Local Search

Google Places – Mini Sitelinks?

by Special Guest September 6, 2011 Local Search

It’s nearly been a year since Google started to merge its Maps listings into organic search results, with many iterations along the way. Now there is another change on the horizon, if the on and off appearance of these map sitelinks over the last few weeks are anything to go by: As we can see above, there are [...]

Google Maps Now Reporting on the Weather

by Special Guest August 29, 2011 Local Search

If you’re like many people, you like to check the weather before you head out to a destination. Likewise, you might be fond of using the Internet to look up directions to the place you want to go before heading out the door. Wouldn’t it be convenient if you could see the weather conditions while checking directions to [...]

Google’s New Sitelinks 12 Pack

by Special Guest August 17, 2011 Local Search

You may remember my post last week about Google experimenting with the search results for brand keywords such as “apple” and “ebay”. Search industry experts had noticed for the past few months, and more prominently in the last few weeks, that the search results for brand keywords had begun to merge. The search engine announced yesterday that this change [...]

Google Places Scraps Third Party Reviews and Citations

by Special Guest July 28, 2011 Local Search

Noticed changes on Google Places again? The design and layout of Place pages has been altered slightly, but the big change that is shaking up the Google Places Optimisation industry is all about content. External Reviews Are Ripped We are used to seeing excerpts of customer reviews from third party websites in Google Places. For example, snippets from TripAdvisor for attractions such [...]

Google Places is Now More Prominent on Mobile Google.com.au

by Kevin Dam June 14, 2011 Local Search

Within the last few hours we have noticed that there have been some changes to the mobile version of www.google.com.au. It first came about when Stefan (one of our SEO programmers) noticed that there were some not seen before icons on the mobile version of the search engine giant. From the image on the left [...]

Free Google Store Photo Shoot

by Special Guest May 20, 2011 Local Search

Show people what your store looks like! Google is currently offering free photo shoots to local businesses. Google snaps professional grade pictures of the out and inside of a store, then integrates these images into the business’ Google Places page. The advantages of having integrated store images are: Proper validation to prove that your business exists [...]

Google Places a Melting Hotpot

by Special Guest April 19, 2011 Local Search

Remember Google Hotpot? The experimental Hotpot was released earlier this year to make make local search results more personal and significant to users. Google Places already featured ratings and reviews, while Hotpot added the social touch of amplifying the locations you like and the locations your friends like. Since the release has been met with great success, Google is now [...]

Changes in Options for Validation/Verification of Your Google Places Account

by Special Guest March 3, 2011 Local Search

In the past, it has been possible to instantly verify and validate your Google Places account by phone or SMS. There have now been some changes to this process, wherein it is only possible to receive verification by postcard, which takes 2-3 weeks to come through. Why has this change occurred? While it is not [...]

The New Widget on Google Maps

by Special Guest February 1, 2011 Local Search

Google Maps is now an even better place with the release of an advanced widget to help users better explore the different layers of the Maps interface, such as photos, traffic information and satellite view. Above, you can see a new widget on the upper right corner that allows you to select from maps, earth or satellite [...]

Another Reason Google Places is Great!

by Special Guest January 25, 2011 Local Search

Remember Google Places with Hotpot? It was recently released in Google Maps for Android, but now there is a Google Places iPhone App! Google Places with Hotpot helps you find places that you love while you’re out and about. Not only does it help you find places nearby, it gives you the best places to [...]