Hot off the press! Today Google announced a fundamental change in the way they display local listings. Called Google Place Search, it’s set to dramatically increase the importance of small businesses having a well-optimized Google Places listing.
Here’s how the new service works:
When you type in a general search like ‘IT support’, Google will continue to [...]

If you’re using AdWords to market your local small business, you should already know about location extensions. They allow you to show your location to potential customers before they click through your ad.
Numerous advertisers have experienced exceptional results after adding ad extensions to their local advertising campaigns. From pizza delivery companies to paint stores, they [...]

We’ve mentioned David Mihm’s Local Search Ranking Factors article before – it’s a crucial guide to the ins and outs of how Google (in particular) determines where in the Google Places results a local listing will show up.
Each year David Mihm surveys a number of top SEO practitioners regarding the local listing results they’ve seen, [...]

If you’re in any way social media-savvy, you’ve probably encountered Yelp before. (If you haven’t, it’s one of the leading review sites on the web. Users can post reviews of various businesses and interact with people who post other reviews. If you’re working with a B2C company and they’re not on Yelp, drop what you’re [...]

Of all the local directories out there, Google Local (now Google Places) is still the king of the hill. Not only are they a part of the most widely-used search engine in the world, but they also have the most integration with third party applications.
Thanks to Google’s extensive API, developers for web and mobile applications [...]

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Today, Google announced a rebranding of one of its key features: the former Local Business Center is now known simply as Google Places.
One out of every 5 searches is location-based, so naturally Google wants to find ways to improve their local search results and make money off of the space, too. For that reason, along with [...]