Not having a budget for this project I used one of the new algo generated online heatmap products, AttentionWizard to see what the results looked like. According to their own description there is a 75% correlation between this type of heatmap and a real heatmap. So what you see should be viewed with a few grains of salt. That being said, it is interesting. Click the image to view it larger.
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What do you think?

Here is a screen shot of the original search for comparison purposes:

Tim Coleman of A Second Opinion, sent along this screen shot from last week of a search for “garage door repair denver” that displays a new local AdWords ad type. (Click the image to view larger)
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Has anyone else seen this type of Ad?

The keyword crammed business titles are notable in this result as well:

The other interesting issue presented by business name keyword cramming and Local Listing Ads is the possibility of trademark violations. This search for computer repair San Francisco Ca brings up the following ad:

The ad, while in likely violation of Google’s listing guidelines, is not in violation of Google’s Adwords US Trademark rules as the lister is an active seller of Microsoft products. The ad which goes to the lister’s Places page, does however raise the question of appropriate trademark use in both the business title, categories and descriptions.

It also appears that the Local Listing Ads are rolling out across more and more categories in the San Francisco & San Diego markets including salons, plumbers, auto parts and even locksmiths. However it is not yet available in all categories. Cathy Hillen-Rhulloda recently noted that florists in these markets have not yet been offered the Local Listing Ad opportunity.

Apparently with the real estate business in a downturn, an enterprising real estate company needs to turn somewhere for new leads.

With a little searching, you can find this Map listing in every major market, each located in a building offering virtual office space. One even offered the space up free for 90 days to the recently unemployed.

The phone numbers listed in the Map’s listings, ring into Anthony & Co. who according to their website are “one of the largest, oldest and most experienced commercial real estate service companies in North Carolina”.

I found these paragraphs from their About Us page rich in irony:

ANTHONY & Co. is recognized by corporate, institutional and individual clients as the “consummate insider,” and now with four locations, ANTHONY & Co. has greater reach to serve you in more local markets.

With timeless values and expert professionalism, we build Real Value and Real Community for local investors and companies. We are pioneers in consulting, development, transaction and management services, applying our knowledge with wisdom to achieve Real Results for our clients.

It seems that in this case, you get a virtual office with a keyword stuffed Google Map listing thrown in for free. Or is it a keyword stuffed Map listing with a virtual office thrown in for free? Leave it to the real estate business to redefine timeless values, expert professionalism and wisdom.

Will my monthly fee change?
Your flat monthly fee is unlikely to change. In the event that we need to change it, you’ll be given 30 days notice of this change both via email, and on the homepage of your Local Business Center account

What is call tracking? Is it optional
In order to drive calls to your store and help you keep track of them, Google Local Listing Ads offers free call tracking to all Local Listing Ads advertisers. We will offer each ad listing a unique call tracking number that will forward calls to your listed business phone.

The number of calls you receive is listed in your online report. Additionally, each time a customer calls, you’ll hear a voice announcement – ‘this caller brought to you by Google’- before the call connects. That way, you get a better sense of what kind of customers are being driven to your business by your ad. This can help you make more informed decision about your advertising spend. For now, this call tracking feature is an integral part of Local Listing Ads. We’ll be listening to your feedback on how useful this feature is, and whether or not we should make it optional.

Will my ads show less often as more advertisers join?

Yes. This reflects the fact that as more advertisers sign up for the same business type in your location, on average each advertiser will get less user attention. That said, our team is working on ways to make sure the spread of user attention stays within reasonable range, we’ll update this topic to reflect these.

Brett Burlison, a San Francisco Personal Injury Attorney, agreed to share some screen shots of his Local Listing Ad interface.

In the main list view a third tab has been added that provides access to the Local Listing Ad details. (Click any of the images below to see them larger.) The interface is clean and very easy to use.

One you have chosen the tab you are brought to a summary page of the ad where you can see the ad statistics and have links to edit the ad or to view the billing history.

Note the low click thru rates…

It will be interesting to track these over time. I think initially at least, some of the low rates are due to low ad inventories and poor initial targeting. It has been noted that ads have been showing in the wrong categories. There may also be some user familiarization and trust issues.

The screen to edit the ad provides link to the Local Listing Ads Help Pages, attempts to sell you on the benefits of using your Places Page and shows the call tracking number that will be used. The interface dims out any custom categories that you have in your business listing and only allows you to select from existing categories. The verbiage on these is interesting noting that custom categories are “Not supported by ads at this time”, leaving the impression that they might be in the future.

The interface shows what the ad will look like on both the main and Maps pages.

If you attempt to change your basic information of your business listing you are given this warning. If you go ahead and make the change you need to recreate the ad.

Clearly the interface is simple, and the product functional and easy to deploy the question now is will it provide a return for those using it?

The iPhone 3gs offers some exposure and focus control but a fixed focal length, very wide angle lens. If you want to zoom, in on something, it is a sneaker-zoom option only. The lighting was difficult and varied. That all being said, it can take a pretty good photo.

As mobile computing devices like the iPhone integrate increased functionality and capability, it is not just the laptop, gaming device or the music player that will be replaced. In these photos, I think you can see that it won’t be long before devices like the iPhone seriously impact the low end of the point and shoot photography world. Why carry two, three or four devices when one does good enough on most tasks.

This multifunction ability will allow more folks to experience the local/mobile ecosystem as they consolidate devices and explore the many other capabilities of the devices (and you thought I couldn’t relate this to local. )

View the slide show.

What do you think?

In late September there was an active post in the forum that seemed to coalesce a number of complaints around the issue and posters presented a large number of examples of the OneBox showing inappropriately that Google could examine. On September 30th, Google chimed in and at acknowledged the issue. Numerous examples of the problem continued to surface throughout October.

Well it seems that during the hubbub yesterday about phone numbers, Google seems to have rolled out a tweak that has fixed many of the reported problems. The 3 & Lucky 7 Packs are now showing in place of many of the Authoritative OneBoxes on the general searches given as examples.

I tested 22 of the example searches from the forum post and 15 of those were now presenting the 7-Pack, the 3-pack or no Universal Local Result instead of the OneBox. Of the 7 others that weren’t, 4 were clearly spam and 3 were results that probably should have a Lucky 7 Pack presented. However in those 3 that should be presenting broad results, there is a certain ambiguity in the search due to the similarity between the business name and the search phrase.

Here are several examples from the post of listings still returning the OneBox on what are arguably general searches.

Not Spam:

Pittsburgh Bartending School. (Note that Pittsburgh Bartending Schools though is now returning a 3 Pack.)

Clearly Spammy Business Title:

German Classes Los Angeles

Are your searches that were returning inappropriate OneBoxes now generating the 3 or 7 Pack? Is the problem solved?

This recent post in the Google Maps forums raises all sorts of questions. It falls into the category of “no wonder they are getting a divorce”:

Date: October 31, 2009 4:17:25 PM EDT
Subject: I have an ex – wife who is now a business competitor. How can I prevent her from posting fictitious bad reviews
Author: Dream Parties

When a customer googles my company, all reviews are positive, 5 stars. But my ex-wife is now in the same business and has threatened to publish fictitious bad reviews. How can I block all reviews or tell the world that her review is a fraud.

Question from Dream Parties in Maps – How Do I?

So one has to ask a few questions here, no?
- What was the husband at Dream Parties really doing?
- Will ownership of an LBC account someday become a disputed asset in the divorce court? Will we see an LBC custody case?
- What else does she know?
- And who really did write those reviews in the first place?

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From the arena of News of the Weird (Corporate version) in the category of “Tim Armstrong has his work cut out for him at AOL”: AOL’s Patch Dumps Google Maps, But Not For MapQuest

After a Spring-time acquisition, AOL’s local news subsidiary Patch finally dumped Google Maps from its homepages today.

But instead of Mapquest, Patch pages feature Open Street Maps.

Can someone explain to me their thinking? Is this what is known as corporate synergies?