Video: Last Week in Local 12/9/19

Mary: Bill Hartzer shares his experiences with a “non-local” business using a GMB listing. Remember when I removed my Google My Business listing? Well, I have now removed the GMB listing not once, but twice. Here is what happened the 2nd time.

Mary: Read this thought-provoking thread on Twitter by Bill Slawski: “Which SEO myths need to be buried, that you are sick of seeing and reading about?

Mary: Playing defense, TripAdvisor buys Single Platform to boost it’s restaurants division.

Mary: Trip Advisor is selling do-it-yourself display ads in an effort to attract more travel advertising dollars.

Colan: Google is testing the black “ad” color for 3-pack ads on desktop. They blend in and look just like the organic results.

Colan: Google has added a useful messaging interface inside Google Search Console.

Colan: One of the most frequently asked questions in the world of Local SEO: Help! I Got a Negative Review From Someone That’s Not My Customer.

Colan: What is Neural Matching and what does this mean for Local SEO?

Carrie: https://searchengineland.com/google-confirms-nov-2019-local -search-update-325860

I had no idea what they meant by “neural matching” so I had to go digging. According to Danny Sullivan – “The use of neural matching means that Google can do a better job going beyond the exact words in the business name or description to understand conceptually how it might be related to the words searchers use and their intents…” IE – they turned up the dial on related queries – or queries that don’t have a business name in them – in an effort to show local results with local intent.

This seemed to turn up the dial on GMB business name spam.

Neural matching allows Google to better understand when users’ queries have local search intent even when the business name or description aren’t included.

I am seeing some of the spam in results go away again – but not sure if that’s just in my limited searching. Lawyers with spammed biz names seem to still be doing well in some locations.

Carrie: Tim Capper wrote a step-by-step guide to setting up and optimizing your Google Business Listing for restaurants. They have unique challenges that other categories DONT face, so this is a nice niche-specific guide. Definitely worth a look

Carrie: Mary did a Moz whiteboard Friday and explains very clearly how relevance, proximity, and prominence work together to craft a result for any query with local intent. This is a GREAT addition to any conversation about local – and any audit you’re doing of a local website for someone who doesn’t understand the local algorithm.

Carrie: LocalU is partnering with CallRail to bring a 1-day Google MyBusiness Master Class to Atlanta on March 25, 2020. Tickets right now are steeply discounted before we release the agenda on 1/6/20 – just $599!