Google Search Quality Declining?, Google Local Test & Self-preferencing, Shifting search behaviors

06/23/22 • 32 min

There's a growing perception that Google is in decline or dying. In an article in the Atlantic, Charlie Warzel interviews Marie Haynes, Dannie Sullivan and Rand Fishkin to try to understand his growing dissatisfaction with Google’s results. Is it too commercial, too corporate or too sanitized? He is not sure but he does know its not what it used to be.

What would Google local search results look like if Google couldn't put the Local 3-Pack at the top of search results? A recently discovered test may give us a clue. New 'Local Cards' have appeared in organic results. They offer less information but still link to GBP pages, not local websites.Even if this test is abandoned, we need to be prepared for change in local SEO and local marketing if the anit-self-preferencing act passes Congress. .

There is growing anecdotal evidence that users are switching to alternative methods to discover local goods and services. Is GenZ ready to abandon Google? Have they already moved on to TikTok and Instagram? Google has lost other search battle before but have managed, by hook or by crook, to stay relevant.

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 70

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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 70

Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

Previous Episode

The power of great CX, What % of searches are local? Antitrust laws & how marketing might change

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Chewy’s provides great CX and it goes viral: When a dog owner’s pet died and they asked Chewy to refund their unused food, the company went above and beyond. In doing so, they demonstrated the incredible viral value of great customer service. A simple customer service act provides bountiful returns.

A look at the top 1000 Google queries on the desktop and what it says about local: Kevin Indig of Shopify looked at the top 1000 searches on Google Desktop. Interestingly at least 1⁄3 were local in intent and most of those were branded local searches.

John Oliver & Rand Fishkin look at the two antitrust bills that might pass this summer: John Oliver, like many comedians these days, does a better job of explaining the antitrust bills in front of Congress than the news does. And he is more fun to listen to. Rand Fishkin looks at how the bills will dramatically change what we do as marketers.
The Near Memo, with David Mihm, Greg Sterling & Mike Blumenthal, is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.

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Entities not keywords, key to search, Google Offers shows playbook, Data privacy even more important

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Time to stop lamenting “zero click” search and to embrace the “messy middle” of Google’s entity search and barnacle SEO. Understanding how Google has remade all of search from inventory to brands into entity search as a way to help consumers make a decision is key to building out a successful search optimization strategy.

Google is leveraging ever more granular product entities and product information to create a local product search experience that Amazon can’t compete with.

Privacy should be a right not a convoluted opt out process. Most users, in choosing to not allow Apple’s app tracking show the way forward on privacy - opt in not opt out. While it is unlikely the federal government will go there states will. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

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 71

Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/

The Near Memo - Google Search Quality Declining?, Google Local Test & Self-preferencing, Shifting search behaviors

Transcript

Greg: Welcome to Episode 70, episode seven - zero amazingly, of the Near Memo with David, Mike and me, where we talk about search social and commerce through a local lens. And today's a kind of special all search edition. We talk about search a lot, but this is going to focus primarily on Google and a cluster of kind of related issues.

And first up is David to talk about a pretty interesting piece that appeared this week in the Atlantic by Charlie Warzel who was