Shows / The Near Memo
The Near Memo
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.
Episodes
- The Near Memo
Rand Fishkin interview on the importance and learnings from the Google Search Leak
Send us Fan Mail Rand helps us explore the implications of the Google Web Search leak and how it impacts our understanding of how the search ranking aglo…
- The Near Memo
New SAB Local Ranking Factor & Interpreting Google AI Tea leaves around Search
Send us Fan Mail New SAB Local Ranking Factor: Service area businesses have long been a problem on Google Maps. Spam, privacy, suspension AND ranking issues…
- The Near Memo
ChatGPT 4o Makes an Impression, Chaos that was Google I/O is Google, What Does it All Mean for SEOs?
Send us Fan Mail ChatGPT 4o Makes an Impression: OpenAI, not so subtly, introduced improvements to ChatGPT 4.0 just before I/O Google's event. The presentation…
- The Near Memo
Google finally fixing LSA reviews, Why Google fails, DOJ slidedeck details abusive Google practices
Send us Fan Mail Is Google Finally fixing LSA reviews? In a significant update for advertisers and businesses in the UK, Google has announced changes to its…
- The Near Memo
From the Vault: Do searchers use Local Finder?, How many links does a local website need? Google's BS around content
Send us Fan Mail We're taking the week off, but here's an episode (#126) from the "vault" that we think you'll enjoy! Do Google searchers enter the Local…
- The Near Memo
An interview with Dana DiTomaso: To Google GA4 analytics hell & back again
Send us Fan Mail Dana DiTomaso brings her practical insights to the often murky waters of Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Dana, who wears multiple hats as the…
- The Near Memo
Ad Sales Up, Dr. Guilty of Violating Fed. Review Law, Content Only as Good as ChatGPT Will Fail
Send us Fan Mail Ad market dominated by a few players: The Internet Advertising Bureau released their annual report for 2024. Digital advertising reached a…
- The Near Memo
Standardizing Review Processes to Avoid Fear, Google Cries Wolf Around DMA, The Future of SGE
Send us Fan Mail Reviews are Like Death & Taxes & Should be Treated that Way: Miriam Ellis wrote a great article at Moz providing small business owners tips on…
- The Near Memo
How your agency can increase retention and profitability by offering a fractional CMO as a service
Send us Fan Mail The need to move SMBs from Tactics to Strategy & how fractional CMO’s can do that: John Jantsch is a seasoned consultant, speaker, and…
- The Near Memo
Google Goes to Brussels & attempts to defend their DMA compliance
Send us Fan Mail In this special edition, Mike and David discuss their visit to Brussels to attend Google’s report on their compliance with the European…
- The Near Memo
How on page factors & Google updates, Learnings from a G Quality Rater, What is the future of SEO?
Send us Fan Mail What on-page factors are associated with sites that see big gains or declines after Google updates? Cyrus Shepard explains his recent research…
- The Near Memo
Google’s Core Update & FUD, Brightlocal Consumer Review Survey, Do Searchers Use the Local Finder?
Send us Fan Mail Google’s March Core Update & FUD: David Mihm sheds light on Google's March core update, marking it as an unusually impactful monthly…
- The Near Memo
Consumer Research Highlights Limited Impact of EU Mandated Local SERP Change & On-going EU Challenge
Send us Fan Mail Consumer Research Highlights Limited Impact of DMA Mandated Google's SERP Changes: Near Media unveiled findings from their latest research on…
- The Near Memo
Long tail searcher behaviors, Gemini switch appears, Content publishing being upended by search
Send us Fan Mail Long tail searcher behaviors: 10% of Discovery searches involve a brand search on Google: In our most recent multi-location consumer Google…
- The Near Memo
G-SERPs product searches, Google PR around review removals is puffery, Google Maps SGE a hot mess
Send us Fan Mail Google adds Reddit to product searches and spammers follow: We discuss a new study by Glenn Alsop that examines the prevalence of discussion…
- The Near Memo
Will AI Improve SMB Websites? GMaps Getting Gemini, Bright Local Brand Survey Takeaways
Send us Fan Mail Will AI Improve SMB Websites? Consumers overwhelmingly prefer AI-generated content over human-created content across various formats…
- The Near Memo
10 years of SERP changes, Hidden Gems update is impacting Local Search, New EU Local Search Results
Send us Fan Mail What 10 years of changes to the SERPS mean for marketers today: We discuss Andy Crestodina’s most recent article where he looks at 10+ years…
- The Near Memo
Fired Google Raters replaced w/ AI? SEO Tools are just tools, Hidden Gems & decline of Big Social
Send us Fan Mail Will Fired Google Raters Be Replaced with AI? Last week Google terminated their relationship with one of the companies responsible for rating…
- The Near Memo
SGE NOT the Future, GBP End Days? Google Chooses Sizzle over Steak?
Send us Fan Mail SGE has huge impacts but is still just a testing ground: Some industries, like healthcare, are impacted by Google’s SGE (search generative…
- The Near Memo
LSA Scam & Honest Businesses, Google Created a Shitty Internet? Generative AI & its Impact on Google
Send us Fan Mail How the Google Guarantee Scam Impacts Honest Businesses? The Google Guarantee Scam is frequently perpetrated by groups of foreign nationals…
- The Near Memo
Exposing the Google Local Service Ads Scam in Home Services: A Marketer's Insight
Send us Fan Mail Join us in this eye-opening discussion with Zachary Dotson, an experienced marketer in the home services industry, as he sheds light on a…
- The Near Memo
Businesses & Google SGE, Google Goes All in On Interstitials, Where is Bard Going?
Send us Fan Mail What Should Businesses Do About Google SGE? Google has not yet announced any concrete plans for the future of Search Generative Experience…
- The Near Memo
The Google Review Fraud Landscape in Maps & LSA and How a Business Should Respond
Send us Fan Mail The Google Review Fraud Landscape in Maps & LSA and How a Business Should Respond: Google Review Fraud Landscape (10:17): Estimates that 18%…
- The Near Memo
Will Google's Reactive Behavior to Search Quality & AI Solve Their Problems?
Send us Fan Mail Will Google's Reactive Behavior to Search Quality & AI Solve Their Problems? Google is struggling to adapt to the changing market dynamics…
- The Near Memo
Can Gemini Fix Search? The Impact of Google’s Rating Bias, LSA Reviewjacking
Send us Fan Mail Can Gemini Fix Search? Google’s current interface and attempts at query refinement are largely broken. Google’s new Gemini upgrade to SGE…
- The Near Memo
How Local SEO Agencies are using Generative AI & ChatGPT: Tips, tactics and strategies
Send us Fan Mail In this extended episode of the Near Memo, Greg Sterling , Joy Hawkins, Darren Shaw & Mike Blumenthal explore the role of generative AI and…
- The Near Memo
Google’s newest search features, Whitespark: Reviews by category, Fake review enforcement failures
Send us Fan Mail Google’s Newest Search Features: “Whipped cream on S.H. I. .T”.? While Google's new features aim to enhance user interaction and personalize…
- The Near Memo
GMaps Immersive directions, Citations & Local Search, The GBP new small business attribute
Send us Fan Mail Google Maps from useful to bloat? Google Maps continues to add new features and functionality and as it has become a primary search engine for…
- The Near Memo
Lessons in Building and Marketing a Consumer Brand
Send us Fan Mail “Running a startup is like being in a knife fight,” BeanBox Co-Founder and CEO Matthew Berk unexpectedly says, as he describes the arduous but…
- The Near Memo
GBP Call History returns, Local Trust Report, SGE Where now?
Send us Fan Mail GBP Call History’s History - What does it say about Google? Google Business Profile Call History has been problematic from the start because…
- The Near Memo
Bulk Dashboard Comeback?, GBP listing cleanup, Alternatives to Google search
Send us Fan Mail Bulk Dashboard Comeback?, GBP listing cleanup, Alternatives to Google search Segment 1 Title (100 chars): Will GBP rescue the multi-location…
- The Near Memo
So Clicks are a ranking signal? Google Comments on Review Fraud, Bard enhanced with extensions
Send us Fan Mail “Clicks Are Not a ranking signal” except that they are: If we have learned anything over the years with Google it is that you need to take…
- The Near Memo
High Impact Content Marketing in the Age of AI
Send us Fan Mail What Is Content?: Purna Virji and I discuss what motivated her to write the book, how she defines “content” and why she took a very expansive…
- The Near Memo
What and why of review fraud on Google how to deal with it
Send us Fan Mail The big picture of review fraud - who does it and why: We explore the full range of review fraud from fake positive reviews, black hat…
- The Near Memo
Google Anit-trust case unlikely to change anything, GBP deduping form, Searchers go deep in the SERPS
Send us Fan Mail Upcoming Google Anit-trust case unlikely to change much of anything: Google’s antitrust case is starting next week. Google filed for a summary…
- The Near Memo
Do searchers goto the Local Finder?, How many links does a local website need? Google's BS around creating great content
Send us Fan Mail Local SEOs wonder whether searchers actually enter the Local Finder from the Pack results. We often think no but our research indicates that…
- The Near Memo
SMBs search to find services, GBP supports bends to European regs, No copyright for AI
Send us Fan Mail How SMBs buy services: Despite what we may think, neither word of mouth nor social are how small and very small businesses buy payment…
- The Near Memo
GBP support using gig workers, SGE while browsing rolls out, AI Generated review summaries roll out
Send us Fan Mail Google Ambassadors (ie Gig Workers) now staffing GBP support poorly: Google Business Profile support has added a new layer of first level…
- The Near Memo
Google VS Chat GPT quality, Google proffers bad advice to CNET, Do consumers actually read reviews?
Send us Fan Mail Google VS Chat GPT Taste Test: In blind testing, users appear to prefer ChatGPT search results over Google by almost 2:1. Those are the…
- The Near Memo
New Local ad format, Updated GBP Guideline clarifies policies, Google SGE shows reference links
Send us Fan Mail New Local ad format, Updated GBP Guideline clarifies policies, Google SGE shows reference links: New Local Ad format is a local ad as local…
- The Near Memo
Google loses product search share, Phone #s hijacked on Google, Yelp scolds business for soliciting
Send us Fan Mail Google continues to lose product search market share: A recent quarterly survey from Jungle Scout indicates that Google and to a lesser extent…
- The Near Memo
Apple Maps KPIs, SEOs & Google quality guidelines, Google SGE usage decline
Send us Fan Mail Apple Maps & Local Opportunities: Apple Maps is ACTUALLY used for local discovery and it appears to be sending more traffic than either Yelp…
- The Near Memo
GA4 enshittification, Twitter alternatives, New FTC review guidance
Send us Fan Mail The enshittification of Google Analytics: Google analytics, with their forcing of GA4 on an audience that doesn’t need, understand or want the…
- The Near Memo
TikTok IS about local, Google Perspectives perspective, New GBP "by owner" button
Send us Fan Mail Tiktok IS about Local but not the way you think While the Wall Street Journal thinksTikTok holds companies hostage and a small business in…
- The Near Memo
Overture Map Foundation goes open source to solve 3D mapping for the “rest of us”
Send us Fan Mail Does the world need another mapping project and an open source one at that? Meta, Amazon web Services, Tom Tom & Microsoft think so and teamed…
- The Near Memo
Google LSA reviews suck, Localized stories and visualizations, The future of search
Send us Fan Mail Google LSA reviews come, they go but LSA still sucks: Last week we saw seismic activity in the disappearance of Google Local Service Ads (LSA)…
- The Near Memo
When to ask for reviews, Is SGE a headfake? Is Apple Vision the next platform?
Send us Fan Mail When should you ask for reviews? Common wisdom in the world of reputation management is that you ask for reviews immediately following a…
- The Near Memo
Yelp for sale? Google Merchant Center Next, Does Bard offer an alternative to search?
Send us Fan Mail Segment 1: Activist investor suggests Yelp sale Eric Semler of TCS Capital Management criticizes Yelp for not delivering enough value to its…
- The Near Memo
GBP Image Not Allowed bug, ChatGPT adds plug-ins & web, Yelp integrates with Google Reserve & Toast
Send us Fan Mail GBP Image Not Approved, a bug or feature & how to tell: Google Business Profile image upload has long exhibited a bug that prevents images…
- The Near Memo
Google I/O from the mundane to the future of the local customer journey
Send us Fan Mail Google I/O - How to make the interesting seem mundane: We discuss the highlights of Google I/O, focusing on search and local search. While the…
The Near MemoUnBounce - Using AI to increase conversions - Special Edition
Send us Fan Mail The integration of AI into the SAAS world has unleashed unprecedented innovation and transformation. Darby Sieben discusses how Unbounce…
- The Near Memo
Google's local Knowledge Panel the-cms you never knew you had - conversations with Claire Carlille
Send us Fan Mail Understanding and managing the ever expanding Google Local Knowledge Panel: Google's Knowledge Panel and Business Profile are essential…
- The Near Memo
AI reviews on Amazon, Peak GMB listings, Implications of failing news sites
Send us Fan Mail Will AI totally destroy the review economy? What will replace reviews? The appearance of AI-generated reviews on Amazon has significant…
- The Near Memo
CR Permission Slip eases privacy burden, TA Report Hides Declining Reviews, Google Rushes to AI
Send us Fan Mail Consumer Reports new app, Permission Slip eases privacy requests but is still a baby step: Permission Slip from Consumer Reports simplifies…
- The Near Memo
Google’s Online Local Ads, Bard & Local SEO, The Impact of Chat on Future of Local Search
Send us Fan Mail Unpacking OLAs: The Pros and Cons of Google's New Ad Type for Local Businesses: OLAs, a new ad type that appear on the business profile for…
- The Near Memo
Google merging Bard into Assistant, Wix integrates AI for SMB content, Can GM build a better CarOS?
Send us Fan Mail Will Google merging Bard into Assistant resurrect assistants from the ashes? Google Assistant, offered up by Google as the future of search…
- The Near Memo
Local Search Ranking Factors Survey with Darren Shaw
Send us Fan Mail Local 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…
- The Near Memo
FTC rules to rein in subscription abuse, Google Bard goes local, Bard is generative not searchy
Send us Fan Mail FTC 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…
- The Near Memo
New Google GPB Bug, TikTok rolling out search ads, Social mapping tool Gowalla returns
Send us Fan Mail 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…
- The Near Memo
Google LSA adds new categories, ChatGPT changing local SAAS, Everyone needs a “how we use AI” FAQ
Send us Fan Mail Google LSA expands to new categories & faces spam: Google has added new, high value categories to their Local SErvice Ads program. They…