Local Search

In the Google tradition of continually adapting their products toward the best interest of its users, Google Places officially announced this week the introduction of user contributed updates for Google Place pages. Customers of local businesses will be given the opportunity to provide up-to-date information on business listings that are potentially outdated or incorrect. In addition, Google Places will also source and identify content from third party...

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 keyword terms related to the service plumbing and also the locations...

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 your destination? On its ongoing quest to consistently improve its user experience, Google has...

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 is now a permanent fixture of the search results. Google's stated reasons...

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 as Sydney Powerhouse Museum, TrueLocal for service providers such as a computer repair shop,...