FTC to Amerifreight – Failure to Disclose Review Incentives Against the Law
The FTC has, for the first time, successfully sued a company for incenting on line reviews and not declaring this material connection. According to Google reviewer mb2970s: mb1970s 7 months ago I was moving from Nashville to Albuquerque. This is the third time that I have ever transported a vehicle (previously with two other … Continue reading FTC to Amerifreight – Failure to Disclose Review Incentives Against the Law →
Ever Wonder Why does Google show a 4.8 rating when I have all 5-star reviews?
I have gotten the question alot so I wrote an answer on the Local U Blog: Why does Google show a 4.8 rating when I have all 5-star reviews? The short answer: something like a Bayesian average. You’ll have to read the article at Local U to learn more.
Facebook Reviews Should Be a Part of Every SMB Review Plan
If you had any doubts as to whether Facebook has a place in your review strategy, news this past week from Bill Bean that Facebook reviews were now showing in the Google “Reviews from Around the Web” should put them to rest. I was curious how widespread this was and whether it was just a […]
Google Dropping Review Shadow Box in Serp and Going Directly to Plus?
Yesterday while doing training I noticed that Google was dropping the review shadow box from the main search results and taking users directly to the business Plus page. Today others are noticing this as well. Nicolai Helling pointed the new behavior out on G+. As Nicolai mentioned and I agree this change “seems to be preparatory to release […]
Making Hay While the Sh*t Flies – What Should Union Street Do Now?
The internet is a funny place. A world of opportunity and a world of pain. The Union Street Guest House is in the middle of a maelstrom of its own creation. One that if managed properly could serve them well over the long haul and if managed improperly could flag them for years. There’s no […]
Yelp Coming Under Fire For Review Take Downs From Its Reviewers
Yelp is caught in the middle of the shit storm surrounding the hotel that recently was outed for finning wedding parties if they left bad reviews. Thousands of reviews have been posted there and thousands removed. Now though, many reviewers are targeting Yelp for their squelching of dissent and their ability to properly vet reviews. […]
Yelp Reviewers – They May be Weird But Andrew Shotland Appreciates their Humor
By now most everyone has heard about the Union Street Guest House, recently outed for threatening a $500 fine if anyone in your wedding party left a bad review. The pile on has started. As of yesterday there were 161 reviews on their page there and most (146) were in response to the news article […]
A Plug-in for Adding Google Reviews to Your WordPress Blog
Many have asked for a way to post their Google reviews on their site. This plug-in seems to solve many of the problems associated with doing that and seems to provide a useful solution. Google Places Reviews, installed at the right, allows a WordPress site to relatively easily embed up to the 3 most recent […]
Reviewer Demographics – Facebook has more Women, Yelp has more Men
We live in a big country. There are differences in behaviors between men and women, rural and urban and regionally. This is as true on line as it is offline. Those who leave reviews are not a uniform lot nor are their preferred review sites. In my recent research as to which sites US internet users […]
Where Do Consumers Leave Local Reviews? Facebook Now #2
TL;dr: Amongst consumers that leave reviews more than once per year, which sites do consumers prefer for leaving reviews? The answer might surprise you. Google is number one overall but Facebook made a strong showing and outpaced Yelp for the number two spot as a preferred site to leave reviews. Reviews have two sides: Where do people read them? […]
OIO Publisher Ad Manager Plugin Review (& How to Guide)
I have a particular site (powered by WordPress) that has a high demand for banner advertising. I was tired of cutting in the ad networks on advertising space sales, so I went in search of a fully automated native advertising plugin. I ended up going with the OIO Publisher plugin. I wanted an automated solution […]
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How To Generate Customer Experience Reviews For SEO Profit – Part I
Here’s a question for all you search marketers out there: given the option, would you prefer to optimize a site that sells products, or services? Personally, I find product-based websites far easier to optimize than service-based sites due to their generally clearer site architecture, access…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
A Review Handout Alternative: Try P&P To Get More Local Reviews
Everyone knows how important reviews are — they factor in to the local algorithm and they play a huge part in click-throughs and building trust. Good reviews can make you, and bad reviews can break you… so businesses do everything they can to get positive reviews. Since Google doesn’t…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
SpyFu Review – Keyword Research, Link Outreach Tools & Much More
If you’re a regular reader of this blog or have seen me speak, then you already know that I’m a big fan of SEMRush. That said, if you’ve read my posts about finding profitable keywords, then you’ve probably also noticed that I have a paid subscription to the SpyFu keyword tool as well. Now, there’s […]
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Google My Business – Let’s Not Stop Here – My Wish List for Upgrades
Google’s recent My Business rollout puts a very strong product in the hands of the SMB – mobile social posting to business pages, additional social analytics, easy to update local information. It finally solves most of the issues that have haunted Local since 2011. If it isn’t obvious I think it is a well done, […]
Book Review: Contagious
At SES London this year in one of the content marketing/social sharing sessions which featured Matt Roberts from Lindex, he mentioned Contagious by Jonah Berger as one item on a list of resources and items that they had found useful in evaluating whether or not they were producing “shareable content”. Intrigued, I ordered a copy during […]
Post from Arianne Donoghue on State of Digital
Book Review: Contagious
Google Review Snippets – Hall of Shame Favorites
Front page, full sentence Google review snippets are in full swing and I can’t take my eyes off of them. I have spent more time than I should looking for front page examples of smb armageddon. And I am finding them even on more highly rated businesses. And they can certainly add “color”. Its still not […]
Does Google’s Review Count Inflation Give Them An Unfair Advantage In Local Search?
We all know that monitoring online reviews is important for online marketing; but lately, it seems that not all reviews are created equal. In fact, Google+ Local reviews may have a greater impact than others on your online marketing effectiveness. According to Searchmetrics’ analysis of SEO…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Google Review Snippets – More Impactful by Half
With the rollout of review sentiment snippets to the Knowledge Panel in Local search, Google has again elevated reviews another notch in their visibility and impact. These “review synopses” are not just more visible but in being just one sentence and clearly highlighted they are more capable of having greater affect on the reader. In the previous incarnation of sentiment snippets (still extant on […]
Using Google Reviews On Your Website
The question often comes up whether a business can and should use their Google & Yelp reviews on their website. Leaving aside the value to the user experience for a minute, I was curious about the legal issues involved. A small business would be foolish to use those reviews if the costs of litigation, however […]