Dana DiTomaso brings her practical insights to the often murky waters of Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Dana, who wears multiple hats as the president and co-founder of KickPoint, shares candid thoughts on the challenges of demystifying GA4. She discusses the shortcomings of GA4, emphasizing its strong data collection capabilities but criticizing its reporting features. Dana emphasizes the necessity of understanding what GA4 and other analytics tools can and cannot do. She advocates for a realistic approach to data, encouraging marketers to focus on trends rather than absolute numbers. She discusses the integration of various data sources and the strategic use of analytics tools to provide actionable insights

If you sign for Dana’s courses with the coupon code: nearmemo you will get 20% off.

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 155

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Ad market dominated by a few players:

The Internet Advertising Bureau released their annual report for 2024. Digital advertising reached a record-high of $225 billion, with the biggest share going to search ($88.8 billion) & display ($66.1 billion). The bulk of this income is distributed across the top 10 advertising platforms and with the end of cookies, their dominance is likely to be reinforced. While paid search's (ie Google’s) share of total revenue declined, real dollars grew 5.2%. With a flattening of search demand, Google's new opt-in Ad Intents contextual format is an example of the "creative" monetization that we will increasingly see more of.

Seattle Physician Found Guilty of Violating Federal Review Law:

A federal judge found Allure Esthetic of Seattle wrongly prevented patients from posting negative reviews with illegal NDAs and issued a summary judgment in the case. Not only did this surgeon buy fake reviews and have staff create fake reviews, he forced over 10,000 patients to sign NDAs preventing them from post reviews of less than 4 stars without first consulting with the surgeon. If they did post lower reviews they also had to agree to their private health information being divulged in the response. The case, first filed in late 2022, will go to trial in September and the main purpose of the trial will be to determine the monetary damages. Given the large number of patients affected and the high costs in this vertical, the fine should be substantial.

If you content is only as good as ChatGPT you will fail:

Ten websites dominate search results for nearly all medical symptoms. This dominance is attributed to their substantial content libraries and extensive inbound links. Major names like Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins lead this group, often making it nearly impossible for other healthcare brands to gain visibility. Additionally, platforms like Quora and Reddit also appear frequently in search results, sometimes promoting questionable medical advice through user comments. This trend reflects a broader challenge within SEO practices where established brands with robust content and linking strategies overwhelmingly outperform newer entrants, reinforcing the need for strategic content investment and diversification beyond mere SEO tactics.

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 154

Subscribe to our 3x per week newsletter at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Reviews are Like Death & Taxes & Should be Treated that Way:

Miriam Ellis wrote a great article at Moz providing small business owners tips on how to overcome their fear of reviews. But they really need to go further. Given that reviews, like death and taxes, are not going anywhere businesses need to not only remove their fear but create stringent business processes around getting AND contesting reviews that removes their emotions from the process.

Google Cries ‘Wolf” When it Comes to DMA Compliance:

Google's approach to DMA compliance seems to prioritize its interests, presenting a false dichotomy between new compliance changes and the previous state, which was more favorable to all parties. Google needs to innovate rather than blame DMA for negative outcomes, and to really increase opportunity within the search results there needs to be stringent regulation on self-preferencing, especially with first-party data, particularly entity data.

The Future of SGE:

Google’s SGE experiment is still just that; an experiment. There is speculation that it will be formally introduced during Google I/O in May. When it is, will it move behind a paywal, will it become just another universal result or will Google take some third path. Equally importantis whether Google generative AI will continue to receive legal protection under Sec 230.

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 153

Subscribe to our 3x per week newsletter at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/