this post was submitted on 27 Oct 2023
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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by nave@lemmy.zip to c/technology@lemmy.world
 

Thai Food Near Me, Dentist Near Me, Notary Near Me, Plumber Near Me — businesses across the country picked names meant to outsmart Google Search. Does it actually work?

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[–] SpeedLimit55@lemmy.world 71 points 1 year ago

I guess this is the modern version of AAA plumbing from the phone book.

[–] reversebananimals@lemmy.world 49 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Who would EVER give business to a place that starts by trying to trick you?

[–] willington@lemmy.dbzer0.com 30 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So you never patronize any business that uses the .99 and .95 pricing schemes? Gas stations are the worst offenders with their sub-penny pricing schemes.

Practically all ads exaggerate to the point of lying. "Luxury apartment for rent" <-- just a run of the mill apartment, not luxurious. Etc.

Business culture is a culiure of lies.

[–] reversebananimals@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Fuck them all. I absolutely do avoid companies that do these things.

[–] willington@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You're telling me you don't fill up your car?

Every single gas station in the US of A uses a sub-penny pricing scheme. I have not seen a sigle exception yet.

[–] reversebananimals@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't own a car. I take public transit, bike and walk.

[–] willington@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

OK, you're a hardy soul then. I support your efforts. 💫

[–] reversebananimals@lemmy.world 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I appreciate your reply. And I also understand its not 100% black and white - its complicated. But I feel strongly we gotta fight back against bullshit behavior in this world in any way we can if we want people to act better.

[–] willington@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You give me hope, thank you.

[–] dust_accelerator@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Reading this wholesome exchange, today I'm going to fight back extra hard against all the bullshit and act better.

Thank you both for reminding us.

[–] BossDj@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

The hard part is living somewhere that offers such options

[–] seeCseas@lemmy.world -1 points 1 year ago

Have you or your parents never used a phone book to look up businesses and ended up calling A1 Plumbing, AAA locksmith, etc?

[–] HidingCat@kbin.social -2 points 1 year ago

So, are you a hermit?

[–] MeatsOfRage@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They're not trying to trick you they're trying to rank up in Google. It's basically SEO in real life. Every business with any online awareness is trying to juice their SEO. This isn't the businesses fault, this is the world Google made for us.

[–] thanevim@kbin.social 10 points 1 year ago

Of course, an argument can be made that this is the evolution of the number of companies that used a variance of "AAA" to appear first in the phone books of old

[–] HeavyDogFeet@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

How is this tricking you? If anything it’s tricking Google, but who gives a fuck about Google. This is a business trying to work within a broken system.

[–] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I just use the filters for "near me" and don't actually search for it.

[–] HidingCat@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

Yea, I don't even bother, I'd rather search in Maps directly.

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 4 points 1 year ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Thai Food Near Me is a small but powerful symbol of Google’s far-reaching impact on businesses over the past two decades and the lengths their owners will go to try to optimize their operations for the company’s platforms.

The term “Thai food near me” is searched, on average, nearly a million times a month in the US, according to Semrush, a company that provides keyword research and other popular SEO tools.

Semrush notes you’ll need referring domains and optimized content to try to compete for the term and grades it as “difficult” to rank for — competitive, but not even the hardest category.

Owners should have basics like updated hours of operation and accurate location details, but they should also respond to reviews, add photos, and even post individual items in stock to their Google page.

Ironically, a search I did in Google Maps for “Thai food near me” from Wisconsin surfaced the Manhattan restaurant as a suggestion, above any local businesses — it was easier to find it from the Midwest than it was from Brooklyn.

As New York Magazine reported, the allure of a social media hit is shaping the very food being served — gooier eggs, more obscene cheese, sauces exploding and gushing across a plate.


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