Fabricated Review Campaign

This is an area that Google has been keen on improving for quite some time, and will only improve upon in 2015. Already, they have measures in place to hide reviews from the same IP (through Google ), eliminating the idea of running a “Review Station”. If you, or your agency has been investing time in developing fabricated reviews for the purposes of local SEO optimization, you are likely spinning your wheels. Not only will you not see a ranking benefit, but soon, you may become penalized for this type of behavior.

Reviewer-Authenticity Matters

Reviews must be genuine, and come from real Google accounts! Remember, Google knows the types of activities their users are participating in, they know whether or not these people send/receive emails, are active on social media (are they influencers?), and whether or not they review other businesses. We predict reviewer-usage behavior will make its way into the weighting of reviews and rankings in the future.

Desktop-Tunnel Vision

Too many times, we hear excuses as to why a client “doesn’t require” a responsive site as the desktop site is working just fine. At Share14 in San Francisco, Duane Forrester from Microsoft noted that more than 50% of Bing’s traffic now comes from a mobile device. This trend was echoed by many in the audience.

For years now, marketers have been saying “this is the year for mobile,” although there has never been too much movement in this space. We feel Google has given everyone enough time, and responsive technology has become more accessible, where soon, time may have run out for non-responsive excuses.

For all the SEO’s and digital marketers out there, focus your efforts where you can affect positive change. Enjoy!


About the Author
Zak has been helping companies gain online exposure for close to a decade. Constantly testing new tools and strategies, Zak welcomes change in this fast-paced industry. With a deep understanding of authority signals, analytics analysis, and site architecture optimization, Zak takes the success of his clients over their competitors personally. During his off-hours, Zak works at a local College and University teaching a wide variety of Business Computer Applications. Zak’s openness to change and ability to execute make him one of Mediative’s most well-rounded SEO experts.