Mike Blumenthal
@mikeblumenthal
All local, all the time. Now at Near Media. Always from Olean, NY
MS, in appeal against remedies in Google antitrust case says Co-pilot sucks Because Google's anticompetitive agreements deny Bing user data it needs to compete, Copilot's search-assisted results suffer across every category of query that depends on scale www.thebignewsletter.com/p/monopoly-r...
"What others are saying now matters more than ranking #1" -Cyrus Shepard In our podcast w/ @zyppy.com discussing what brand means to Google, one topic we covered was why ranking #1 no longer guarantees the call or that AI will recommend you. Ep266 : www.nearmedia.co/ep-266-cyrus...
How will people find your business when they stop using traditional browsers? Mozilla VP Raj Singh, reveals why the function of a website is shifting away from browser clicks toward AI chat & autonomous agents over the next 5 yrs. Business owners need to know how to adapt to this massive shift /1
In Guardian article Eric Schmidt is quoted as telling students vis a vis Ai: “If someone offers you a seat on the rocket ship, you do not ask which seat, you just get on,” Reminds of the that great Twilight Zone episode where post-apocalyptic aliens offer up book to Earth: “To Serve Man” /1
On the NearMemo Podcast @greggifford.bsky.social breaks down why we must look past vanity click metrics & focus our digital strategy entirely on bottom-line conversions. The future of local search requires navigating an attributionless environment. Full episode: www.nearmedia.co/ep-260-goodb...
This is the strangest Local Pack/Local Finder Test that I have ever seen. There are new colors and layout for the Pack. When a profile is selected it heads off to search.yahoo.com/local/ and from there to Yelp when you click the reviews
AI search is rewarding something familiar: hyper-local, intent-driven pages For multi-location brands, this isn’t a new tactic— it’s an under-leveraged asset now driving visibility in ChatGPT We interviewed Steve Wiideman on strategies and tactics for local success of multi-location brands
Zero-click search is growing fast—that doesn’t mean sales are gone It doesn’t kill sales-It changes who owns the click “Commerce isn’t ending: it’s relocating” Discovery & attention are shifting off yr site & to platforms you don’t control “don’t build on rented land” may no longer be good advice
Last week on the Near Memo we interviewed Eric Levine, ex - Googler Product Director of LSAs. In P1, he shared lots of great LSA tips like this one where he explains who shouldn’t use them. Available on NearMedia.co, YouTube and your favorite podcast platform
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
Breaking news: Trump fires Bureau of Labor Statistics head because he doesn’t like her maths
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?
Marketing slogan found on a port a potty: A royal flush beats a full house
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 had ChatGPT generate some ideas around trumps meme coin It came up with 1. “$TRUMP: America’s John for Autocrats.” 2. “Everything’s for Sale. Just Ask $TRUMP.” 3. “$TRUMP: The Gigolo Who Billed the Taxpayer.” I then asked it to create a t-shirt graphic and Chatgpt said:
I am starting to see AIO overviews on “‘local brand’ reviews” Hard to imagine how this adds value over the previous (and still more common) display as it pushes all of the reviews except Google’s off the page
Exploring Google's Newest GBP AI Generated Feature: Know before you go Google is quietly reshaping its Business Profiles with AI-powered features. Know Before You Go—a new module that surfaces curated insights from reviews, websites, and social content. /1
Was in NM last week & saw this massive volcanic plug far away in the hazy distance. I initially figured out its name with a very laborious satellite Map search. Just tried the new ChatGPT image recognition with this crappy image Here are the impressive, spooky results chatgpt.com/share/6802a2...
For me, spring is when the early wild leeks (ramps) are ready to be picked. What is your spring?
How are airlines allowed to have this level of noise on their airplane?
Apple Business Connect (their GBP equivalent) is now sending out an insights recap to local businesses. I have not previously seen this and it looks new (to me) Can you imagine a Google GBP alternative that doesn’t go wonky every week or two AND delivers clients
Playing with the new ChatGPT image generator Slooow but very fun Me in various guises and styles