If you’re a big fan of the Olympics and want to enhance your experience beyond simply watching the games on the tube, Facebook and the IOC are trying to make it easier for you. While various social media outlets are promoting the Olympics through dedicated pages and the like, it’s Facebook that today has launched a big database for following everything Olympic – the Explore London 2012 hub. Read More…
In a move that I predicted from the very beginning, Google has finally scrapped the Google Places offering and rolled all Places profiles into what they are calling Google+ Local.
Google+ Local offering
Now, you could argue, and some will, that forcing local business owners on to Google+ is yet another sign that Google is putting way too much emphasis on their desire to become relevant in social media, but the fact is, it’s still very much Google’s world that we playing in.
The most frustrating aspect of this in my opinion is that it took so long. I’m guessing a lot of local business owners jumped in and built brand pages, so now what?
If you’ve created a Google Place page, as I’ve been advising as part of any local search plan, then you may already be aware that Google has moved your page onto Google+.
If you’ve got a Google+ account you can find your page through either local search or through the Local button that now appears on the left sidebar when logged into Google+.
If you don’t have a Google+ account, well, I guess you’ll get one now if you still want to play with Google.
Google has already flipped the switch and is showing these new Google+ Local pages when you conduct local searches in Google and on Google Maps. While you can still gain access to and edit your Places profile pages through the Places login, my guess is that will give way to Google+ profile editing at some point.
Here are some things to note:
Clean up your profile.
Now is the time to clean up your profile
When Google moved the pages to Google+ it made a mess. A bit like moving anything does, I suppose. Go jump in and choose and edit your profile image and banner image. Right now Google is either picking from photos you uploaded or simply using a map.
You might want to add some things to your profile as some of the customization you may have done previously could be lost. Add links to your page.
Check out the reviews
Google purchased the restaurant rating service Zagat a while back and it appears they intend to inject the Zagat ratings system into the entire review process. Read More…
Google has recently announced a significant change to AdWords. Read More…
When Google+ introduced Hangouts, it was a major win for Google’s social networking service. It was the major defining feature for a lot of people and set Google+ apart from the competition. Google then introduced Hangouts On Air to a limited number of users that introduced the power of live broadcasting of Hangouts to hundreds of people. Read More…
Users of Google+ can now post their updates as well as keep track of their news stream via SMS. This feature has been made available in 41 countries. People wishing to share something will not be hampered now by the inability to access the internet. They can now turn to Google+ SMS features to post their updates. This feature was earlier available in US and India only. Read More…
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced today that his company is buying Instagram, the popular photo-sharing app. Zuckerberg posted on his timeline:
I’m excited to share the news that we’ve agreed to acquire Instagram and that their talented team will be joining Facebook. Read More…
A few weeks ago, I was at an event that focused on, you guessed it, Pinterest. Great, I thought. We’ll hopefully hear about some of legal issues swirling around Pinterest for brands right now. It was just that week before that legal concerns had broke–and one attorney/photog had taken down her Pinterest board as a result. But, unfortunately, we didn’t get to discuss those legal concerns at this event–even though their was an attorney at the event who just so happened to specialize in social media. Read More…
You can now search the history of your computer right from your smartphone – Android or iPhone. This access will mean that users who have Web History enabled and are logged in can conduct the local search details on their phone, from the PC. So, if you read a restaurant review last night, you can access its details while you are out and looking for some place to lunch at. Search for local places and use the details while you are outside, straight from your phone. You will notice a new “recent” icon appearing on the Google.com homepage of your mobile browser that will quickly tap into this recent history. The time frame of the local search history being available is one day. Quoting Google, “We provide this new convenience feature for users who have Web History enabled and are logged into Google when doing their search. Start by searching for a place on your PC or other devices, then login to Google.com’s mobile homepage and check the Recent icon. Information about previously searched places will be available under the Recent icon for about a day.” Read More…
iEntry 10th Anniversary
Blog
Networking
Tips