The Near Memo

Send us Fan Mail Are traditional websites dying, or are they just changing shapes? Hosts Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal catch up with serial entrepreneur and Mozilla VP of Product Raj Singh to discuss how AI search friction is changing the local web. Learn why small businesses must lean into "trust artifacts," how APIs and the Model Context Protocol (MCP) will surface local businesses...

Send us Fan Mail  Local SEO strategy often gets stuck playing a quantitative numbers game with review counts and velocity benchmarks. But what happens when you treat the collective text of your market's customer reviews as an ongoing, free focus group? This week, Celeste Gonzalez joins us to show how tools like Apify and Natural Language Processing (NLP) allow local agencies to scrape hidden...

Send us Fan Mail  What happens when federal regulators take on fake reviews and predatory AI applications? This week on NearMemo, Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal host Michael Atleson, former Senior Attorney at the FTC’s Division of Advertising Practices (now with DLA Piper). Michael walks us through the internal strategy behind the landmark Consumer Review Rule, the nuances of investigating mult...

Send us Fan Mail Are your local search frameworks ready for a probabilistic, AI-driven Map interface? This week, Greg, Mike, and local search practitioner Craig Burton map out the massive influx of automated algorithmic categorization structures rolling across Google Maps globally. From "Trending This Week" hooks to deep "Curated with Gemini" vertical subcategories, Google is t...

Send us Fan Mail  How do you build brand permanence in a local market when web attribution metrics are fading? This week, we dive into Part 2 of our post-Google I/O masterclass with Cindy Krum, Krystal Taing, and Greg Gifford. The panel shifts completely from macro trends to hands-on execution strategy. We explore why search traffic is splitting across social apps and niche forums, how businesses...

Send us Fan Mail  The rules of user discovery are undergoing a massive rewrite. This week, the Near Media roundtable features top search minds Cindy Krum, Krystal Taing, and Greg Gifford to analyze the long-term strategic impacts of Google I/O and Google Marketing Live. The panel maps out exactly how Google plans to transform its core search application into a fully transaction-based ecosystem tha...

Send us Fan Mail  In this Duda webinar, Darren Shaw and Mike Blumenthal explore the paradigm shift occurring in local search as Google increasingly incorporates generative AI into Google Business Profiles and Google Maps. Through new features like "Know Before You Go" and the conversational "Ask Maps," local discovery is transitioning from a deterministic ranking model to a hig...

Send us Fan Mail Google just revealed the future of Search at Google I/O and Google Marketing Live — and it’s far more personal, predictive, and invasive than most people realize. In this episode of Near Memo, Mike Blumenthal and Greg Sterling break down: A massive fake Google Business Profile fraud case involving 15,000 fake listings and $79 million in alleged fraud How Google already infers your...

Send us Fan Mail In Part 2 of Near Media’s conversation with Garrett Sussman, the discussion shifts from AI personalization theory to the real-world impact on local search, SEO, reviews, attribution, and marketing strategy. Garrett joins Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal to explore how Google’s growing use of behavioral data, Gmail, Calendar, Maps, reviews, and AI Mode could fundamentally reshape...

Send us Fan Mail Is Google getting too personal? In this episode of the Near Memo, Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal are joined by Garrett Sussman (iPullRank) to discuss his provocative 12-month study on AI personalization. We dive deep into how Google’s "AI Mode" uses your Gmail, Photos, and Calendar to tailor results—and why "unopened emails" might be influencing what you see...

Send us Fan Mail Join our celebrity local SEO panel—Claudia Tomina, Adam Dorfman, and Darren "The Canadian" Shaw—as they explore "Ask Maps," Google’s AI-powered conversational interface for local search. We demo the new desktop UI, discuss how hyper-personalization is changing user behavior, and reveal why "content freshness" is now the most critical strategy for loca...

Send us Fan Mail Greg and Mike discuss the shifting landscape of local search. From the FTC’s latest crackdown on incentivized reviews to Yelp’s attempt to fast-forward their antitrust case against Google using recent federal rulings. We also explore the expansion of LSAs and the transition from the "Local Pack" to AI-driven "Ask Maps." Subscribe to our newsletters and other co...

Send us Fan Mail Google just changed the rules on reviews—and businesses may already be getting penalized. Meanwhile, Meta is projected to overtake Google in ad revenue, despite ongoing legal battles and ethical concerns. In this episode, Mike Blumenthal and Greg Sterling break down: • Google’s new review enforcement signals • Why marketers are frustrated with rising ad costs and unclear ROI • The...

Send us Fan Mail This episode explores how Google actually uses click data (despite years of denial) and how that reality intersects with the rise of AI Overviews . Cyrus Shepherd connects the dots between antitrust trial revelations, API leaks, and patents , showing that click behavior—especially “last longest click”—is a core ranking signal . The discussion then shifts to how AI Overviews are re...

Send us Fan Mail In Part 2, Steve Wiideman joins Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal to cut through the AI hype and explain what’s actually working in multi-location SEO today. Despite growing attention on AI tools and “agentic commerce,” the real drivers of visibility are still foundational: intent-driven content, strong review signals, and brand awareness. They also explore how zero-click search i...

Send us Fan Mail What does it really take to scale SEO across hundreds (or thousands) of locations? In this episode of the Near Memo, Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal are joined by Steve Wiideman to unpack the operational, strategic, and technical realities of multi-location SEO. They explore testing frameworks, content strategies, franchise challenges, reviews, imagery, and the evolving nature o...

Send us Fan Mail Google Business Profile impressions are dropping fast—but conversions aren’t. In this Near Memo episode, Greg Sterling, Mike Blumenthal, and Adam Dorfman unpack BirdEye’s latest data and explore what’s really changing in local search. From AI Overviews and LLM-driven discovery to Google’s new Ask Maps interface, they examine how search behavior is shifting—and why Google still con...

Send us Fan Mail In this archive episode of the Near Memo podcast, Darren Shaw of Whitespark joins Mike Blumenthal, Greg Sterling, and David Mihm to discuss the influential Local Search Ranking Factors study . The panel breaks down how the survey works, what has changed in local search, and how the rise of AI interfaces like ChatGPT and Gemini could reshape how businesses are discovered online. Th...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Near Memo podcast , Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal host a panel discussion with Eric Levine (Leadwise HQ, former Google LSA team), Claudia Tomina (Reputation Arm), Matt Casady (Sterling Sky), and Crystal Horton (Google Business Profile Platinum Product Expert) . Together the panel explores how agencies are actually managing LSAs for clients today. Topics...

Send us Fan Mail Google AI & Click Economics  Google is replacing structured GBP data with AI-generated summaries, nudging users into AI Mode, and expanding monetization pathways. Aleyda Solis’ study and Near Media research show ads — especially LSAs — are siphoning clicks. Data Moats & Scraping Crackdowns  Google restricts scraping, disrupting SerpAPI. The move reinforces Google’s data ad...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Near Memo, Rand Fishkin joins Greg Sterling, Mike Blumenthal, and David Mihm to unpack the future of AI search, brand visibility, and digital measurement. Is AI rank tracking possible? Are zero-click journeys killing websites? And how should local businesses measure marketing performance in a world where attribution is breaking down? Rand shares new research on...

Send us Fan Mail Google Local Service Ads have become one of the most powerful placements in local search — especially in competitive verticals like personal injury law. But what actually drives ranking and performance? In this episode, we examine the real mechanics behind LSAs: review cadence, responsiveness, bidding structure, and the psychology of visual presentation. We explore how headshots a...

Send us Fan Mail Local Services Ads have become the “top-of-the-page” battleground for high-value local categories—especially professional services. In this episode, Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal talk with former LSA team member Eric Levine about how LSAs evolved, what really influences rank, and how Google’s lead marketplace mechanics shape outcomes.     We break down “request multiple option...

Send us Fan Mail AI isn’t killing search — it’s reshaping how people discover, evaluate, and choose businesses. In this in terview with Crystal Carter of Wix, we unpack how large language models, AI assistants, and emerging “agent” experiences are changing consumer behavior, local search, and brand visibility. From ChatGPT and Google’s AI-driven results to personalization, intent modeling, and tas...

Send us Fan Mail Claudia Tomina joins Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal to unpack what the Google API leak reveals about local rankings, why reviews are being removed at scale, and how AI Overviews, Gemini, and agentic shopping are pushing transactions into Google’s AI interfaces. A must-listen for anyone managing a Google Business Profile in 2026. Subscribe to our newsletters and other content at...