Video: Last Week in Local October 15th, 2018
Mike Blumenthal

Every week we bring you a brief 15 minute video and the links of the best articles in Local Search. OK. It’s not always 15 minutes but we are never off by more than 10 minutes or so.;

Last Week in Local is now available as a podcast. Sign up here for your regular Local Fix. What better way to spend your drive time?

Author Authority: Does It Matter for Your Content and SEO | Stone Temple

Source: www.stonetemple.com

A review of the evidence on whether Google is using author authority and reputation as a search ranking signal,


The next big restaurant chain may not own any kitchens – TechCrunch

Source: techcrunch.com

Commercial kitchens + delivery could be the next big thing in the restaurant industry.


Study argues Yelp drives higher conversions than Google and Facebook – Search Engine Land

Source: searchengineland.com

A new consumer survey from Nielsen, commissioned by Yelp, argues that review sites drive higher conversions than search and social media. The survey of 2,000 US adults found that 92 percent of respondents said they made a purchase after visiting Yelp, “at least sometimes, frequently or almost always.”


Local Rank Tracking For Law Firms » Juris Digital

Source: jurisdigital.com

Casey Meraz discusses law firm ranking challenges and opportunities.


Reality Check: Adapting to Google’s Ever-Growing Control of the Search Experience | Street Fight

Source: streetfightmag.com

Google has been reducing the amount of traffic to local websites for a long time. And while it took a while to understand what was happening, it isn’t infuriating. Businesses can still get in front of customers and garner leads—it’s just not via their website.


Uber drivers and other gig economy workers are earning half what they did five years ago – Recode

Source: www.recode.net

More people are working for ride-sharing and delivery companies but on average they’re making less.


Uber asks SEC to let it give equity to drivers – Axios

Source: www.axios.com

“Uber believes that work in the modern economy should be empowering, entrepreneurial, and enriching.”

Right.. Uber drivers and other gig economy workers are earning half what they did five years ago.

To paraphrase a famous queen: Let them eat paper.


Sears files for bankruptcy, and Eddie Lampert steps down as CEO

Source: www.cnbc.com

Eddie Lampert has finally managed to run Sears totally into the ground having sold of real estate and their premier brands. He lost his CEO position but will remain chairman as the nation’s once dominant retailer tries to save itself.


Video Deep Dive: Scoring Google as Your New Home page – an agency view

Source: localu.org

Great chat with Andy Simpson how he uses the LocalU Tool to help his local SEO practice.


Google Rolling Out Assistant Duplex Test to Four Cities This Month

Source: blumenthals.com

At Google I/O a preview of Google’s Assistant Duplex, Google’s AI based human sounding digital assistant that can auto create reservations, set off a maelstrom. It is now actually starting to show up in the real world.


3 reasons why Google My Business search queries don’t match Search Console – Search Engine Land

Source: searchengineland.com

A great post by Joy Hawkins as to why the two reports are different.

TLDR; They count different things

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