Twitter ‘Location Spotlight’ Rolls Out — Last April Twitter launched what amounts to a GMB/GBP profile on its platform for selected businesses with physical locations. Called “Location Spotlight,” it’s now rolling out globally. Location Spotlight enables “professionals with physical business locations to display their business address, hours of operation and additional contact information so that customers…

Brand Beats Performance Marketing — Whether or not we’re in a recession, many marketers are acting like it. Tech companies are laying people off and marketing budgets are tightening. However, a new “Rules of Recession-Proofing” report from Analytic Partners (lead-form) argues that “cutting marketing budgets is a recipe for long-term failure, not success.” Based on…

Part 1 Video start 0:13 — Instagram evolves (?) to target Gen Z but leaves others behind Part 2 Video start 10:27 — Google prevents reviews on listings that offer reproductive services Part 3 Video start 19:45- Local Packs show for 77% on Google commerce query SERP results Reference Articles: INSTAGRAM…

The End of ‘Location Intelligence’? — The era of precise mobile-location data, which spawned numerous “location intelligence” vendors (e.g., Foursquare) may be coming to a close. For the past decade these firms have become progressively more sophisticated about using data from app developers to build audience segments, capture competitive insights and track store visits — from…

Apple and Amazon Defy Gravity — After two quarters of negative growth the US may be in a recession, although that’s disputed. Whether or not it’s technically so, tech companies are acting like it with layoffs, hiring freezes and weak revenue growth. Snap, Shopify, Twitter, Microsoft, Meta and Google all reported lower revenues than expected, though…

We still need to hear from a few of you. This is our final push for the UpCity-Near Media digital agency survey. Take The Survey It takes about 15 minutes to complete. Each person finishing the 30-question survey will receive a $5 gift card and access to exclusive SaaS discounts, from these and other great providers: Whitespark Local Rank Tracker Zipsprout Local Link Building Services Leadferno Two Way Business Text Messaging

Reviews can no longer be left for any Google listing that uses the category “pregnancy care,” or abortion clinic or is associated with Planned Parenthood. For listings that have had reviews turned off either there is no longer a button to “write a review” (on the desktop) or the user…

Earnings: Digital vs. E-Commerce — Snap, Twitter, Microsoft and Google revenues have all disappointed Wall Street revenue estimates. (Meta reports today, Apple tomorrow.) Yesterday, Google missed on both the top and bottom lines. It reported $69.7 billion in revenue, which was 13% growth YoY. However there was strength in Google’s core search-ads business and its…

LSAs, ‘Verified Reviews’ and Liability — A week ago Robin Dirksen discovered that Google was testing a “not verified” label for local reviews (see below). I assumed it was a “CYA” move by Google to disclaim the veracity of local reviews (“don’t blame us”). Some people saw it as a prelude to Google implementing a review-verification…