Siri Search, makes use of Yelp’s business ratings, thus this makes instantly makes Yelp a strong local competitor to Google Places.

The understated thing for small businesses, is to make sure that you nurture your Yelp business profile page. You need to claim your listing, and encourage happy customers to leave their happy thoughts on your profile link.

Yelp is now very relevant to your small business rankings. Google Places has been the big dog in local optimization or as I call it, Local Awesomeization…. And your places ranking and profile completion has become very important for your local marketing.

Now, Siri, which is a virtual assistant will be able to find you anything you want… and it is using the Yelp Reviews to rank therecommendations.

Apple just entered Local Search in a big way. This is the key take away from this event, not that the iPhone 5 isn’t here, but that the iPhone 4S with Siri is going to revolutionize how Apple iPhone users find local information.

HUUUUUUUGE.

Siri used over 35 APIs to find what its users were requesting, including one to translate speech to text. In April, 2010, Apple bought Siri before it could expand to Android. Over a year later, the app has been built into the next generation iPhone software. The fact that Siri uses Yelp, instantly gives them importance, and even more importance, when the Siri service launches on some of the other iOS versions.

Nuture your Yelp account now.  Claim it, and begin getting good reviews.  Local search is a science, and you have to get that information out there.

Now, what you may want to do, is to connect with and nurture relationships with people on Yelp… the people who leave reviews for your business.  Look at this message that I recently got via Yelp.

Yelp has re-entered the local search fray, folks.  Pay attention.

Now, that I’ve been using Google+ for 3 weeks, I’ve noticed my online behavior evolving. Whenever I’m reading an article by some brilliant thought leader, writer, journalist, marketer, blogger… whoever, I immediately go type their name into Google+ to see if I can add them to some circle, so that I can begin learning from them and interacting with them.

My concern is when corporations and brands enter Google+, that it doesn’t taint the G+ experience. I’m thinking that extensions will be built to help filter the noise, if need be, and we can mute whoever we don’t want in our stream of G+ consciousness.

Connecting intimately with these people, makes the internet feel like an industry conference or something where side conversations happen all over the place. I’m sure that many business deals, friendships and partnerships will sprout as a direct result of the interactions with Google+.

There is a goldmine of opportunities for those paying attention. Personally, I’ve had conversations with the brightest minds in technology, journalism, SEO, social media and I’ve had hangouts with Michael Dell, Mike Blumenthal and other awesome, brilliant people. This isn’t a social media site, this is a connection engine. None of this is possible without Google+ ability to comment and circle these thought leaders.

If you haven’t given Google+ it’s due time, yet. I highly recommend it. You may just meet your next business partner, land your next job or come up with the next world changing idea with someone you interact via Google+. So, anyone you find online who appeals to you, look them up on Google+, and begin to get to know them. Then begin to find ways to add value in the discussions that see them having.

Boom. The science of G+. Circle. Listen. Add Value. Communicate. Influence. It’s as easy as that.

Mine is https://plus.google.com/u/0/107496519574681170790/posts.

How in the hell is anyone going to remember that? Zero percent chance of remembering that. Ok? Sure, Google+ is still in beta, but a vanity URL would be quite handy. Et voilà! Here is the remedy for what ails you. Gplus.to, the unofficial short vanity URL for Google Plus.

All you need is your Google+ ID, which is the long string of numbers that currently makes the URLs so ugly, to get your short URL. This ID is located when you click on your profile picture or username. Go to GPlus.to and plug in your desired username, and you’re good to go.

If you don’t have you G+ invite, yet…

If you do, hit me up! http://gplus.to/teedubya

Google+ seems like a “reaction” to Twitter/Facebook. But are you starting to see the ways that Google+ just makes Google a better, more integrated set of services? Google already has top-notch products in key categories–photos, videos, office productivity, blogs, Chrome, Android, maps and (duh) search. Can you start to see/imagine what Google+ does for Gmail? Picassa? Youtube? Not to mention search? The +1 system that Google now has control of (unlike Facebook Likes) can really influence and change the nature of their search.

My original vision for MS was that everything got better when it was social–so I tried to build all the super popular things used on the web (blogs, music, classifieds, events, photos) on top of MySpace’s social layer. When Yahoo launched 360, MSN launched Spaces, and Google launched Okrut, I was shakin in my boots. But quickly I saw that it’s really hard to layer in social to features after the fact. At MySpace we had the luxury of having social first, and building the products on top of that layer. Then I choked and Facebook realized that vision.

But Google+ really seems to be primed to make good on that original premise–that everything gets better when its social. And unlike FB, Twitter, or anyone else, Google already has the most advanced set of products. And if I can clearly see where this is headed, then I think what we are getting is a much better Google. Does that kill FB/Twitter? Who cares? I’d use all 3, but more importantly, I’ll be using Google products I never used, or use them in new, better ways I never used them before.

Oh yah and I love my Google TV

From an android smart phone or an Apple iPhone rather than the punch your zip code or locale name onto the personalized landing page. It doesn’t appear to work on iPad, as of yet.

Google has allowed users to have location-based news by entering their zip codes on the web since 2008, and today is the next leap into mobile local news dominance. There is a lot of money in hyperlocal advertising and Google is setting itself up as the real player in the space.

If you visit Google News from your phone will prompt you for your location in going to show you all types of news categories that interest you. Pick and choose a few that you’re passionate about , and Google will start delivering those news stories to your smartphone device.

Google isn’t doing this just for the hell of it. You know what comes next, right? Hyperlocal advertising. So, be prepared for new ads on the horizon.

Why would Microsoft want Skype? Actually my estimation, it makes perfect sense. They have Xbox Live, in which members can communicate/talk shit on the games. What about adding a Skype element to it? They already have Kinect which allows members to use gestures instead of controllers. It seems to me, that is adding a VOIP telephone with video conferencing and Kinect gesture recognition, the way we use our computers could change.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, has mentioned, he views the Internet as an essential battleground for Microsoftwhich traditionally earns the majority of its money from Windows and office software suite. They have to figure out a way to stay as profitable as Google and Apple in the coming years.

$8 billion dollars would be the largest acquisition that Microsoft has ever done in their 36 year history.

It’s a ballsy move for Ballmer and the boys from Redmond to make buying Skype, but we could be looking at the future of communication. Merging video, audio and gestures/ motion to create a new communication experience.

This type of tool should help them integrate themselves with every operating system, because Apple and Android will most likely continue to use Skype on their OS. So, this is just another way for Microsoft to get screen space, along with Bing. I say kudos, and best of luck.

At SMX West last week, someone asked Carter Maslan, Director of Product Management for Google Local, about what to do if their business doesn’t have a physical location.

Carter sayssss: Don’t create a Places page if not. If people can call and visit you, do.

Okay Mr. Maslan, then what about if one of the most important keywords for my site brings not-so-helpful local results? Let’s say the keyword’s not necessarily local?

My company, a job classifieds site based out of Brazil on a “.com.br” domain, has been hard hit with these sort of results because for words where we’re in 3rd or 4th, we’ve been pushed down to below the fold, and therefore losing out on a lot of traffic! Granted Local doesn’t work 100% here yet, but, these sort of results have been around for quite a while now, so it looks like they’re here to stay.

To see if this sort of thing was universal, I ran a few tests to see what the results look like for the same word (direct and contextual translations of the word) on “.com” searches. I ran the test localled on my IP and asked a friend to run the tests on his IP in Danbury, CT (the same results I get because Google reads my “.com” searches as being from my hometown in CT).

Here’s what I got (please click on images for better viewing of images)

“empregos,” the word for “jobs,” our biggest local problem, in Brazil ranks local listings.

(Can someone tell me what Nestlé’s doing on there?)

“jobs,” – not so much:

Here are a couple of other examples where this happens:

saúde = health = WTF?

One search where “.com.br” brings relevant results and “.com” doesn’t, is for the word “escola técnica” which means, “technical school”

“shopping,” is the Brazilian term used for “mall” – here, the opposite happens – but it would make much more sense to have the local result for this keyword, am I right?

Taking companies that are both online and offline in Brazil and the U.S., you get the same bizarre patterns -

Walmart (.com.br)

Walmart (.com)

So where am I getting here? Some searches that SHOULD be local aren’t, and some that aren’t, are showing up as local. Or at least ranking non-relevant local results for the keyword. And Brazilian local results seem to be “off,” on local search results, whereas in general, US local results seem to be more true to their local nature, overall.

Okay, Google messes up sometimes. If they didn’t, then there would legit be religions starting venerating the Google gods.

But this still imposes a few problems for SEO departments everywhere that are losing ranking position.

So what will happen? A vicious circle will entail.

1. Sites that do not have physical locations “available” are going to start building Places pages to recover their visibility in SERP’s. Causing… SPAM and people showing up to office buildings wanting to buy services only offered online (I’m exagerating to make a point!)

2. Furthermore, these sites are going to start creating places pages all over the internet pointing to their Places page. Creating… more SPAM.

3. Users will be very confused.

4. Search Engines will be very upset.

5. Search Engines will punish said sites.

…. and we’re back to step 1 with yet another algorithm that makes our lives all the more exciting/frustrating/challenginig/fun.

What do you think? You think this study is valid at all? (Bearing in mind some local search results are, indeed, VERY useful) Do you have a non-local site suffering from local search results?

I’d love to hear others’ opinions on this!

Let’s start with why I’m writing a post on how Google and Bing got beef, because you’re probable thinking, “Um… duh.”

A couple of days ago, there was a live stream on BigThink of a “talk,” which was really a debate, between head search/SPAM guys at Google, Bing & Blekko (by the way, if you’re not using Blekko for English language searches yet, you should check it out!).  Earlier that day, Danny Sullivan, who’s all SEOs’ favorite expert, posted on how Google was asking if Bing was copying its search results.  This post went viral quickly, and after the debate, is hands down the post of the week.

In the post, Sullivan talks about how Google had been questioning Bing results for words that were misspelt or just bizarre spelling overall.  With this suspicion, Google ran a test, making up words and forcing random pages to rank for those words (forced and contrary to their algorithm).  Before the test, these words wouldn’t rank or there would be suggestions for them.  After the test, Bing started ranking the words for the same pages as Google! (Cue: Oh Snappp!)

So how’s Bing doing this?  Google suspects that they’re copying results through Internet Explorer 8′s suggested sites feature and Bing’s Toolbar.

And here’s the video of the debate so you can see a little more clearly how it all went down in the ring:

Google vs. Bing in the Ring

Note: Matt Cutts is PISSED!

And another hysterical video from the Colbert Report taking Google’s side even though he’s sponsored by Bing!

Another interesting point in the video which is semi-related is the use of Demand Media in the index.  Blekko says they’ve banned quite a few sites from their index because they’ve identified these sites as SPAM (if you don’t want to watch the video, more on TechCrunch)

Now instead of giving you all my opinion about all of this, I’ve decided to ask the MobLoSoc community about the recent beef with Google and Bing

1. Who Cares? Are you, reader, going to stop using Bing because of this?

2. Is this Illegal? Should Bing be penalized?

and

3. What about Demand Media? Do you think Blekko’s right in blocking “Content Farms” from their results?

Let’s start a discussion here on MobLoSoc! I’m looking forward to hear what you have to say!

The outside of the Xoom is not that original, in my opinion.  It’s a tablet.  There were 1,231,449 just like it at CES, – 10.1” display with 1280×800 resolution, front (2MP) and back-side (5MP with flash) built-in cameras and weighing in at 1.6lbs. The back-facing camera captures video recording at 720p while the display playbacks video at 1080p.   Not too shabby.

However, the inside of Xoom is bad ass.  This is why the Xoom became the stand-out gadget this year at CES.  They crammed a powerful punch into this tablet, the NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual core 1GHz processor. Pow!  The Xoom also includes a 32GB hard-drive and 1GB DDR2 RAM.  Motorola is also reporting battery life of 10 hours of dedicated video which really makes it a stand-out from many of the tablets we saw this year.  Really?  10 hours of video play?  I’ll have to test this firsthand to believe that.

One reason that I think the Xoom is one of this year’s stand-out is its OS – Google’s Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) software, which has been specifically customized for tablet hardware.

Previous versions of the Android OS have relied on physical buttons embedded in the hardware to navigate menus within the OS but Honeycomb eliminates that in this OS build as the main navigation buttons – Home, Back, and Menu – have become part of the touchscreen. This is a crucial improvement for the OS as it makes it a more universal OS that will give hardware manufacturers a bit more liberty to innovate.

One of the highlights is the way that Gmail widget works. It’s been a long time coming and is accompanied by new widgets for calendar, contacts, browser and a YouTube links. The Xoom also comes with a barometer, along with the accelerometer, magnetometer, ambient light sensor and gyroscope.

The Xoom will launch on Verizon 3G in Q1 of this year but will be upgradable to 4G LTE in Q2 which we think is great.

Motorola came out swinging… let’s see how consumers react to this great device.

David Armano has written an interesting piece on social media trends of 2011 for the Haarrrrvard Business Journal which is worth taking a look at.

He talks about how the mobile and tablet wars will be heating up. He discusses how Facebook is going to take the location-based world by storm. Armano also talks about how Google will most likely start finding more ways to dissect Facebook’s data in a way that they can index it more effectively.

If you are in the social media sphere, take a look at Six Social Media Trends for 2011.

Without a doubt, local search is the topic getting the most coverage within our industry at the moment. Changes to the algorithm, moveable maps, the importance of adding physical addresses, and review site influences have all been written about. So I figured I’d give a little overview of recent actions and reactions to bring any sidetracked by work or other outside influences up to speed.

1. Google Improves Location-Based Results

Seems Google is working toward really improving their location based results. Yellow pages — even the online ones — have taken a hit, and the scramble for improving search results for local businesses has begun.

“Local search is growing in popularity as consumers shift from traditional phone book directories to finding products and services online. According to Google, 20 percent of all search queries are local in nature,” Jon Schepke wrote a few days ago. The article also offers several good tips.

This a huge market. Google has dispatched one of their senior players,Marissa Mayer, into this arena, which should signal what a huge deal local searches are on Google.

2. Google Places: An Essential Tool for Local Marketing

Basically, Google gives local placement in return for having businesses fill in the information and building their yellow page killer for them. Everyone who fills in their Google Place information helps — themselves, as well as Google’s efforts. And the spammers are being picked off, along with legitimate brick-and-mortar sites, as discussions at Google Groups have noted.

The need to stay informed on what is impacting listings in Google Places is essential to every local business or the companies that handle their marketing.

What can you do? Have addresses in the footers of your site that link to in your Places listing, add bold and H tags to location phrases, and make sure you’re mentioned in the review sites, to name a few (feel free to add more suggestions in the comments section below).

Read the Final 8 Ways at:

Here is the full list.

send text to [contact] [message]
listen to [artist/song/album]
call [business]
call [contact]
send email to [contact] [message]
go to [website]
note to self [note]
navigate to [location/business name]
directions to [location/business name]
map of [location]

Looks like Engadget has the scoop on a possible (probable?) Android/Sony gaming phone.

Here’s some info:

“Here’s what we can tell you about the hardware: if you’re a gaming fan, this is exactly the kind of phone you’ve been waiting for. The device is described as cross between the Samsung Captivate and the PSP Go — in other words, it’s a landscape slider with game controls in place of the typical QWERTY keyboard. The D-pad is here, but instead of the small joystick, the device will have what was described as a “long touch pad” for analog controls, along with standard PSP buttons and shoulder buttons. The phone has a large display, described as being between 3.7 and 4.1 inches with WVGA or better resolution, a 5 megapixel camera that we’re told might not be final, and it’ll likely have a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU on board. The phone is mostly black with some silver highlights, and the gamepad area is white / silver in color. Apparently it’s currently branded as a Xperia device, but it looks like it will carry PlayStation branding as well. Those who’ve seen the phone say it looks “pretty damn sexy.” The mockup above probably doesn’t do the actual hardware justice, but it should give you an idea of what you’ll be dealing with.”

On the software side, it looks like the device will be running Gingerbread (Android 3.0) with a phone-specific skin, and there will be a new area of the Android Market specifically for the games.

Jump over to Engadget for the entire article and the massive ” Android + Sony + Gaming = FTW” and “Heeeeellllzzzz yeah” commentary.

Gizmodo mock up:

Download from the Android market now.  I just did.

Watch the exact portion of the presentation where they talk about Google Intent.

They smacked it out of the park today. Are you kidding me? Pushing an address you look up online, and sending it to your Google GPS navigation. Do we know how seriously kick ass of deal this is? The possibilities are endless.

You will be able to browse the Marketplace on your browser, find a song that you want to buy, and it will download immediately to your phone.

Want to flag every Non-DRM song on your computer and you can transfer them to your device without syncing your phone…

“Through this thing called ‘the internet’”, said Google VP of Engineering, Vic Gundotra, sending a shot across the bow to Apple, who makes you connect to your mac before syncing.

You have to hand it to Google, they are keeping this open for the developer communities. Inclusion NOT exclusion. This is great. Innovation and Openness… I/O.

We live in a crazy time with futuristic communication device. As soon as we can shoot lasers out of them or tase someone, and then we are up there with Minority Report and Star Trek. heh.

For my engineer friends: Google Intent Developer notes.