Extended GBP Business Names - Spam or Legitimate Descriptors?We explore Google's growing tolerance for extended taglines & descriptors in business names via the Google Business Center and its impact on local SEO strategies. Examp...

Google Business Profile Suspension Woes (01:32–11:03)The discussion highlights rising frustrations with Google Business Profiles, focusing on increasing suspension rates and difficult reinstatement processes. Businesses face bottlene...

AI Overview and Google Search Trends:  In a discussion on AI search trends, Mark Traphagen from SEO Clarity shared insights on Google’s search generative experience (SGE) and its limited functionality in delivering localized res...

Google's Antitrust Battle: Legal and Political Shifts:  As Google’s antitrust trial unfolds, recent shifts in U.S. leadership may change the tech giant’s outlook. With Trump’s election win, the likelihood of drastic regulatory action ag...

AI in Local SEO: Challenges and Opportunities:  We dive into how AI is reshaping local search. Key insights from Andrew Shotland’s analysis reveal that Google’s AI overviews appear inconsistently in local searches, mainly showin...

Introduction and Background (00:01 - 10:30)The conversation opens with Greg Sterling introducing Raj Singh, the founder of Soloist.ai, an AI-powered website builder targeted at small businesses and freelancers. Raj shares his background...

Apple Expands Business Connect Beyond Brick-and-Mortar: It was announced that Apple Business Connect will now include a broader range of businesses, such as e-commerce, work-from-home, and service-area businesses. Businesses will sti...

Google Tests AI-organized Carousels in Local Search Results for Restaurants & Bars:  Recent test search results for local businesses on Google, particularly restaurants and bars, have been dominated by AI-organized carousels...

 Google's Place Sites: A Compliance Gesture or A True Shift in Search?Google is rolling out a new feature called "Place Sites" in North America, following its initial launch in Europe as part of compliance with the Digital Marke...

How Individual Hotels Can Win in EU Search: Our research on hotel searches in Europe, revealed that Booking.com dominated user clicks, especially through ads, while Google's Hotel Finder and Business Profiles saw significantly fewer...

Google Testing Review Badge of Shame & More  in UK for Review Abuses:Google has rolled out a new review “badge of shame” and a new help document titled "Business Profile Restrictions for Policy Violations," introducing...

Google and Booking: The Symbiotic Gatekeeper Relationship in European Hotel Search - We dive into our recent  user behavior research findings about hotel searches in Europe. We recruited 100 users each  from Spain, Fra...

Google Review Fraud Landscape (10:04):Estimates that 18% of reviews across various platforms are fake.Home service industries, such as locksmiths, moving companies, and HVAC, are heavily affected.<...

LSA Increasingly relying on GBP Features: We delve into Google's ongoing “fixes” of LSA features, where reviews and booking tools for LSAs are being integrated from GBP. This move is seen as an attempt to streamline operations a...

Google's PR Smoke and Mirrors: Old GBP Phone Hacking Problems Persist Despite Promises:Spammers and scammers have been able to hijack business phone numbers on Google listings with alarming ease, despite Google's assurances th...

The Role of Brand in Seo:  We speak with guest, Mordy Oberstein on the role of branding in SEO, particularly how it has re-emerged as a significant factor in conversions and SEO. We explore the interaction between brand and user...

Google's Local Business Service Woes: Persistent Bugs and AI-Driven Layoffs Spark Concern:  There have been ongoing support and technical issues with Google Business Profiles. Major bugs affecting local business profiles have pe...

Segment 1:  OpenAI & MindTrip bring AI to search, will it matter?Last Thursday, OpenAI made waves with an announcement about Search GPT, a prototype aimed at revamping the search experience for ChatGPT users. Promising a two-co...

SEOs need to reframe how search ranking works - click thru data being the most important factor:  Click data is a cornerstone of Google’s ranking algorithm, as highlighted by recent DOJ findings. Google uses its heavy reliance o...

In this extended episode of the Near Memo, Greg Sterling , Joy Hawkins, Darren Shaw &

Seattle surgeon pays $5 mil fine for review fraud; What responsibility does Google have?Allure Esthetics and its owner Dr. Java Sagan, were convicted of violating the Consumer Review Fairness Act. They forced 21,000 clients to sign a...

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 negative reviews and review extortion with Curtis Boyd of the Transparency Company. How widespre...

Leadferno: a better tools to capture website leads - Leadferno is a conversion platform designed to transform website visitors into leads through seamless communication tools. Unlike traditional chatbots, Leadferno leverages SMS...

Google Expanding Local Results in the SERPS to the Exclusion of Organic:  While many SEOs have been focused on AI answers and how they are disrupting search, the story in Local search is different. AI Answers have yet to have an...

In this week’s podcast we discussed the evolution of zero-click search and Rand’s upcoming study with Spark Toro's clickstream data provider, Datos, to explore the impact of AI overviews and changes in zero-click searches across different re...