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SEOs need to reframe how search ranking works - click thru data being the most important factor:

Click data is a cornerstone of Google’s ranking algorithm, as highlighted by recent DOJ findings. Google uses its heavy reliance on click data to grasp new trends swiftly as well as to “understand” page quality.

Traditional SEO elements like title tags, meta descriptions, scheme, great photos and content provide enduring value but with a new twist. These elements are tools to drive clicks and engagement and thus ultimately drive higher rankings.

Google Doubles Down on Tried & True Income Generators:

Big changes are happening in the search results whether its AI overviews, Bing’s Generative Search, Reddit’s exclusive relationship with Google and decision to exclude others and all seem related to the rollout of AI on Google. But Google’s has been scaling back AI overviews due to high costs and the need for better monetization. With AI responses being expensive, Google’s focus is shifting towards proven money makers like YouTube, Merchant Center and Local results. Krum highlighted Google's continued play on its “micro moments”—know, go, do, buy—each tied to different monetized Google services.

Is Voice Search Set for a Comeback? SEOs Should Stay Calm and Test:

With the evolving landscape of voice search and AI assistants, improvements in natural language processing and better ML programming could solve past issues, such as background noise interference. While voice commands for simple tasks like turning on lights or adding items to a shopping list have become second nature, using voice in public or work settings still feels socially awkward.

Cindy Krum emphasized the expansive nature of what constitutes a "search" in Google's eyes. A simple voice command involves complex data retrieval and context understanding, transforming voice interactions into a broad and intricate type of search. This perspective shift means SEOs might need to rethink their strategies to include optimization for these varied and nuanced queries.

While voice won't ever entirely replace screen-based interactions, its role could significantly expand if user experiences improve. Despite past disappointments with voice technology, there's cautious optimism that advancements could lead to broader acceptance and use.

Cindy advised SEOs to stay calm amid Google's rapid and sometimes erratic changes. She recommended continuing with proven strategies while experimenting with new platforms and search engines. The consensus was clear: it’s a volatile time in SEO, but understanding and adapting to these changes is crucial for future success.

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.
Ep 167

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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

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Seattle surgeon pays $5 mil fine for review fraud; What responsibility does Google have?

Allure Esthetics and its owner Dr. Java Sagan, were convicted of violating the Consumer Review Fairness Act. They forced 21,000 clients to sign agreements preventing them from leaving honest reviews and engaged in additional deceptive practices like paying for the removal of negative reviews and posting fake ones.

Despite a $5 million fine, Allure Esthetics still shows high ratings on Google and Yelp. Google’s failure to address these fake reviews, raises questions about the platform’s responsibility under Section 230, which currently shields it from liability.

This case highlights the need for changes to Section 230 to better protect consumers and maintain trust in online reviews.

Local Search increasingly shows Google GBP results & extensively highlight Google self preferencing

In a recent AI-driven experiment the local results included numerous horizontally scrolling pack of restaurant types and related local categories, with images and reviews. Most all results in this test took users to further Google searches rather than external sites

In Europe, current local search results showed significantly more Google self-referencing content, raising questions about regulatory compliance. The variations in local search displays across different European countries, suggests that Google's approach might be influenced by regional regulatory strategies.

Despite the heavy Google-centric content, local businesses still benefited from visibility. However, the trend of zero-click searches, where users find all needed information without leaving Google, highlights the increasing prominence of Google's own services in local search outcomes.
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.
Ep 165

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The big picture of review fraud - who does it and why:
We explore the full range of review fraud from fake positive reviews, black hat negative reviews and review extortion with Curtis Boyd of the Transparency Company. How widespread is it, is it growing, which categories are most likely to participate in it and why.

How to deal with fake review attacks and competitors who use fake reviews:
If you are an honest business can you compete in a world rife with review fraud. We discuss how to deal with fake review attacks and how to get fake reviews that your competitors have gotten taken down.

The FTC and fake review guidelines and rules:
The FTC has been upping their enforcement game with new Guidelines which set a standard and upcoming Rules which will facilitate their ability to impose fines on buyers and sellers of reviews. The major platforms are largely exempt from any enforcement but their is language in the upcoming FTC rules that makes a business fully responsible for compliance.

The Future of Reviews: What will see over the next 24 months in review spam & possible enforcement:
New rules from the FTC and better filters from Google might turn the corner on fake reviews but the lack of FTC resources and the lack of Google’s focus may prevent that from happening

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.

ep 164 from the vault ep 128

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Leadferno: a better tools to capture website leads -

Leadferno is a conversion platform designed to transform website visitors into leads through seamless communication tools. Unlike traditional chatbots, Leadferno leverages SMS to facilitate human conversations, which studies show is the preferred communication channel for most people. It’s floating CTAs (Call-to-Actions) on websites encourage visitors to start conversations via text messaging. This approach helps businesses engage more effectively with potential customers by providing a more responsive and preferred communication method.

Leadferno offers various tools, including an embeddable contact form that initiates SMS conversations, request call-back options, and links to other lead forms and scheduling tools. It attempts to make businesses easier to work with by enhancing their ability to convert website visitors into valuable leads through better communication options.

Google nuking GBP & Business Messaging costs small developers:

Google's recent decision to axe its business messaging tools—Google Business Profile Chat and Business Messenger— hits particularly hard for niche players like Leadferno, a company that had heavily invested in integrating these tools. The discontinuation forces smaller firms to reconsider future integrations with Google, given the considerable time and financial resources wasted—six months and approximately $100K, in Leadferno's case.

While it looks like Google will potentially integrate with WhatsApp or SMS, which could partially mitigate the blow for some businesses. However, for many, the sudden shift means lost opportunities and the need to reallocate development efforts. The most affected were businesses with significant Google Business Profile visibility and multi-location operations, which benefited from centralized messaging and automated replies. These features allowed for quicker customer interactions, a critical factor in Google's ranking algorithms.

Google’s decision, like so many similar ones it has made in the past, leaves smaller, innovative companies grappling with the fallout, forcing them to navigate the challenging landscape of constantly shifting tech ecosystems.

Leadferno Research: Small Business Contact Form Failures -

Leadferno documented the startling inefficiencies of small businesses in responding to online contact forms, a crucial channel for new customer acquisition. The research, encompassing 225 businesses across home services, professional services, and medical sectors, highlights a significant gap between customer inquiries and business responses.

Leadferno's Aaron Weiche and his team "mystery shopped" these businesses, submitting highly detailed and strong buying inquiries via their contact forms. The findings are staggering: almost 5% of forms were broken, failing to deliver customer messages entirely. More shockingly, only 15.6% of forms sent an auto-reply, a basic feature that acknowledges receipt and sets customer expectations.

The average response time to these contact form submissions was a lethargic 17 hours and 49 minutes, with professional services responding slightly faster than average, and healthcare lagging behind at over 19 hours. Yet, the most alarming statistic was that 42% of these forms received no response at all.

While small businesses consistently rank new customer acquisition as their top challenge, they are neglecting warm, ready-to-buy leads that land directly in their inboxes. This neglect is even more baffling given the simplicity of the solution: prompt and efficient responses to online inquiries

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Google Expanding Local Results in the SERPS to the Exclusion of Organic:

While many SEOs have been focused on AI answers and how they are disrupting search, the story in Local search is different. AI Answers have yet to have any impact in Local but Google, over the past several years has dramatically increased their control & domination of the Local SERPS with Local Entity data and in doing so seem to be in the process of banishing organic results…. this is particularly true in Near Me searches and the EU results, which should be treated as the canary in the coal mine.

Agencies and businesses need to double down on real world activities that get reflected on line to succeed in these increasingly entity driven search results.

Cluttered Google Results Decrease Traditional Organic Traffic - How to Cope?

We have often mentioned the increasingly cluttered nature of Google's search engine results pages (SERPs). There has been a significant rise in various elements such as product listing ads (PLAs), image carousels, and video results, which diminish the visibility of organic search results. In a recent client analysis, David found that cluttered SERPs for that client, filled with multiple search features and reduced organic presence, were identified as a likely cause for their declining organic traffic.

In a world where Google's shift towards a more modular, AI-driven organization of search results leads to a disjointed user experience, prompting multiple searches to find relevant information, businesses need to adopt a multimodal approach, optimizing their digital assets across various SERP features. This includes using high-quality images with descriptive alt text, leveraging Google Merchant Center feeds for PLAs, and considering broader online channels to build brand visibility.

Google’s AI Overviews Make Search Worse - A Lot Worse:

SE Ranking conducted a study of Google’s AI Overview frequency, finding them present in only 8% of searches, a significant drop from earlier & much higher percentages. This decline is attributed to numerous errors and inaccuracies, causing Google to reduce their usage drastically.

Jess Peck's article, "How and Why Google Made Its Own Product Worse," critiques Google's implementation of AI, highlighted inherent flaws in large language models (LLMs) and their unsuitability for delivering factual search results. Google's rushed deployment of AI overviews, driven by competitive pressure rather than product improvement, has led to a compromised search experience. Google should either refine the use of AI in a controlled manner or reconsider its placement within search results to mitigate the negative impact on its brand and user trust.

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.
Ep 162

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In this week’s podcast we discussed the evolution of zero-click search and Rand’s upcoming study with Spark Toro's clickstream data provider, Datos, to explore the impact of AI overviews and changes in zero-click searches across different regions.

Rand argued for more stringent antitrust measures, drawing parallels between Google's practices and historical monopolies that unfairly leveraged their market power to move into new markets. His call for breaking up Google's core services—search, YouTube, and maps—into separate entities could spur innovation and competition.

He advised businesses that the best way to succeed at SEO was to adapt by focusing on diverse marketing strategies that go beyond traditional SEO. By creating content that gains traction on social media, earns media attention, and resonates locally, businesses can thrive even in a zero-click dominated landscape.

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.
Ep 161

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GBP Chat is Dead, Long Live WhatsApp:

Google nuked both Google Business Profile Chat AND Google Business Messaging last week in a typical show of disregard for the product and the businesses supporting it. This decision comes amid concerns over increasing spam within the GBP chat service, which initially launched in 2017 with high hopes. Despite a significant initial investment, Google's inconsistent product strategy led to its downfall.

Interestingly, Google is now introducing WhatsApp and SMS messaging integration to GBP profiles, suggesting an attempt to fill the void left by the discontinued services. This move highlights Google's long-standing struggle with a coherent messaging strategy, characterized by the launch and subsequent abandonment of numerous messaging apps over the years.

The discussion underscores the broader issue of Google's top-down management style, which often leaves innovative projects without sustained support. Smaller SAAS businesses that invested heavily in integrating with Google's messaging API, like Switchbird and Leadferno, faced significant difficulties in adopting the Business Messaging API and expended considerable resources in doing so. Google's structural inefficiencies hinder its ability to dominate key markets but also damage the greater ecosystem that attempts to integrate with their products.

Scorpion Survey Highlights Growing Frustrations with Google Search:

In a recent survey by marketing firm Scorpion, consumers have voiced increasing frustrations with Google search results. The survey revealed that users are spending more time sifting through results than five years ago. Top complaints include the need to refine queries repeatedly, excessive scrolling, and visiting multiple websites to find desired information. This aligns with ongoing industry discussions about the declining quality of Google's search experience.

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.

3 Local Takeaways from the Google API Leak:


A recently leaked GitHub repository revealed extensive insights into Google's algorithm, highlighting 14,000 attributes and numerous modules that influence search results. This leak, analyzed by Rand Fishkin and Mike King, suggests that Google tracks a wide array of data points from websites, Google Maps features, and YouTube videos to entities.

The significance of 'nav boost' and the 'CRaPS' click-through algorithm, which impact page rankings based on user interactions. Additionally, Google tracks location relevance at a page level, encouraging businesses to create localized content silos for better search performance.

The leak underscores the importance of linking high-traffic pages to target pages and creating localized versions of national content to improve site architecture. It also suggests that local mentions in reputable publications can boost a business's online presence.

Listen in for actionable insights for businesses aiming to optimize their local SEO efforts.

A Tribute to John Heaston. R.I.P. to a great human being:

John Heaston, founder, publisher, and visionary leader of The Reader and El Perico, died on May 31, 2024. He was a prince among humans and an early advocate for inclusive watchdog journalism and ethical digital marketing. John, you will be missed.

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.
Ep 160

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