Google devastates local food delivery, The boom in pet adoption leaves Vets overwhelmed, Amazon sellers paying to delete negative reviews

The Near Memo

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Google, when testing new features in the chase to improve user’s experience, often pick large partners for the test period. Effectively they pick a “winner”, that, if the test succeeds, has an early mover advantage in local. often this is to the disadvantage of existing, smaller local players. That is what happened with delivery services being included in the Local Business Profile.
In their local newsletter local vet created a great piece of content and sympathy from vet owners. They told the story of how as Covid left many people working from home the rate of pet adoptions accelerated but the increase in pets led to a vet shortage and significant vet burnout.
The pressures to rak higher at Amazon has led merchants to follow up with customers directly with an offer to pay for a negative review take down. When that fails they move on to harassment.
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 28 Near Memo

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