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You’ve Gotta Be Kitten Me: Uber Delivers Cute Cats to the Search Influence Officehttp://www.searchinfluence.com/2015/12/youve-got-to-be-kitten-me-uber-delivers-cute-cats-to-the-si-office/By Jacqueline Carter on Dec 01, 2015 03:09 pm Apparently, looking at photos of cute animals while at work not only makes you happier, but it also increases your productivity. Like most companies, Search Influence encourages employees to be productive. So on National Cat Day (October 29), when we learned Uber was delivering kittens for just $30, we HAD ... Continue Reading >>Read it! »Google Confirms CTR is a Ranking Factor in Local SEOhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GooglePlacesExpertJoyHawkinsLocalSeo/~3/FN2YyqiJd7k/By Joy Hawkins on Dec 01, 2015 02:59 pm Previously the communication directly from Google clarified that ranking in the local 3-pack was based mainly on 3 things: Relevance: Relevance is how well a local listing matches what someone is searching for. Adding complete and detailed business information can help us better understand your business and match you to relevant search results. Distance: Just like it […]The post Google Confirms CTR is a Ranking Factor in Local SEO appeared first on Google My Business (GMB) Expert | Local SEO Tips.Read it! »Go Mobile or Go Home during the Holiday Shopping Seasonhttp://www.simpartners.com/mobile-home-during-holiday-shopping-season/By Tari Haro on Dec 01, 2015 12:28 pm Image Credit: Fox Business You probably expected Cyber Monday to be a mobile experience — but how about Black Friday? IBM has shared some data that might grab your attention: More than 57 percent of visits to ecommerce sites on Black Friday came from a mobile device, up from 50 percent in 2014. More than […]Posted by Tari Haro at Go Mobile or Go Home during the Holiday Shopping Season. Visit SIM Partners for more great information!Read it! »Which Local Citation Sources Offer Follow Links?http://www.localvisibilitysystem.com/2015/12/01/which-local-citation-sources-offer-follow-links/By Phil on Dec 01, 2015 04:18 am Pretty much every local listing you create for your business lets you include a link to your website, so that it’s easy for visitors to learn more about you.  But most of those are nofollow links  – meaning Google’s not supposed to “count” them for or against your rankings. Still, some sites don’t slap a […]Read it! »Google Removes the Location Setting?http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/UnderstandingGoogleMapsYahooLocalSearch/~3/Vh9nSAO5WI4/By Mike Blumenthal on Nov 30, 2015 05:04 pm Off and on for the past two months, the search location setting as been disappearing for many folks only to come back again. Today Johnny Niumata noted it’s once again missing. I checked all three browsers (Chrome, Safari and Firefox) on my Mac and it is missing for me as well. I suppose it could be … Continue reading Google Removes the Location Setting? →Related posts:Google Location Results Still Screwy Old Google Maps Heads to the Graveyard Google Testing Location Answer Box      Read it! »First They Came For Set My Location…http://www.localseoguide.com/first-they-came-for-set-my-location/By Andrew Shotland on Nov 30, 2015 04:35 pm Google’s “Set My Location” option in the Search Tools section appears to have pulled a Google Plus Local… First spotted by the ever-diligent @LennyPham. From @DarrenShaw: “Fortunately, &near=city_name is still working for getting localized results outside of your city.”The post First They Came For Set My Location… appeared first on Local SEO Guide.Read it! »The Great Google Plus Local – Google My Business Decoupling of 2015http://www.localseoguide.com/the-great-google-plus-local-google-my-business-decoupling-of-2015/By Andrew Shotland on Nov 30, 2015 02:53 pm I was at Shea Stadium during the NYC blackout of 1977. It’s was pretty cool. The lights went out at Shea first so we got to watch all of Manhattan go dark one block at a time – we were high up in the cheap seats. When big events happen, what we were doing, where we […]The post The Great Google Plus Local – Google My Business Decoupling of 2015 appeared first on Local SEO Guide.Read it! »Search Influence Is Grateful for Its Newest Influencerhttp://www.searchinfluence.com/2015/11/search-influence-is-grateful-for-its-newest-influencer/By Aubrey Ahmed on Nov 30, 2015 12:22 pm Join us in welcoming this month’s newest Influencer to the Search Influence team! Kari Llorens  – Account Coordinator Kari is originally from Kansas City, Missouri and played competitive volleyball for 10 years, including one year at Loyola. She loves to explore New Orleans and finds herself walking around Magazine St. ... Continue Reading >>Read it! »Google Hotel Knowledge Panel Now Showing TrustYou Review Summarieshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/UnderstandingGoogleMapsYahooLocalSearch/~3/sDqoKc1z0js/By Mike Blumenthal on Nov 30, 2015 10:56 am The Google Hotel Knowledge Panel is now showing TrustYou review summaries (h/t TC Tim Capper of Online Ownership). I am not sure when this started appearing but the summaries show granular detail about rooms, location and facilities and replace the Google review snippets that were shown previously. There is some irony that Google is sourcing … Continue reading Google Hotel Knowledge Panel Now Showing TrustYou Review Summaries →Related posts:Google Now Displaying Full Review Snippets in the Knowledge Panel Knowledge Panel – Down the Hotel Rabbit Hole with Google Google+ Local Reviews Now Showing Descriptive and Not Numerical Scores      Read it! »Video Deep Dive: Review Incentiveshttp://localu.org/blog/video-deep-dive-review-incentives/By Mike Blumenthal on Nov 30, 2015 09:00 am This is the eleventh installment of our Deep Dive into Local series. For the week ending 11/6/15, David Mihm, Mary Bowling and Mike Blumenthal shared their thoughts about the previous week in local. The complete video is posted in the Local U forums (paywall). In the second half of that video, they take a deeper [...]The post Video Deep Dive: Review Incentives appeared first on Local University.Read it! »Google Local and the Continuing Lack of Clear Google Messaginghttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/UnderstandingGoogleMapsYahooLocalSearch/~3/T3lUf7HGQ_s/By Mike Blumenthal on Nov 27, 2015 11:54 am Martin Brossman, observing the recent pivot of G+,  recently noted that he: .. so much wish[es] Google would have communicated this in clearer ways to small  businesses. The businesses I meet are more confused than ever with the Get on the Map program, that then changed everything. Not communicating the changes in a way that makes … Continue reading Google Local and the Continuing Lack of Clear Google Messaging →Related posts:TripAdvisor Continuing to Limit Reviews in Google Places Google Local: Improved Messaging on Moved Businesses Now Showing Google+ Knowledge Panel Messaging Gone      Read it! »Google Plus Upgrade FAQ for the SMBhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/UnderstandingGoogleMapsYahooLocalSearch/~3/Xei_oHCOD30/By Mike Blumenthal on Nov 25, 2015 11:56 am Google has finally made some forward facing statements about the new Google+ and how it relates to local. Essentially it doesn’t. And they have no plans to add features back that would make it more local friendly. They noted: The following features are no longer supported for Local pages – Reviews, categories, directions, stars, photo … Continue reading Google Plus Upgrade FAQ for the SMB →Related posts:Google Adds Ability to Upgrade G+ Brand Pages to G+ Local Pages Google+ Business and Local Merge Process is NOW LIVE Analysis: Google Places for Business – Upgrade or G+ Pages Lite?      Read it! »  10 More Local Search Posts You May Have MissedLocal Traffic “Diversion” — Google Claims It’s A Bug, Yelp Says It’s IntentionalWhat Changes to Google+ Mean for Local MarketersOnly One Direction for New Twitter Hashflags: UpVideo Deep Dive: Google’s New RankBrain Algo & Local SearchBing Maps Adds Traffic Cameras To MapThe Cure for Corporate SEO Inertia…Even If A Brand Can’t Do SEO, It Can Still Do Local SEOWe Know Who the Black Friday Winners Will BeLocal Resource: 50 Top International Citation SitesNextdoor Moves In on Facebook, Yelp, Craiglist with New Local Services Directory