Google Offers: Local Business Advertising Is About To Get A Lot Easier
Written by Martin Wong on January 21, 2011
Google is set to launch a new service called Google Offers to compete with popular group buying sites like Groupon and LivingSocial.
After having Groupon turn down an estimated $6 billion dollar acquisition offer, the search engine giant is wasting no time to launch their own Groupon Clone. Popular social media blog, Mashable, broke the news this morning. Judging from the screen shot above, the new Google Offers interface and functionality looks very similar to Groupon.
It will be interesting to see if Google can leverage its search engine monopoly to eventually challenge Groupon for local deals supremacy. They have a lot of catching up to do as Groupon is estimated to have over 50 million subscribers on its e-mail lists, which remains the primarily means of reaching an audience for local deals. Read more…
Social Media Gets Customer Service Results!
Written by Adam Jones on January 13, 2011
How I used the online power of Twitter to resolve a customer service issue in 5 minutes, which could not be dealt with after an hour on the phone.
We`ve all been there, listening to mind-numbing hold music for hours on end, being told by an automated voice over and over that “we are currently experiencing longer than usual wait times, your call is important to us and we will answer your call as soon as possible”. Or even worse: “all of our operators are currently busy, please call back later.”
I’m sure you’ll agree, these phrases are some of the most rage inducing out there, and this rage is multiplied further when your call is answered by:
a) somebody who you struggle to understand
b) somebody who has clearly had very limited training and does not have the power to deal with your issue,
or my personal favourite:
c) somebody who is situated on the other side of the world and has been awake for 18 hours answering calls, resulting in their level of concern for your particular situation the same as fighting a losing battle with a small insignificant insect crawling across their desk, which in some cases reflects the way in which you are spoken to. Read more…
New Google Places App Gives Yelp A Run For Its Money
Written by Martin Wong on January 12, 2011
Today, Google officially released their Google Places mobile app for the iPhone. From my initial impression, the new app successfully transfers the local search experience to mobile. It basically copies the layout of successful competitor Yelp, which Google tried to buy earlier in the year for an estimated $500 million.
Google goes a step further with their reviews and listings, aggregating all the information you need from Yelp and other similar social review sites like Urban Spoon, Restaurant.ca and DineHere. I can imagine that these websites aren’t too happy about it. Google is basically leveraging their hard-earned reviews to encourage users to submit their own ratings directly into Google’s system.
To use the Google Places app all you need is your Google Account and it will suggest nearby business based on your GPS location. When you click on a business listing in the app, you can read reviews, find directions on a map, click-to-call, or add your own review. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before Google starts offering daily deals like Groupon directly within the app interface.
It won’t be long now until Google extends its local search dominance to local social reviews, displacing the industry-leader Yelp. This makes makes it even more crucial that businesses claim their listings and encourage their customers to add reviews. The businesses with reviews really stand out in the mobile app, even more so than in the regular search listings.
To learn more about how to get your business to rank in the Google Places local listings, I recommend you read my post on Google’s top 10 local search ranking factors.
