FTC lays groundwork for review fines; Amazon creates a stealth offline catalog; Google Lens surfacing Local Packs with product shots

The Near Memo

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The FTC sent out a letter to many of America’s largest businesses (Apple, Alphabet, Comcast, Yelp among others) detailing unlawful practices relating to the use of endorsements and testimonials. At first glance it might seem like these companies are doing something wrong, and possibly, some are. But for the most part the FTC, still smarting from their failure to extract fines in the Sunday Riley case, is making sure that they will in fact be able to extract fines if any of these companies violate the testimonial guidelines.

Several of us received a folksy looking toy catalog in the mail the other day. Upon closer inspection it was from Amazon. This heavily curated catalog was appealing to the eye but a surprise that it was so lightly branded. Catalogs are expensive to produce, print and mail but it also provides consumers with a handy guide to the best Christmas toys without having to navigate through Amazon’s search engine. Each page contained a QR code that took the buyer directly to the right page to buy just the right toy.

Google has long been refining the use of AI to pick which photos to show in search results. Now they are refining how photos can be used to actually search for things you are looking for. Claire Carlisle details her currently unpublished research on how Google Lens is leveraging local AND photo awareness to produce shopping results. This is likely a precursor to the full image + query searches that Google has announced to allow users to “point and ask” by sharing both a photo and a question to surface related results.

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 37

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