artists not receiving royalties).Jennifer Slegg on Twitter, using a  creative Google search, demonstrated just how many businesses are currently using generative AI and blindly copying and pasting it onto their websites. This raises the question of whether not just Wired but everyone that creates content - writers, SEO firms, SEMs and more - should consider both an internal code of ethics and a forward facing statement of those values.The Near Memo is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.near memo ep 104Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Send us a textBing isn’t a Google killer but it is important for a number of other reasons:  Bing’s inclusion of ChatGPT has positioned Microsoft to take over the search conversation even if it doesn’t unseat Google. Bing has done a thoughtful job of integrating chat into search but it remains awkwards and still lacks significant value to the search experience. This is particularly true with local searches. Yelps’ remote work report likely indicates declining Yelp market share:  Yelp used the relative increase of rural searches to indicate that users had moved to rural areas. These low volume searches showing an increase is better explained by Yelp’s declining market share in the urban centers.  How to deal with fake review attacks at Google:  Google recently announced that they would filter fewer Local guide reviews. This appears to have led to an increase in fake review attacks. We detail the many arcane steps to increase the likelihood of fake review attacks being taken down. The Near Memo is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.near memo ep 103Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Send us a textGoogle Business Profile services positively impact rank:In a recent test by Joy Hawkins at Sterlingsky demonstrated that having services identified for your profile influences rank. How does Google generate these categories? How does this fit into the long term trend of Google adding ever more granular detail for businesses?  Will custom services have an equal effect? Will this appear world wide? Businesses need to make sure that Google has applied the correct categories. Which geo title tags have the most impact on local search rank? A title tag needs to be as long as it needs to be but longer title tags don’t perform as well. Which location terms should you use? Near me in a title tag only drives a small increase in rankings.  The biggest driver (2.5x improvement) is the use of the city name in the title name.  Impact of Google easing review filter to placate Local Guides:Earlier this month, Google noted that there had been a lot of Local Guide complaints about review filtering, that Google had been removing too many Local Guide reviews and they were going to update the filter to let more reviews show and go back and release any that they erroneously filtered. Hypothetically doing this would decrease complaints in the GBP forums about missing reviews AND increase complaints about fake review attacks.  Our research confirms that is the caseThe Near Memo is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.near memo ep 102Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Send us a textMicrosoft’s transformation of Bing with AI & some smart moves:  There are now millions of people on the BingChat waitlist. And many have noted a positive reaction to the bot. But the compressed hype cycle around the release of ChatGPT and BingChat, a series of stories bemoaning the “nature” of the chatbot. Will users start shifting their searches to Bing? Has Microsoft pulled off the search coup of the decade? Walmart overcomes stigma of evil & appeals to upscale shoppers:  Walmart, under the direction of CEO Doug McMillon, has overcome a terrible reputation and built out effective online-offline commerce capabilities. Using groceries as their ‘hook” they are attracting more upscale customers with easy online ordering and curbside pickup. To further engage this long elusive audience, Walmart is not building out stores with a more Target (or as my sister say Targeé)  like feel.  100 Ecommerce execs are investing more in SEO & PPC:  With fear of recession, paid search increased 12% while influencer marketing and paid social were both down. SEO and PPC high ROI investments and demonstrate the importance of search when you need to acquire new customers and increase sales. The Near Memo is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.near memo ep 101Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Send us a textIn this extended episode we explore the role AI in general and ChatGPT is having on the work within digital agencies. What are the opportunities and challenges that agencies face when using it?Are either of you currently using ChatGPT or AI tools in your daily work? If so, what and for what purposes? How have ChatGPT and related tools changed your work? What is the biggest opportunity you see with tools like ChatGPT and the many others that are quickly emerging? Name some concrete use cases. Anything you’ve seen that’s really impressive/effective? What about general SEO and local SEO use cases? (if we haven’t gotten into that yet.) What are the most immediate applications? Slightly farther out, how do you think people will be using these tools? What “manual” or tedious tasks will AI replace? Other use cases? Do you think AI tools make smaller agencies more competitive with larger ones? How do you think AI changes the economics of SEO? How might clients (large and SMB) themselves use AI tools/content? Will AI tools make clients less reliant on agencies; will it lead to more in-housing? How should you talk to clients about AI/ChatGPT tools and their future role in marketing, content creation, etc.?  What concerns, if any, do you have about ChatGPT and related tools? Dependence on these tools? Quality? Factual errors or bias? We’re now seeing screenshots of Bing’s new AI-search integration, and this week Google will preview its own search-AI mashup (speculating). While we don’t know exactly how this will play out, how might a radically different search interface impact the future of SEO?  The Near Memo is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.near memo ep 100Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Send us a textChatGPT and similar generative AI tools can write very credible reviews, very quickly and easily. The number of fake reviews could possibly explode in numbers.While multi-location businesses care about reviews they don’t really put any energy into them. Is Google equally unconcerned about reviews?How will this impact the review ecosystem and how will Google respond?It can seem like Google controls the fate of small businesses with zero click search, erratic review policies and control of your business profile. Miriam Ellis points out at Moz that while Google’s behaviors create stress in the end almost all searchers in the local ecosystem end up on your turf. Whether that is a call, coming to your location or on your website the business controls the interaction. Google customer experience doesn’t require a latte with every haircut but it does require that your systems for client communications work and work reliably.AI and Automation is now officially a thing in SEO, and not just for writing:The amount of data SEO tools provide is overload and forces users to create custom workflows to make sense of it. Agencies and in-housers can gain a competitive advantage by building their own automation systems to ingest SEO data (rankings, GSC, etc.), analyze it at scale and turn it into actionable insights. The SEO of 2023 will arm themselves with these tools and systems to create better outcomes for themselves and their stakeholders.If you are going to crank out a lot of content via AI, the key is how you train the model, how you mix in data from other sources, how you edit it, plus how you structure it to make it seem like it's not written by AI. Hint, write for a 6th grade level.The Near Memo is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.near memo ep 99Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Send us a textMailchimp launched Campaign Manager, a way for marketers to plan, execute, and track their marketing campaigns across multiple channels—like email, text messaging, social media ads, and direct mail—and view how their campaign is performing in one calendar view. But Intuit’s ads are positioning this tool for the smaller business with one or two employees but in reality is for more sophisticated businesses with dedicated marketing staff. Growing visibility of copyright implications of generative AI precedes solutions:Generative AI is trained using other’s creations. This often leads to plagiarism and excessive image re-use. Current copyright law is not up to the snuff in terms of defining when this is fair use and when it is copyright violation. The suits have started and it remains to be seen whether the Supreme Court will punt on this or create clarity. Google’s GBP forums provide insights into bugs, practices and policy:The Google Business Profile forum is where folks end up that Google has decided are too expensive to provide support to. Analyzing this data provides insights into bugs, Google’s AI false positives and problems caused by Google’s actions. It is also clear in this data that Google has managed to externalize costs of their “release early” philosophy on the small businesses they claim to serve. The Near Memo is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.near memo ep 98Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/