Google has shut down new reviews for Planned Parenthood and other reproductive healthcare businesses. The action raises a number of unanswered questions.

As privacy concerns have grown, personal data websites, often built on exploitation and deception, have seen their Google rankings fall dramatically.

Doing the right thing is also good business.

What would Google local search results look like if Google couldn't put the Local 3-Pack at the top of search results? A recently discovered test may give us a clue.

Legitimate reviews appear to be collateral damage from a stepped up Google effort to address review spam.

Among a flurry of announcements, Google Maps 'Immersive View,' Multisearch Near Me and Scene Explorer reflect the increasingly visual future of local search.

Every holiday or cultural event now is embraced as a marketing opportunity. But brands risk being seen as inauthentic or hypocritical if all they do is talk and don't walk the walk.

Unstructured data from customers gives businesses a unique opportunity to inform strategy and customer experiences.

The specific steps should you be taking now, using high-quality images to improve conversions and how to future-proof your location(s) for Visual Search.

With advanced image recognition provided by their Cloud Vision AI, Google has made images more relevant to search intent.

One of the trends in Local has been Google's increasing use of images in search results. Google has expanded the space devoted to images, increased the number of images and enlarged their size. In Part 2 & 3 we will look at its impact on SEO.

Google is putting increasing emphasis on local product inventory search as it tries to better compete with Amazon.

Google now explicitly states that in-store product availability is a local ranking factor in its own Google Business Profile documentation.

Trust in reviews has been declining since 2017, but consumers still rely on them to make decisions. Businesses must adapt review strategies and embrace the negative review.

Google was gaining reviews until 2017. Then everything slowed way down.

We got a copy of the heavily redacted complaint, which contains numerous claims of misrepresentations to SMBs.

Google has been working steadily for at least a decade toward real-time product inventory in local search results.

The FTC filed a complaint against HomeAdvisor, saying the company overcharged SMBs and misrepresented leads, and the "likelihood they would result in actual jobs," since 2014.

Yelp made structural changes during COVID that improved performance, but there are major obstacles to growth going forward.

TikTok offers a multiple opportunities for local marketers of all sizes, provided you do your homework.

Feeling nervous, Google is intensifying its anti-antitrust campaign, lobbying SMBs to "take action" and automating their emails.

Ten review management platforms were put on notice by the FTC. Here they are and what got them into trouble.

The FTC's guidance for review platforms is sweeping. But enforcement will be selective and "closed platforms" are the most likely targets.

The FTC's new guidelines simplify many things about review solicitation and moderation, but other areas are now murkier.

Google allowed a fake reviews company to snatch its old Facebook URL.

The agency signaled it's going to get tough on brands and platforms that engage in review manipulation.

The deal accelerates and rounds out Vendasta's "end-to-end" platform for its local channel partners.

Some consumer review sites are happy to turn a (partially) blind eye to fake reviews, because they're driving revenue.

Google is the underdog in product search. The company is aggressively trying to close the gap.

The survey chronicles Google's evolving local ranking algorithm and captures local SEOs' changing tactics over time.

Apple is just getting started with its push into local business discovery and monetization for Apple Maps. AR is also in its future.

Apple's many recent updates to Maps to improve business discovery and transactions points to long term trend towards both building out Maps and integrating it in the future world of AR.

Google, in an effort to regain control of the antitrust narrative, has brazenly and deceptively enlisted small businesses to argue the company's case.

Introduced as 'Google Local Business Center' in 2005, the local listings management tool has been through five iterations, landing on 'Google Business Profile.'

The FTC is trying to lay the groundwork for substantial fines against high-profile violators of its endorsement and review guidelines.

Apple has released the ability to review most businesses in the US. It is fast, easy and hard to spam. Learn the what's, why's and wherefores of this significant new review platform.

How the co-op model can help build sustainable restaurant delivery that's better for restaurants and local communities.

Whether through incompetence or egregious self-interest, Google has allowed companies like Kelly Forklift to continue to perpetrate customer deception and highlight themselves in search results.

A newly invigorated FTC is taking a much more activist position on a range of issues, potentially including local.

In the past, image search optimization was complicated and returns were minimal for local businesses. That's all starting to change.

A summary of May's analysis and podcasts.

Google critics argue the company's search monopoly harmed Yelp. A closer look reveals a more complex story with missed opportunities.

As official mask mandates lift, our survey shows many consumers are still anxious. That puts a challenging burden on local business owners.

Google is helping local businesses by encouraging more user-generated content. In theory this is good. But more content does not always mean more high-quality content.

Google owns the local review economy. It wasn't always that way. Here's how it happened.

In Amazon's efficiencies and ruthlessness we see all of the contradictions of American commerce and culture.

A new report on the Online Reputation Management industry predicts that growth for North America will more than double between now and 2029.

Google is rapidly building out front and back end capabilities to improve integration with restaurant food ordering and to control many parts of the process, while minimizing costs and extracting some rent.

Rebecca Slaughter, the acting Chair of the FTC, disdains fake reviews and has elevated rulemaking at the FTC to do something about it.

Early last week Google finally updated Maps for iOS and its attendant privacy label. As you suspected, Google is collecting a lot of personal data.

In this era of visual storytelling, employee information and images are a way to build trust and humanize your brand.

Using its many technical and content assets, Google Maps is positioning itself as the digital UI for the real world and at the center of the online-to-offline economy.

Google’s blueprint for evolving its products for businesses is to read consumer behavior and revise its business tools accordingly. One important example is how Google is evolving its online chat functionality for businesses.

* The majority of consumers clearly support strict masking enforcement and prefer businesses that do this. Women and older consumers are most supportive. * A meaningful anti-mask minority creates a dilemma for

Like all Google releases it generated massive press. We cast our penetrating 'Kreminologist’s' eye on its many details.