(Editor’s note: This post has received some criticism that I “gamed” the outcome by using the unusual case of a two businesses with the same address and phone number. While I agree that the majority of businesses won’t have this issue, there still is a huge swath of them that do. We deal with them every day. That said, if you are one of the lucky businesses that is not affected by this kind of thing, then your results with Moz…
Just caught Greg’s piece on Facebook’s new mobile local search feature: Facebook Gets Into Local Search with Facebook Nearby for iOS & Android. While I don’t expect Facebook Nearby to stay ad-free forever, with the entry of Facebook Nearby and Apple Maps, both ad-free, I’d say 2012 has been the most interesting year in the Local Search biz since Google Places rolled out. Many in the industry would argue that the ads do help people find the right businesses and help…
For those in the know, Dittmer’s Gourmet Meats & Wurst Haus was the best place in Silicon Valley to get a smoked pork chop, a pickled pigs foot or a tub of duck fat. Unfortunately, last year a faulty smoker caused a fire and Dittmers had to shut down while it moved locations and rebuilt. During the agonizingly long hiatus, Dittmer’s has run a pretty awesome Facebook page to keep fans updated on when the new Los Altos location will…
According to the BIA Kelsey’s 2010 Local Commerce Monitor, the use of social media by small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) who spend at least $25K in online marketing/year has risen dramatically over the past year. As I mentioned in my post on The Local Reviews Ecosystem, the focus on customer engagement via reviews and social media is going to be the big small biz story of 2011. And while Facebook is clearly dominating the SMB social media pie, I fully…
If you have been following the saga of the newly opened Main Street Meat and Fish Market in Pleasanton, Greg Sterling and I were having a discussion last week about the fact that since they are a new business, they are not yet showing up in the local search databases like InfoUSA, Acxiom & Localeze, and yet they have thriving Facebook and Yelp pages. One thing I hadn’t noticed last time I checked is that they also had a GoWalla…
So it’s finally here. Predictions: Facebook Places will (and probably already has) become the Twitter of location check-ins. Anyone creating an application that relies on check-ins will need to use Facebook Places as its foundation. And anyone who didn’t know what a check-in was two days ago probably knows what it is now. This is actually awesome news for everyone, maybe even Foursquare, GoWalla, MyTown and the rest of the location-based-service crowd.