Google Plus links have been showing up here and there in Google Knowledge Graph results, but I think the big G just pushed into overdrive. This morning I noticed Google Plus profiles showing up where Google Knowledge graph data has been displayed on SERPs that target brand queries, along with some new formats. Some of these have been around for a while, but I can’t remember which ones are old and which are new so I am listing everything I…
And while I’m on the subject, Stever has a great post up on some tips for Encouraging Google +1 Votes for Local Business Websites. Key point for unsuspecting SMBs to take note of: “Forget the new schemes popping up to buy hundreds of plus 1 votes. Those will be meaningless to a local business as it is very likely nobody in that network are local to that business. That and it is likely a manufactured network just to sell +1’s…
SearchEngineLand just published Google Plus Connections Are The New Link, some thoughts of mine on how local search co’s and SMBs may try to leverage Google Search Plus Your World to improve local SEO. After rereading it, it seems clear that as more and more organic results are deemed to have “local intent”, the only way that Google Plus content stays relevant is for users to have tight local networks. If that doesn’t happen, Google’s own quality algorithm should purge…
I don’t recall seeing these little prompts in the search results before.
A few years ago on these august pages I did a post on Reputation Management Jujitsu as a way of obtaining links by saying nice things about companies with poor online reputations. The idea being that these companies are eager to link to blogs saying positive things about their brand. Now that Google Search Plus Your World has begun its putsch and Google Plus connections have become the new link, it has got me thinking about the ripple effect…
I couldn’t resist. Update: As of 2/10/12 this video has been seen over 170,000 times. Achtung Baby!
It’s pretty clear that Google Search Plus Your World – Boy that sounds like something out of a sci-fi novel where some machine has taken over and is breeding humans for advertisers (never happen right?) – could radically alter the SERPs for queries that match up with content with strong social signals in your network – or not-so-strong signals as we are seeing in the early version. That means that a huge economy is going to grow up around influencing…
So far I am not a fan. When I am looking for info on Bronycon, I don’t need to see the Bronycon info that I shared, or that my friends have shared, as the default result. Would be much better as an option to filter the results. And who came up with that mouthful of a name?
Lior Ron announced today that Google is dumping the HotPot brand for its local reviews system and rolling it into Google Places. It’s a good move and I am guessing an indicator of more product coherence from GOOG as a result of Larry Page becoming CEO. I was always confused by the HotPot brand. Most, if not all, local reviews sites don’t have separate brands for their review systems and their local listings database. That said Hotpot has been on…
I just sent an email out to a bunch of local seo types and saw this on the “message sent” confirmation screen: