The Near Memo – Details, episodes & analysis

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode of The Near Memo, Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal talk with Michel of GMB API about what new data reveals regarding review removals, fraud detection, incentivized reviews, and regional legal differences across Europe and the U.S.

The conversation explores why reviews are increasingly central to AI-driven search experiences, how enforcement tools can unintentionally harm small businesses, and what this all means for trust, visibility, and competition in local search.

Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, Jes Scholz joins Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal for a deep dive into the forces reshaping search: AI agents, the rise of conversational interfaces, the 60/40 brand-activation model, content freshness, multimodal distribution, and why your database — not your website — may determine your competitive future.

Jes explains what marketers must do now: update your content strategy, test your site with agents, fix your UX friction, and prepare your database for natural-language inputs. Essential listening for SEOs, CMOs, and local businesses navigating the next wave of digital change.

Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode of the Near Memo, Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal dig into Google Business Profile suspension increases over time, the broken state of reviews, and insights from Google’s Liz Reid on AI Overviews, AI Mode, and monetization. What do these changes mean for small businesses, SEOs, and consumers? Tune in for an unfiltered take.

Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Send us Fan Mail

Will Google's Reactive Behavior to Search Quality & AI Solve Their Problems?

• Google is struggling to adapt to the changing market dynamics, including the rise of AI, TikTok, and criticism of declining search result quality.
• Google's efforts to retain younger users by modifying its search results to include more engaging content like social media, short videos, and images.
• Google's algorithmic updates are aimed at improving search result relevance and combating the issue of low-quality AI-generated content.

 LSA Ad Efficiency and Google's Transition to a UX That is AI Driven: 

• Local service ads (LSAs) are outperforming traditional search results and organic traffic due to their higher efficiency in attracting clicks.
• The success of LSAs is due to their visual & emotional appeal, trust badges, and display of relevant information like star ratings, years in business, and the Google guarantee.
• Google is transitioning towards a new approach where search results will be tailored to users' emotional responses, leading to increased click-through rates on ads.

Google’s  Incredible Notebook LM IS the Future of AI For the Rest of Us:

• Notebook LM is Google's most notable AI development this year, allowing users to create customized datasets and effectively build their own large language models.
• The accessibility of Notebook LM, makes this technology suitable even for non-technical users.
• Notebook LM has the potential to revolutionize various industries by empowering individuals to develop personalized AI tools and generate high-quality content with ease.

The Near Memo is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.
Near Memo Ep 138

Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Send us Fan Mail

 Can Gemini Fix Search?

Google’s current interface and attempts at query refinement are largely broken. Google’s new Gemini upgrade to SGE appears to offer advanced search query refinement capabilities and individualized user interfaces that could resolve both of those issues. The potential or customized and visually diverse search results when integrated into search could provide a much improved user experience.

The Impact of Google’s Rating Bias:

Google's more liberal grading scheme seems to inflate ratings compared to other platforms. This discrepancy leads to user confusion and skepticism about the reliability of these ratings. How do you reconcile these variances, considering how they can mislead consumers and impact decision-making processes. There is a need for more consistent and transparent rating systems across different platforms.

Reviewjacking Reflects Big Problems with Local Service Ads:

Google's due diligence regarding their Local Services Ads (LSA) program is severely lacking. The program, intended to guarantee consumers trustworthy services, has been exploited due to insufficient vetting processes. Some businesses, particularly in the HVAC sector, have manipulated Google's support system to attach unrelated but highly-rated Google Business Profiles (GBPs) to their LSAs, artificially inflating their reviews and misleading consumers. This exploitation points to a significant security flaw within Google's system, highlighting a disregard for safety and consumer trust. This oversight has allowed a few bad actors to significantly impact the market, especially in areas like Texas, where spam listings have become widespread.

The Near Memo is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.
near memo ep 137

Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Send us Fan Mail

In this extended episode of the Near Memo, Greg Sterling , Joy Hawkins, Darren Shaw & Mike Blumenthal explore the role of generative AI and how it has evolved one year after CHat GPT was released.  We cover:

• Experiences and opinions on the use of AI tools like ChatGPT in SEO and content creation.
• The effectiveness of AI in different aspects of agency work, including creative tasks and data analysis.
• The influence of AI on the quality of content and the evolving nature of SEO strategies.
• Perspectives on the future impact of AI on the SEO industry and the role of agencies.

How Local SEO agencies use AI to improve client content:

• Content Creation Challenges with AI: Contrary to initial expectations, AI has not replaced content writers. While it is used for drafting and repurposing content, AI-generated articles often require extensive human editing, especially for factual accuracy and coherence.
• Content Refinement and Repurposing: AI excels in transforming existing content into different formats, like converting a list into a blog post or a blog into a script. This minimizes the editing work required.
• Efficiency in Post Creation: AI has been particularly effective in generating social media or Google posts, reducing the time and mental effort involved in content creation. This includes automating tasks like emoji placement in posts.

 How Local SEO agencies explain AI to their clients:

• AI in Client Communication: Both Sterling Sky and Whitesoark  are transparent with clients about their AI usage, addressing concerns about potential negative impacts on SEO performance. AI is presented as a tool for idea generation and preliminary drafting, not as a primary content creator.
• Client Engagement with AI: Clients are generally receptive and interested in AI's role in content creation. The emphasis is on AI as an assistant that complements human skills, ensuring quality and originality in content.
• Cost Implications: There have been no significant shifts in pricing structures due to AI efficiencies. The focus is on using AI to maintain or reduce costs rather than altering client fees.

 Local SEO Agencies & their AI future:

• AI as a reporting super power: extracting meaningful insights from large data sets for clients.
• Long-Term Impact on Staffing and Skills: Agencies do not foresee AI replacing human staff. Instead, AI is viewed as a tool that enhances staff capabilities. Concerns about AI causing dependency or de-skilling are noted, but the overall sentiment is optimistic.
• Future of AI in Local SEO: AI is expected to lead to more efficient workflows and better quality content. Agencies anticipate a growing divide between those heavily reliant on AI and those favoring a balanced, human-centric approach. AI's role in data analysis and automating repetitive tasks is highlighted, enhancing both client service and internal processes.

ChatGPT's Review Insights

• Experiences and opinions on the use of AI tools like ChatGPT in SEO and content creation.
• The effectiveness of AI in different aspects of agency work, including creative tasks and data analysis.
• The influence of AI on the quality of content and the evolving nature of SEO strategies.
• Perspectives on the future impact of AI on the SEO indus

Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Send us Fan Mail

Google’s Newest Search Features: “Whipped cream on S.H. I. .T”.?

While Google's new features aim to enhance user interaction and personalize the search experience, they may not address broader user concerns about search result quality and privacy. And in fact may, as David points out, might just be whipped cream on a not very tasty substrate. The success of these features will depend on their implementation, user acceptance, and compliance with global privacy standards.


Whitespark Research:  Exploring the Landscape of Local Business Reviews across 1 Million Listings. 

In the world of local businesses, customer reviews play a pivotal role in shaping public perception and influencing consumer decisions. Darren Shaw and Whitespark's comprehensive analysis of a million local businesses offers valuable insights into the distribution of reviews across various categories. 

There is a lot of work to be done on the fake review front:

Google’s new review algo didn’t do a very good job spotting the many fake reviews on the physician’s practice recently fined by the NYS AG. The fine, $100,000, was hardly enough to pay for the time they spent analyizing the situation and certainly was not enough to deter someone that is making millions as an orthopedic surgeon.  While the FTC and state’s AG are getting more aggressive bringing high profile cases, it is unlikely that is enough to stem the tide of fake reviews. 

The Near Memo is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.near memo ep 135

Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Send us Fan Mail

Google Maps from useful to bloat?

Google Maps continues to add new features and functionality and as it has become a primary search engine for Google and its forward facing brand it has included so much functionality that it suffers from extreme bloat. The new immersive directions exemplifies the problem. but Maps is a deep moat and it is very difficult for others to challenge. 

 Citations and their value to Local Search: 

In the past, citations from directories were crucial for local businesses, especially those without a significant inbound link footprint or a website. These third-party profiles often served as the only source of validation for Google to categorize and recognize the existence of these businesses. At that time, Google had fewer signals to rely on for local businesses, such as a less developed native review feature and a smaller corpus of reviews. This context made citations in directories like Yellow Pages, City Search, and Yelp significantly valuable, as they were well-ranked in Google's organic algorithm and helped propel the mentioned businesses in search rankings.

However, the landscape has shifted considerably. Nowadays, most businesses have claimed their Google Business Profiles and provide information directly to Google. A larger percentage of these businesses have their own websites with inbound links. This development diminishes Google's reliance on third-party directories for data validation, which was a significant role these directories played a decade ago. Furthermore, the authority and trust in many of these non-Yelp directories have declined, making citations in them less impactful for local SEO. The current strategy emphasizes identifying and targeting sites that rank for desired keywords, as these are more likely to draw clicks and direct customers. This shift highlights the need for local businesses and agencies to adapt their SEO strategies, focusing more on building a robust online presence and less on broad directory listings.

 Google’s New  Small Business Attribute: Helpful or Performative ?

This attribute aims to make it easier for consumers to discover small businesses online when shopping for products. Google defines a small business as an entity not part of a franchise, with fewer than $10 million in revenue and less than ten locations. However, there's a debate over this definition, as it excludes franchisees, who constitute a significant portion of small businesses in the U.S. Google plans to infer small business status from various signals and also allows businesses to affirmatively apply for the attribute.

From a marketing perspective, this development is significant yet somewhat limited in its potential impact. The attribute is expected to help small businesses be discovered more easily, serving as a modifier or a long-tail tool in certain search contexts. However, there are concerns about the actual effectiveness of this feature in driving substantial exposure for small businesses. Critics argue that if Google were genuinely committed to enhancing small business discovery, this attribute would be more prominently integrated, such as in Google Shopping or as a filter in search ads. As it stands, the attribute may have a limited impact, appearing sporadically and possibly unnoticed by users. This suggests that, while beneficial, the attribute's impact on small business visibility and marketing might be more symbolic than substantial.

The Near Memo is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.
near memo ep 134

Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Send us Fan Mail

“Running a startup is like being in a knife fight,” BeanBox Co-Founder and CEO Matthew Berk unexpectedly says, as he describes the arduous but rewarding journey from the world of SaaS to making a real-world consumer product.

 From Local Search to the Speciality Coffee Business:

Matthew Berk’s personal and professional path took him from a humanities degree to co-found a local-search startup (OpenList) and eventually to a more traditional real-world manufacturing and logistics business (Bean Box), where he’s the CEO today.

OpenList was ahead of its time as a local search engine and some of the things they did experimentally are now being deployed (e.g., generative-AI review summaries). OpenList was acquired by Marchex in 2006, to provide content for the latter’s extensive portfolio of local domains at the time.

Berk also explains why he loves to write code. And he talks about the steep learning curve in getting BeanBox off the ground, the hard lessons learned in the early days and how they’ve stayed true to their customers as the company has scaled.

Search, Social and Ads: BeanBox’s Marketing Surprises:

We discuss the similarities and differences between running a software startup and a more traditional business with a physical product. Berk also explains the challenges and satisfactions of building a consumer brand that touches people’s lives on a daily basis.

Another significant topic explores BeanBox’s marketing strategies and lessons learned. What worked in the past and what’s working today? Berk covers Amazon, affiliates, Google Shopping Ads, SEO, content and social/influencer marketing. He explains why BeanBox focused obsessively on SEO in the early days, but now not so much.

The company has decided to crowdsource its latest funding round. Berk explains the challenges of investing in growth but also building a sustainable business and maintaining product quality

The Near Memo is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.
near memo ep 133

Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Send us Fan Mail

GBP Call History’s History - What does it say about Google?

Google Business Profile Call History has been problematic from the start because it made the business of calling a business more like roulette. When it disappeared after months of barely functioning every thought it had been nuked. But it's back. Its chaotic development, its checkered history, the lack of communication around it speaks to all of the things that Google does poorly and why any smart business would not put such a critical piece of infrastructure in Google’s hands. 

Bright Local Local Business Discovery and Trust Report: 

Brightlocal’s second discovery and trust report surveyed 1100 users in the US and looks at everything from the impact of inaccurate listings to which social sites searchers trust. People still trust Google and Google Maps while trust in Facebook, Yelp and the others is much much less. 

How will Google’s SGE impact local search and what will it deliver?

Google’s Bard strategy of taking generative AI as a search tool into their productivity and assistant tool makes sense. But what of the Search Generative Experience in search? The test is coming to end in December and we ask exactly what can we expect and what should we think about as it relates to local search? 

The Near Memo is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.
NearMemo Ep 132

Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/