Less is…more Maps
Less is more, that’s what Google wrote on their LatLong blog. They decided to clean the Google Maps interface a bit, which was by now cluttered with all kinds of information which made some of the users dazzle.
Again, Let’s do something for the user-experience. let’s make it more easy! Bigger Map viewing area for example. Away with the clutter, new tabs (user content)! They now use just one search box! make it easier for you to find stuff, not just pizza!
This UI also affected the European Google Engines.
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The conference I missed..
The conference I missed was SMX Local / Mobile. Too bad I’m ’stuck’ here down in Europe, because I would have liked to meet some fellow local search enthusiasts in person. Well, Maybe next year.
Luckily, for me, and all of you that were not there, there is some good reading material online. David Mihm wrote a thorough recap about SMX local on his blog.
Andrew Shotland created an avalanche of blogposts on his local seo guide blog with snippets and snappets during the first day of the event.
I advice you to go ahead and read David’s recap here and pay some special attention to Mike Blumenthal’s research, the model of ranking factors
blumenthal model of local ranking factors
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Reviews and ratings for your business with Google Maps Mobile
Some nice news for Google Maps Mobile yesterday! the Official Google Mobile blog is announcing that you are now able to write reviews and add ratings to your business using your mobile phone.
Imagine you just had diner in a restaurant, you search for the place in Google and it will present you with the map and a review function. Rate your business while you are there!
Now I’m thinking, combine this with the latest update to the Google Local Business Center, where a business owner receives notifications when any changes occur. Let’s hope that this could as well be a notification when he receives a review or a rating and voila, the business owner could respond immediately. It would make it a perfect reputation management tool!
This feature is now available for non-Iphone users in the US. They are working on an Iphone version (isn’t that just a ‘regular’ browser?) and on international coverage as well.
Why Local Search matters
After reading the official Google blog today I can say that it has been confirmed (at least by my free interpretation ),
Today, I would like to briefly share the philosophies behind Google ranking:
1) Best locally relevant results served globally.
2) Keep it simple.
3) No manual intervention.The first one is obvious. Given our passion for search, we absolutely want to make sure that every user query gets the most relevant results.
Other news: latest hitwise reports show an increase of Google Maps usage, it’s now little over 2 percent of all Google properties. 2 % might seem little, but it’s a whole lot of people.
