There was a LOT of changes in the Local SEO world in 2019 – 94 that I’ve tracked (most are listed here). I have to first give Google credit for working so hard to improve the Google My Business product so much. That being said, there are definitely still some items that I think are in drastic need of change.

Here are the top 5 things I’d like Google My Business to update or change in 2020.

1. Customization inside GMB Insights. When you log in to the Google My Business dashboard, the options for Insights are pretty limited. You can see a week, a month, or a quarter on the graph. I would love it if Google would allow you to customize the date range. They already have this option in the GMB API but it has yet to make its way into the dashboard. I’d also love to be able to visualize the data by month or by week instead of daily. With so many businesses having high or low peaks on weekends, it can be very difficult to analyze the graphs when the option is always set by default to show daily.

2. Add Questions and Answers to the GMB dashboard. This is long overdue. Many businesses still don’t monitor the Questions and Answers section on their listing because it simply doesn’t exist inside the Google My Business dashboard.

3. Make event posts show chronologically. Currently, when you add an event post inside the Google My Business dashboard, it shows the events in order based on when you posted them, not based on the date of the actual event. This has been confusing for users and I’d love it if Google could change it.

4. Make service areas in Google My Business actually impact ranking. Currently, the ranking of a service area business listing is based on the address the listing used for verification – not the service areas they enter onto the listing. This is really troubling for tons of contractors who work from home and don’t live in the city they service.

5. I’d love Google My Business to devote more resources to stopping known spammers.  Spam is something that has always plagued Google Maps for as long as I’ve been in this industry. The frustrating thing is watching the same spammers continue to game Google over and over again. I would love it if Google could actually put in place some actual penalties for repeat offenders of the guidelines. Unlike organic search, there isn’t really any concept in the local search world that is similar to a manual penalty.

---

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.

---

In a recent post on the SparkToro blog, Moz founder and search guru Rand Fishkin predicted that 2020 will be the year Google is transformed “from everyone’s search engine to everyone’s competitor.” Fishkin cites Google’s monopoly on web search and the trend toward zero-click searches, then outlines a dizzying range of examples to prove his case, from dictionaries like Merriam-Webster to lyrics sites like Genius, from news sites like USNews and FiveThirtyEight to travel sites like Expedia and Kayak … and the list goes on. Restaurant recommendations, weather, celebrity net worth, video games: just about every vertical you can think of has been impacted by a few related threads in Google’s recent development:

• Featured answers
• Knowledge cards
• Verticalized search experiences
• Zero-click transactions (Reserve with Google)
• Transactions further down the funnel (Google Shopping, Google Travel)
• Carousels
• Local packs

All of these trends are related both technologically and strategically. From a technological perspective, they speak to the building out of the Knowledge Graph and the ubiquity of machine learning in just about everything Google touches in search. From a strategic point of view, along the lines of Fishkin’s argument, Google is pushing every potentially minable source of information, including those that hope to generate commercial transactions, further into the margins, and occupying more and more of the center of the experience.

I want to share some thoughts about how all of this impacts local search, in ways that are very likely to expand in the coming year. My sense is that Google has looked very hard at the way consumers search within different types of verticals, from travel to shopping to restaurants to services and beyond, and has been tweaking the local search feature set subtly, in particular over the last year, but in some cases for much longer than that, to create ever more verticalized search experiences and own an ever-greater share of the funnel.

Google wants to do this in part because of the never-ending quest towards stickiness and protection against competition. In other words, Google wants to be the best local search engine in the world, and having more or less conquered the generic use cases, verticalization is an obvious next place to go. But of course, it’s about more than that. In a scenario where the search engine succeeds beyond its wildest dreams, niche sites and directories that still serve significant margins of the population will simply be removed from the equation, leaving only Google to connect consumers with businesses.

Here are a few examples of the trend.

Retail shopping

This is a case where many subtle changes over time have coalesced into what is now a vastly different product search experience than Google has presented in years past. Google is much more likely now to indicate local availability of products, even when the search has no obvious local intent:

Further down the page for the same search, Google is essentially using the local listing as a conduit for customized presentation of content that meets the searcher’s needs. Note that the primary category of Target has been switched to “toy store” to help satisfy the searcher’s intent, and all three listings show that Google has mined data from the business website to determine relevance, making it unnecessary for the business to explicitly broadcast via Google My Business the availability of individual products:

Particularly with product searches, Google has also focused heavily in recent months on drilling into photo content and modifying the display of listings in order to feature photos that match specific search queries. As Mike Blumenthal has demonstrated, this seems to work especially well when searching for jewelry. In my example below, Google pulls photos of earrings from among the available photos in each listing and displays them prominently in the local pack. In the third listing, Google can even tell earrings are present in a photo that also contains other items.

Hotels

Fishkin talks about this as well, but I still think it’s worth discussing hotels specifically in the context of local, because of how dramatically hotel search has changed in comparison with other local categories. This year, the local pack became the “hotel pack.”

Though it looks similar to the local pack, the hotel pack is in reality a portal to a completely different search experience. You may recall that in late 2018, Google introduced a new version of the Local Finder for hotels, with a greater number of filters and a nine-by-nine grid of hotel listings; that’s already gone and replaced by the hotels section of Google Travel, which has hugely expanded the profile information available for each hotel:

Tabs in the hotel profile now include Prices, Reviews, Location, About, and Photos, with data including a much-expanded list of amenities compared to what was previously available in Google My Business, as well as recommendations of things to do in the area near the hotel and photos from the business, Google users, and third-party sources.

Restaurants

Here’s a vertical with a long history of specialization. A very long history, if you remember back to the days of Hotpot and a range of other Google experiments designed to raise the profile of restaurants in search and capture traffic that might otherwise turn to Yelp or elsewhere for restaurant recommendations. That’s not surprising given the popularity of restaurant search, which must have made it seem like low-hanging fruit to Google from the beginning. In fact, in a recent survey we conducted at Brandify (written about in Search Engine Land by Greg Sterling), we found that 84% of consumers have looked up a restaurant online in the last 30 days, far more than any other category of business.

Today, search for restaurants doesn’t look dramatically different from generic search, but there are several subtle differences, including prominent photos of dishes. Restaurant local packs also include special filters for ratings, cuisine type, price, hours (planning ahead to see if they’re open for brunch on Sunday), and “your past visits,” where you can ask Google to reference your location history to only show you restaurants you’ve been to before — or those you’ve never visited.

In addition, editorial descriptions, such as the line “Relaxed spot for traditional meals” in the listing for Divine Thai, are far more common for restaurants than any other non-chain listing, due to the dedicated efforts of Google’s editorial team to build out that content and make restaurant search appear much more recommendation-oriented than other verticals.

Service-oriented businesses

Though Google has been steadily rolling out new features over the last couple of years for its Local Service Ads, such as the Google Guaranteed money-back program and the Google Screened license verification service, the initiative feels only half realized. Perhaps this is because so many verticals are still excluded from buying Local Service Ads — real estate agents, attorneys, and financial planners were added in 2019, augmenting a list that currently includes about 30 other business types such as locksmiths, plumbers, pet groomers, photographers, house cleaners, and pest control. Local Service Ads are also not available in all regions of the U.S., though coverage has been growing.

The user experience for Local Service Ads is somewhat anemic when compared with Google Shopping or Google Travel. When I search for “house cleaners anaheim ca” I see an ad carousel at the top of the screen, with a local pack right underneath competing for traffic. Compared to Google Hotels, I have much less of a clear incentive to choose the sponsored path:

Once I enter the Local Service Ads interface proper and select a business, I’m presented with a profile much simpler than that of the hotel example I shared above. If this is supposed to stand in for a business website, it’s not particularly impressive.

Still, the very existence of Local Service Ads speaks to Google’s interest in becoming the HomeAdvisor of the future, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a leap forward at some point where Google provides a more robust recommendation service, perhaps with a basic level that is free to businesses.

Today, service-oriented businesses are caught between having to pay for ads (if they qualify) or trying to rank alongside brick-and-mortar businesses in Google Maps and the local pack, which has traditionally been a huge challenge for them — no doubt one of the reasons service-oriented categories like locksmiths, garage door installers, and even attorneys have become notorious for listing spam.

Where is Google headed next?

Given the momentum Google is building around verticalized experiences, there’s every likelihood that the company will continue to add more verticals to its roster in the coming year and beyond. In fact, a recent Think with Google report may provide a hint to the company’s direction in this regard, given that it specifically calls out grocery, automotive and finance in a section called “Traditional industries are transforming with digital.” Google notes that in the past two years, mobile searches for “grocery app” have increased 900%, mobile searches for “electric car(s)” have grown by 85%, and mobile searches for financial planning and management have grown by 70%. These are the kinds of demand signals a data-driven company like Google surely looks to when determining where to build out new feature sets.

Speaking of mobile searches, verticalization is a curious case where desktop is actually out in front of mobile as a locus of innovation. Though, for instance, the mobile browser version of Google hotel search is more or less the same as desktop, all those extra tabs feel crowded in, and the search experience isn’t as strong. And Google Maps — where much of the growth in local search is currently happening — still hasn’t switched over to the new interface for hotels, constrained no doubt by the need to present a unified in-app experience. It will be especially interesting to see how Google balances the priority of verticalization against the growing popularity of Google Maps as the first choice among searchers.

---

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.

---

Ask marketers what their goals are, and one of the first things they will say is to deliver a more personalized experience to their customers. This isn’t a goal aimed solely at increasing conversions; it’s also about meeting customers’ growing expectations.

To put this into context, five years ago, people were awed when Amazon could recommend a product they’d love. Today, users expect that Netflix will recommend to them another binge-worthy series based on their tastes.

So how does a marketer meet this high demand for personalized communications? The answer is in understanding the power of dynamic content and how it makes static content marketing obsolete.

In this free guide, Sharpspring outlines seven simple ways marketers can use dynamic content to connect with audiences in a more organic and personalized way.

Grab your copy to find out:

• How top brands like Netflix and Amazon use dynamic content.
• The marketing automation features that enable you to deliver personalized experiences.
• Ways to personalize your emails, landing pages, forms, pop-ups and more using dynamic content.

Visit Digital Marketing Depot to download “7 Easy Ways to Multiply Your Conversions.”

Business Message/Focus

The restaurant is focused on local partnerships, sustainability, and healthy eating. 

The Promotion

The promotion was for a limited-time item that would be featuring a special vegetable from a local farmer.  Customers had to pre-order for pickup on scheduled days.

 

The Marketing Budget

We had a small marketing budget of $100 for this single promotion, and there would be no paid advertising.

The Results

Digitally, of the 5,000 people who were reached, 125 of them went to the landing page to see what this was all about. 

Of those, 25 quarts of soup were ordered by 14 people.  That’s a visitor-to-lead conversion (also referred to as a CTR or click-through rate) of 2.5% and a lead-to-customer conversion of 11.2%. Lead to sale is 20%. Those are good conversions for an organic promotion.

All other sales were made in-store or over the phone for total net sales of $702.  The client spent $450 making the item and, with marketing costs (we were under budget), ROI was calculated to be 1.7, or 170%.

Not a great return, but it is positive, so there’s room for PPC planning. 

What We Recommended

We recommended increasing exposure by adding pay-per-click on Google and Facebook.  If we increase exposure to 50,000 digital views by adding just $200 to that part of the budget, we could improve ROI to about 3-5, based on the above conversion rates. 

We’d focus on driving traffic to a specific landing page using UTM codes to watch and properly target the ad.  We also recommended doing long-term digital marketing through inbound methods to improve long-term growth, sales, and customer retention. 

We might soon see another FTC investigation of Facebook for “consumer deception.” The company acknowledged in a letter to two U.S. senators that it continues to capture and use location to serve relevant ads even if users have turned off location services.

Bipartisan inquiry into Facebook’s user of location. Senators Coons and Hawley sent a letter in November to Facebook “raising concern that Facebook ignores the wishes of users who don’t want their exact location to be tracked,” The Hill first reported.

Facebook, in September, pledged to be respectful of user choices around location tracking. In a blog post, the company said, “You can control whether your device shares precise location information with Facebook via Location Services, a setting on your phone or tablet. We may still understand your location using things like check-ins, events and information about your internet connection.” So Facebook is explicitly saying it will still use location.

Facebook not technically ‘deceptive.’ This caveat and the word “precise” may wind up saving Facebook from legal consequences. Mirroring the language in its blog post, the company explained in response to Coons and Hawley that it continues to use location (though not precise location) from other sources such as user check-ins and IP address. So, as laid out in its post, the company isn’t technically “deceiving” people, though they may not have caught that point.

Google was similarly embroiled in controversy over location tracking after it was discovered that the company captured user location even if location history was turned off. Google subsequently made changes and offered more transparency and user control over user location.

Why we care. As an aside, research has shown that locally relevant ads outperform ads without location. People generally prefer “relevant” ads. The real issue here is trust; and on that question, Facebook is still in the dog house. The company continues to struggle following the post-2016 revelations surrounding Cambridge Analytica and the exploitation of user data by third parties on the platform.

---

As the year winds down, it’s time to look at what’s in store for the local business landscape in the coming year. The good news is the benefits of enterprise-grade technology are becoming more accessible to this business segment. We see this shift taking hold in 2020, along with a stronger confluence of complementary solutions coming together to meet comprehensive SMB needs. The following are three top local commerce trends that our Local Search Association analysts predict will take center stage in 2020.

1. Shifting into BIY technology: The concept of buy-it-yourself (BIY) SaaS technology is empowering small and local businesses to purchase technologies that are designed to meet their holistic needs in a self-service delivery model. Whether delivering martech, adtech, fintech or other key operational services, in 2020 we expect to see more SaaS solutions offering a BIY approach for small businesses for improved customer retention and satisfaction as well as higher average order values.
2. Amazon blitzes Retail-as-a-Service (RaaS): Amazon will soon roll out a “retail-as-a-service” offering for local retailers as one of the secret endgames of Amazon Go stores. It will utilize the technology for cashier-less stores and reflect Amazon’s signature logistical streamlining capabilities to help local retailers improve margins and yield through modernized operations.
3. Uber makes a Local Ads play: Uber will continue to gain economies of scale through services that are adjacent to rides (Eats, etc.). It will also build on its existing rides architecture with a local ad engine. This will utilize captive audiences during the app’s in-ride mode, as well as robust data on riders’ spatial patterns. This will start with ads for local restaurants (a component of Eats) but could move into other local categories. It will be a self-serve programmatic ad engine and potentially bid-based for locally relevant placement. 

---

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here.

---

It’s the holiday ad that caught fire for all the wrong reasons: A young, seemingly fit woman is gifted a Peloton stationary bike (presumably by her husband) and proceeds to vlog her fitness journey over the course of a year.

The ad, produced by creative agency Mekanism, went viral almost immediately, sparking criticism about Peloton’s unhealthy depictions of body image and marriage – not to mention the “Peloton Woman’s” concerning expressions (which some have quipped resembles a face of fear). Naturally, Twitter users couldn’t contain themselves, dragging the cringe-worthy campaign with labels like sexist, elitist, and entirely unrealistic.

Soon after the spot aired, actor and liquor brand owner Ryan Reynolds cashed in on the drama – and marketers everywhere scrambled to pick their jaws up off the floor. The ad spot for Ryan Reynold’s liquor brand, Aviation Gin, cast the same actress from the Peloton ad — in a sequel that tells the story of where the Peloton Woman is now. Spoiler: She’s downing Aviation Gin in a bar with two friends, wallowing in the aftermath of Peloton’s ill-conceived commercial. We’ll toast to that.

Exercise bike not included. #AviationGin pic.twitter.com/jYHW74h81l

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) December 7, 2019

What makes the gin ad brilliant real-time marketing?

For starters, it’s clear the Aviation Gin ad is a tongue-in-cheek response to the viral Peloton commercial. The ad shows the Peloton Woman (portrayed by actress Monica Ruiz) projecting a deadpan stare as she sits quietly with her martini sans wedding ring – all while her friends tell her she’s “safe here” and “looks great, by the way.” She then downs her entire drink in one gulp.

Did the Peloton Woman heed the advice of Twitter and leave her Peloton husband? Most likely.

In a maneuver that combined timeliness, meme culture, and a simple product message, Aviation managed to capitalize on another brand’s moment of infamy with striking success. The commercial garnered immediate responses after its release, with Reynolds tweeting a link to the video along with the caption, “Exercise bike not included.”

An old tactic with a viral twist. What Aviation Gin did isn’t new. Poking fun at other brands is an old ad trick that’s been used by the likes of Sprint (remember Verizon’s “Can you hear me now” guy?) and Samsung, which has been known to mock Apple product users. But the Aviation Gin ad has raked in praise from advertisers and consumers alike – not because it’s a new concept, but because it came with timely delivery and contextual relevance.

The ad’s success hinged on the brand’s ability to quickly produce a made-for-web commercial in nearly real-time. The video was produced with a tight lead time – only 15 days elapsed between the Peloton ad and Aviation Gin’s commercial.

It’s an undertaking that would be difficult to achieve in traditional TV advertising, which has longer turnaround times and stricter regulations around ads containing alcohol. This, coupled with the commercial’s cheeky release on social media, created the perfect recipe for a viral campaign that launched on the right platform, at just the right time.

---

The podcasting platform Acast has launched Acast Open, making available its podcast production offerings to any brand or publisher wanting to start a podcast. Acast Open includes three subscription models — Starter, Influencer and Ace — that come with different levels of support and analytics.

Why we should care

Adobe Analytics reported that podcast app usage grew 60% over the past year. Not only does this translate to new advertising opportunities for brands — the increase in podcast popularity opens the door for any company or executive ready to take their content marketing to a new level via a branded podcast.

“Digital audio brings a new and untapped audience who are not reachable via traditional media,” says Sally Yu, director of research and insights for BBC Global News’ APAC division, during a recent event organized by BBC News and Campaign Asia, “It brings additive value to the traditional media reach.” Outside of music streaming, the top three forms of audio content consumed right now are music (67%), news (50%) and podcasts (37%), according to a study commissioned by BBC News that focused on the commercial opportunities of branded podcasts.

If your brand — or CEO — has value to add to a larger industry conversation, a branded podcast may be the piece of content marketing that sets you apart from your competition and helps you reach a whole new audience. Platforms like Acast and Spotify’s “create a podcast” app aim to make it easier for brands to join the ever-growing list of podcasters.

More on the news

• Acast reports that any podcasts produced on its platform that appear to be attracting “a significant enough listenership” may be invited to join its premium network of podcast shows.
• Acast’s current network includes a number of popular podcasts, such as “My Dad Wrote a Porno,” “Forever35,” and “Wahlgren & Wistam.”
• Acast Open is the result of Acast’s acquisition of Pippa, a technology platform that provides hosting, analytics, and monetization capabilities for podcasters. Acast purchased Pippa in April.
• The free Starter model includes a podcast RSS feed for distribution, basic analytics and a basic website for the podcast. The Influencer level is $14.99 a month and comes with advanced analytics and YouTube and Spotify support. Ace, the most expensive offering at $29.99 a month, is designed for companies in need of more advanced podcasting tools.

---