Google Review Bug Saga, Impact of Local Business Reviews, Google’s Missguided Store Finder

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Google has finally admitted to the bug that caused local businesses to lose all of their reviews AND rank visibility. Google appears to have fixed many of those businesses reported over the weekend. But as is typical with Google it took public embarrassment to get them to acknowledge and fix this serious bug. It highlights both their PR strategy and their totally inadequate customer service. Included are tips on how to distinguish this bug from the many other reasons your location is currently losing reviews.

This Moz survey cataloging user motivations around reviews confirms what we know about user behaviors. What is the number 1 reason that users leave bad reviews? What does “Peak Reviews” mean in terms of user behaviors? Why is this and how will it impact reviews going forward.

Google promotes lame store finder to bulk GPB users, adding insult to the injury of NMX interface

Google introduced a Store Finder product in June and in a typically bad timing twist, just started promoting it to bulk Google Business Profile accounts. The Store Finder is a poorly executed product with bad SEO and no target audience except those users that rely on the bulk interface and. To add insult to injury they are promoting it while simultaneously forcing bulk users in the new search interface aka NMX (New merchant experience). This new search interface is disorganized with a terrible UI. But it is particularly difficult for Google Bulk accounts that attempt to manage their listings via the location dashboard as they need to continually move back and forth between two dramatically different interfaces searching for hidden features.

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 90

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