Healthy Blog Reviews

If you were characterize the relationship between Google and Yelp these days it would have to occur on a sliding scale that runs between contentious and bearable. Let’s face it, they don’t get along well and each new event in the relationship adds some more drama. Yelp has rebuffed a Google attempt to buy the service at the end of last year and they have recently been in a spat over the use of Yelp reviews in Google Place Pages. This little battle was based on both the use of the reviews at all and where they were usually placed (which was at the end of the line behind Zagat’s and others). Now it appears that Google has taken Yelp results out of their Place Page results entirely. According to TechCrunch From our checks, it seems like Google has completely omitted Yelp reviews from Google Places . As you may recall, Yelp has been frustrated by Google’s recent decision to pump up its Places service with Yelp’s content— without Yelp’s consent. During a recent interview with TechCrunch TV, Yelp’s CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said he was surprised by Google’s move but was confident that it was not a “permanent situation, from what we gather from talking to Google, they are sort of headed in a new direction that which hopefully will be more positive.” If positive means that those results have been scrubbed from Place Pages (or appears to have been across the board) then Yelp wins. If it meant something else well then that sliding scale of this complex relationship is moving back toward contentious pretty quickly. I don’t know all the ins and outs of Google and Yelp’s agreement to exist in relative peace but if I were Yelp I can’t imagine how being in Google Place pages hurts your efforts. There are many other third party reviews that show up in Place Page results and that can only help those sites with both credibility and potential traffic. I suspect that Yelp has a mild case of “my ‘you know what’ doesn’t stink!”. In other words, since they view themselves as better than others they will expect something in return (money) which is only natural. That kind of arrangement between these two blew up in the past though. Also in the past, Yelp has shown extreme arrogance in some selling ‘techniques’ that were causing SMB’s cry extortion when it came to removing malicious reviews from the site. Any company that does that and has to wait to get its hand slapped before making a change has got some issues. This attitude is just playing out in other business relationships as well. Maybe it’s just a culture thing with Yelp. Not sure how this will all play out but as Google’s move toward mobile continues and their concentration on Place Pages importance increases it may be Yelp that comes crawling to Google for some help in the future. Or not. Join the Marketing Pilgrim Facebook Community

Tags: Business, concentration, google-place, google-places, Local/Mobile, marketing, past, place, place-page, place-pages, relationship, words
Posted August 26, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

Each time I find out about how Google is making strides in turning many of their popular services into a usable mobile form I am reminded of just how far mobile has to go. Honestly, I am naïve enough to think that a company like Google would already have done something long ago with an important feature like Google Finance to make it a mobile standard. Guess I was wrong. If Google is playing “catch-up” then just how far behind is the rest of the world? From the Google Mobile blog (which was from a cross post from the Google Finance blog which brings up the point that it is a part time job trying to keep up with all the blogs Google has but anyway) Here on the Google Finance team, we’re always looking for new ways to help you access the finance data, charts, and reports that you need in the blink of an eye. But all the data in the world won’t help if you can’t access it when you need it most. Since many of us are on the run throughout the day and don’t always have our computers in front of us, it came as no surprise that one of users’ most frequently requested features was a fast, easy-to-use mobile website for Google Finance. We heard your feedback and are please to announce we’ve launched the new Android/iPhone edition of Google Finance for mobile! The markets don’t stop when you leave your desk, so we’re bringing the markets to you. Our new design gives you a unified experience across desktop and Android or iPhone phones, offering nearly all the same features and functionality on both. You can easily access the new site when you do a Google search for stock tickers or company names on your mobile device, or when you tap the “Finance” tab on the Google mobile homepage. For full disclosure (since finance types are supposed to do that right?) I am not a high finance guy. However, if I was I would be surprised that Google is just now paying more attention to turning something as time sensitive as financial dealings into a more usable mobile form that helps people to effectively use the tool while on the go. Here’s what it looks like So what’s the marketing angle here? It’s pretty simple. You need to get your mobile strategy in order. If Google is seeing just how important this is do you think you might want to take the hint? Now for some Google gamesmanship. If you would prefer to have this in an app it is only available for Android devices. Go figure, right?

Tags: cloud-computing, cloud-hosting, computers, data, finance, google-finance, Local/Mobile, marketing, markets, mobile, tool, world
Posted August 25, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

Local online ad spending is climbing faster than expected with sales reaching a number in 2011 that was originally predicted for 2012. According to a study by Borrell Associates , which was reported on by PaidContent, online ad spending is likely to rise 18% next year rising to $16.1 billion dollars. Ad spending overall is expected to hit $51.9 billion which equals a 14% growth. This is a nice leap over this year’s spending which is likely to rise less than 2% from last year. Borrell says this upswing is coming mostly from the rise in targeted advertising to local audiences and “everything involving social media.” None of this is surprising given that “local” is the magic word of late. Everyday the marketing news is filled with stories about new mobile apps, websites and social media sites that are helping business target the customers in their neighborhood. Technology is making it much easier for the mom and pop bicycle business to compete with Toys R Us and thanks to mobile and social media marketing, dad doesn’t have to dress up as a bumble bee in order to make sales. Sadly, I do miss the days of Crazy Eddie screaming at me about how his prices are INSANE and my week is never complete until I’ve heard that mattress guy sigh, “You’re killing me, Larry!”  But the truth is, as much as I enjoy those local commercials, I’ve never been compelled to by their product. On the other hand, an email for a free entree at the restaurant up the street will have me there by the end of the week. As an interesting side note, Borrell lists Monroe, LA – El Dorado, AR, Albany – Schenectady, NY, and Des Moines – Ames, IA, as the fastest growing areas for local advertising. Among the slowest? Fairbanks, AK. Imagine that. Pilgrim’s Partners: SponsoredReviews.com – Bloggers earn cash, Advertisers build buzz!

Tags: business-target, climbing-faster, customers, making-it-much, marketing, miss-the-days, neighborhood, Social Media, street, the-restaurant
Posted August 25, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

In case you haven’t noticed, I am not a big fan of politics or politicians. It doesn’t matter which side of the aisle they come from or claim to have allegiance to, to me a politician is a politician is a politician. So what is happening in Florida Democratic primaries today doesn’t help me feel any better about these folks. According to ClickZ , some folks running are using mobile ads to help them get the vote during the ‘last mile’ to the ballot box (or whatever it is in Florida these days). Mobile advertising is often a direct-response marketing tool, something focused on a call-to-action, but for one Florida Attorney General candidate, it’s all about persuasion. Today, as Democrats queue up to vote in their party’s primary – quite possibly with mobile devices in pocket – Dan Gelber’s campaign aims to reach them there. The AG hopeful is running Google mobile ads targeted to Floridians in the hopes of convincing them to vote for Gelber if they search for more information about the candidate while en route to the polls or waiting in line. “The point is, it’s really just the last ad people will see when they’re getting ready to vote…. It’s the last way some voters will look for info,” said Josh Koster, managing partner for Washington, DC-based Chong + Koster, a digital consulting firm working with the Gelber campaign. Now don’t get me wrong. I realize this is what advertising is all about. The trouble here is that we are not talking about which brand of deodorant you are going to be buying. No this is about persuading people through a blue text ad to make a decision that could impact a lot more than if they smell nice. Think I’m over-reacting? What’s your take on this comment from the agency that put together this campaign? The Gelber campaign has one message to get across to voters searching for information about the candidate and his opponents: He’s been endorsed by several major Florida newspapers. “Gelber Gets Endorsements,” reads a mobile ad running today. “Every Major FL Newspaper Endorses Dan Gelber for AG. Learn more,” it continues. The St Petersburg Times, Miami Herald, and South Florida Sun Sentinel are among papers that have given Gelber the nod. “It’s pure persuasion at this point,” said Koster. Indeed, though the ads link to the Gelber campaign site, the campaign isn’t necessarily concerned with people clicking on them. Rather, the goal is to convince them to vote for Gelber after reading the brief ad copy itself. “These are very, very highly valuable persuasion impressions…Very few times do you have a persuasion message that can be boiled down to one [short ad message],” said Koster, calling the Gelber situation “a somewhat unique case.” How lame is this? Trying to persuade people to vote for someone because a dying industry (the newspapers) have decided that they will back a certain candidate. If you are basing your vote on which paper endorsed what candidate that’s not research, that’s just lazy, especially if it is a last minute decision. Oh and aren’t the newspapers supposed to be unbiased? Oh, sorry, that hasn’t been the case in, oh, let’s say forever. If we have gotten to the point where it’s only about the last message anyone sees before they make a decision does that mean that many people will stop thinking and just do what they are told right before they need to act? I’m sure you are shouting “No way!” but maybe you should stop giving people so much credit. After all, if that wasn’t the case why would these ads appear? Join the Marketing Pilgrim Facebook Community

Tags: case, democrats, Florida, highly-valuable, Local/Mobile, marketing, newspapers, polls
Posted August 24, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera has made Zynga Game Network an offer they better not refuse. As part of a marketing stunt for Mafia Wars, dozens of fake $25,000 bills were glued to the sidewalks around San Francisco. It was probably a hoot watching people bend down and try to pick them up but the Department of Public Works isn’t laughing. They say they had to steam clean the sidewalks costing them time and money. . . really money, not that phony stuff. The total cost is still being figured, said a spokesperson to SFGate, but you can bet it’s going to be high enough to prove that crime don’t pay. The stunt was one of two campaigns Zynga launched to promote a new Las Vegas version of Mafia Wars. The bills in question had the link to the website on them — but then why were they “glued” to the street? Did they expect people to bend down, read and remember the address? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to leave loose money lying around? The new game site is offering up a $25,000 grand prize, thus the dollar amount on the bills. Their other promo, one that was far more dangerous, actually went off without a hitch. They hired Snoop Dogg to blow up an armored car in the Vegas desert, and that’s an interesting story in itself. You can read how it came about at Inc. Meanwhile, back in San Francisco, Zynga’s been ordered to turn over all of their files pertaining to the marketing campaign in the city. They’re also requesting that the company come up with a “proposal to fully resolve the issue.” Paying to clean up the mess alone isn’t going to cut it. The irony here is that the hoopla surrounding the stunt has generated more press than the stunt itself, so whatever Zynga has to pay in the end may be worth it. Photo: SFGate Pilgrim’s Partners: SponsoredReviews.com – Bloggers earn cash, Advertisers build buzz!

Tags: attorney-dennis, city, department, direct, francisco, francisco-city, marketing, network, street, thus-the-dollar
Posted August 21, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media