On Monday, August 5, 2024, US Federal Judge Amit Mehta found that Google violated US antitrust law. What does this mean for SEO? Probably nothing, at least not for many, many years. The Ruling. Judge Mehta‘s decision states Google maintained a monopoly over search services and advertising by violating section 2 of the Sherman Act. The ruling states “After having
On Monday, July 26, 2024, Google Local Services Ads sent out an email titled “No Action Required: Automating Google Local Services Ads Lead Credits”. The headline of the email reads “Good News: Easier, Proactive Lead Credits”. What does this mean? The change will start rolling out to accounts in July. It impacts attorneys and all other advertising verticals in LSA.
Yes, it is true, (a portion of) Google’s algorithm was leaked onto the web in May 2024. Google has been busy laying off important employees – did one of them intentionally leak it, or was it a genuine mistake? The leaked code has a lot of good tidbits of information in it. The code is not a playbook to rank
In early March 2024, Google emailed attorneys a message titled “Local Services Ads verification steps are being updated for your industry”. Google used to require identity verification for lawyers. They stopped about 2 years ago. They’re bringing the measure back due to spam. Local Services Ads (LSA) efforts to reduce spam: If you were not aware, I have authored multiple
In January 2024, Google announced that it would be shutting down websites built with Google Business Profiles. The announcement stated that Google would shut these sites down on March 5, 2024. Google was a few days late, but they indeed kept their word. Attorneys whose free Google Business Page (GBP) website was shut down will see their old URL redirected
Personal Injury Attorneys who use Google Ads PPC campaigns received a message from Google AdWords on March 6, 2024 titled “Access to Customer Match will be suspended for your account in the next 7 days”. At first glance, the message appears scary. It says: Your access to Customer Match will be suspended within the next 7 days because your Google
For the vast majority of law firms, ranking on Page 1 of Google in Los Angeles is not possible in 2024. But, there’s still hope to obtain leads. Here’s why, from someone who has watched the front page of LA for over a decade and actually ranks attorneys in major cities all over the USA. If you’re an LA attorney
E-E-A-T is not a shiny new thing. It’s been around for many, many years. There probably is not a single lawyer in the world needs to worry about it. But, if you arrived here for a detailed explanation, it’s your lucky day. We’re going to talk about E-E-A-T, and then never talk about it again. The Short Version: Law firms
On February 9, 2024, Google Local Services Ads (LSA) rolled out “Branded Local Services Ads”. This means that attorney’s LSAs may display when someone searches for your law firm’s name. In typical LSA fashion, the rollout was a total disaster. The discovery was made by Anthony Higman who tweeted this example: Google’s “Ad Liaison” Ginny Marvin replied and said “This
Super Bowl LVIII took place February 11, 2024 in Las Vegas. People watching from home got to see the Kansas City Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers in the last 3 seconds of overtime. Viewers watching Super Bowl LVIII via TV were able to see advertisements from local business owners – and law firms. Running Personal Injury Law Firm ads
