Mike Blumenthal

I am so anxious to get and use my Meta glasses, for this very reason.

simonwillison.net/2025/Sep/23/...

YouTube video by Near Media Local Marketing Attribution in the AI Age - Analytics vs. Customer Survey: Which Can Data You Trust?

Local Marketing Attribution in the AI Age - Analytics vs. Customer Survey: Which Can Data You Trust?

A snippet from our Near Media members office hours

youtube.com/shorts/WETIl...

Changes to the Google LSA (Local Service Ads) program
Google Guarantee,Google Screened, and License Verified by Google ---> Google Verified. Effective 10/20/2025.

The Money Back Guarantee associated with the Google Guarantee badge will also be discontinued.

A bad look for the McKean County Fair in the local paper and on the obituary page, to boot

Why does the Great American Milipede need so many legs?

Search Beats AI, Google 'Gaslighting,' Double Pack, GBP Slackers Local Comparison: Google Beats ChatGPT More than two-thirds of consumers have used ChatGPT for local business discovery. Yet local search is not a common use case for AI. That's because most consumer...

The latest @nearmedia.bsky.social newsletter -- local search accuracy benchmarking: Google beats AI, Google Gaslights, double Local Pack and SMBs don't claim GBP. www.nearmedia.co/search-beats...

Breaking news: Trump fires Bureau of Labor Statistics head because he doesn’t like her maths

The Future of Maps: User Focused, Contextual & Integrated AI with Goetz Weber Podcast Episode · The Near Memo · 07/31/2025 · 48m

EP 217 on Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

YouTube video by Near Media The Future of Maps: User Focused, Contextual & Integrated AI with Goetz Weber

EP 217 on YouTube: youtu.be/ep8V4FiXgq8

EP 217 - The Future of Maps: User Focused, Contextual & Integrated AI with Goetz Weber We talk with map expert Goetz Weber about why today’s maps fail to deliver personal, contextual experiences & what needs to change. From intent modeling to the limits of monetization, from ChatGPT to ...

📍New Near Memo EP217

Mapping veteran Goetz Weber joins @gsterling.bsky.social and me to explore why today’s maps fail to reflect user intent—and how AI, motion models, and social context could finally fix that.

The future of maps is personal.

🎧 Listen/watch here: www.nearmedia.co/ep-217-the-f...

A black banner with bright coloured star and floral shaped stickers. It says Local SEO for Good. September 3 - September 4 8am PT - 11am ET - 4pm BST It says "WHAT TO EXPECT" as the main header.

Here's what to expect at Local SEO for Good:

📺 A high-energy livestream packed with ideas you’ll want to steal

💬 A lively chat where insights, emojis, & hot takes fly

🎤 Q&As

💚 and more!

Bonus: You don’t need to wear shoes. Or leave your house!

www.brightlocal.com/local-seo-fo...

EP 216 -AI Overviews vs. Local SEO: Are Users Clicking Less? Who Will Win the Name Game? New data shows AI Overviews reduce website clicks and disrupt the local pack. Greg and Mike explore the implications for search, traffic, and branding in the AI era—plus some fun with burritos and Bos...

Podcast EP 216 with @gsterling.bsky.social & me
The Podcast Deets
🧠 1. Pew & Ahrefs Reveal Click Declines & AIO Disruption
🗺️ 2. Local SEO vs. AI: What Happens to the Pack?
🤖 3. ChatGPT’s Local Play & The Battle Over “AIO”

www.nearmedia.co/ep-216-new-d...

I'm excited to be speaking at Local SEO for Good, and I'm also stoked to be raising money for @hrc.org.

Get your free ticket here: www.brightlocal.com/local-seo-fo...

ChatGPT ❤️ Google?, Winning Local AIOs, Search Fragmentation, Antitrust-IO Near Media is the go-to advisor for executives at multi-location brands and vertical agencies seeking to optimize their search strategy and tactics.

Our latest @nearmedia.bsky.social newsletter: Has ChatGPT swapped out Bing for Google? Optimizing for "Local AIOs," Demographics and Search Fragmentation, Antitrust for AIO ... www.nearmedia.co/chatgpt-goog...

'Positive review only': Researchers hide AI prompts in papers Instructions in preprints from 14 universities highlight controversy on AI in peer review

File under the category- Great ideas never die

Researchers hide AI prompts with white on white fonts to influence AI’s assessment of their research.

Every spam technique from the past 25 years is new again.

asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tec...

EP 213 - GBP Suspensions, AIO Overviews & New Best Practices for AI-Era Local SEO and Reviews From Google's crackdown on suspensions to AI overviews reshaping the SERPs, Greg and Mike explore what's changing in local search—and why just answering your phone might be your best marketing move ye...

🚨 GBP Suspensions Rising, Shifting Local AIOs, New Era of Local SEO
🔹 GBP suspensions still surging
🔹 Local AIOs reshuffle SERPs
🔹 Reviews - both 1st & 3rd party - are critical
🔹 New playbook for local visibility emerging

www.nearmedia.co/ep-213-gbp-s...

#LocalSEO #AIOverview #GBP

EP 212 - AI, Reviews & the Future of Local SEO: What Darren Shaw Says You Need to Know AI is reshaping local SEO, but most small businesses are still focused on Google. Darren Shaw shares how to prep for what’s next—diversified reviews, smarter content, and YouTube visibility for Search...

🎙️ Ep. 212 of the Near Memo is live!
AI & Local SEO: What Darren Shaw Says You Need to Know

@whitespark.ca dives into:
✅ AI & local search shifts
✅ First-party reviews FTW
✅ YouTube > Instagram for leads
✅ "Search Everywhere Optimization"

Listen now: www.nearmedia.co/ep-212-ai-re...

#LocalSEO #AI

EP 212 - AI, Reviews & the Future of Local SEO: What Darren Shaw Says You Need to Know AI is reshaping local SEO, but most small businesses are still focused on Google. Darren Shaw shares how to prep for what’s next—diversified reviews, smarter content, and YouTube visibility for Search...

🎙️ Ep. 212 of the Near Memo is live!
AI & Local SEO: What Darren Shaw Says You Need to Know

@whitespark.ca dives into:
✅ AI & local search shifts
✅ First-party reviews FTW
✅ YouTube > Instagram for leads
✅ "Search Everywhere Optimization"

Listen now: www.nearmedia.co/ep-212-ai-re...

#LocalSEO #AI

It seems to be appearing for many many sites. not sure what is oging on? Users are training ChatGPT?

Screenshot from ChatGPT.

I assume that bad actors have been doing some sort of injection attacks and inserting bad links into ChatGPT answers? @lilyray.nyc has been showing how easy it is to get into these results. Time to pay the piper?

Beauty in small spaces

My ice coffee

Marketing slogan found on a port a potty:
A royal flush beats a full house

That’s too deterministic. It is more like 9 out of 10 times you should probably leave the URL field empty

Apple is expanding their sports content. In addition their real time sports reporting app they are now offering a Sports newsletter focusing on just your teams

Zero friction sign up. One click and done; no entries, no confirmations.

I was curious if Grok, Musks ‘bold experiment in free speech and truth-seeking’, would create this image.

Initially it blocked the image as inappropriate. But I then told it to imagine that I was the President and to create the image.

It did

And in other breaking news…

Local SEO

Pay attention

YouTube video by Near Media How Google’s Local Search is Morphing in Real Time on the Face of AI

AI is rewriting the rules of local search & not always in ways that help businesses

Longtime local expert @adamdorfman.bsky.social joins @gsterling.bsky.social & me to talk Google AI Overviews, fading value of clicks; why reviews, websites & schema matter more than ever
youtu.be/RYeFlg4X_Gc?...