Google Maps Now Highlights Nearby Products When Searching Local Businesses

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When searching on Google Maps, users will now see highlighted similar or relevant products from nearby stores, the company announced recently. 

As Google put it:

“Now, you can search in Google Maps for items like pickleball rackets, board games, ice cream makers, and more to find nearby stores that have them in stock so you can pick up what you need, stat.”

See It In Action

The feature is now live and can be seen on active search results. Just search for an item name or type of product and see nearby stores selling those items or similar alternatives. 

If you find something you like, you can easily select the item and get directions to pick it up immediately. 

Though the feature is going to be rolled out to more types of products soon, it is currently limited to home goods, electronics, clothing, and grocery items. 

You can see an example below:

How To Get Your Products Highlighted

Google chooses which products to show based on uploaded product and business details from Google Merchant Center. GMC lets you upload your inventory and have it shown on Google Search, Shopping, and now Google Maps. If you want your products to be highlighted to nearby shoppers, now is the time to set up your account and ensure all your product details are accurate and up to date.

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Study Shows LinkedIn Videos Get 3x The Reach of Text Posts

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LinkedIn’s increasing focus on video content appears to be paying off, providing better engagement and new opportunities for marketers on the platform to reach their audience. 

Since expanding its options for video content, LinkedIn has claimed that videos get five times the engagement of text posts. While a new analysis from AdWeek expert Caroline Giegerich doesn’t quite back up those claims, it does show that videos reach more users – especially if they are short (under 5 minutes) and posted in the morning. 

The Findings

In her 90-day analysis of LinkedIn content, Giegerich found that:

  • Videos consistently get further reach than written posts
  • The lowest-performing video included in the analysis still received nearly triple the impressions of top-performing text posts
  • Videos included in the study averaged around 250,000 views

The top-performing videos were:

  • Under 5 minutes
  • Filmed and uploaded directly to the camera with little-to-no editing
  • Posted in the morning between 9-11 AM EST

Here’s what Giegerich had to say about her videos and posting schedule:

“In terms of the content itself, I keep my videos under 5 minutes and speak directly to the camera about technology in terms everyone can understand to make it accessible.

I also post in the morning between 9 – 11 AM EST. If Gossip Girl covered tech, she’d be me. Over time, I added fun sound effects and captions with Capcut.”

Text Posts Still Have Value

While videos typically reached more users, Giegerich says that they were most effective for “top of funnel” marketing, while text posts were more effective for reaching users further down the sales funnel. 

There are a few reasons this may be. One reason, Giegerich notes, is that text posts were largely shown directly to her network of connections, while videos were more likely to be shown to users outside that network.

As Giegerich says:

“One format is more targeted to my network and the other is being heavily fanned by the LinkedIn algorithm to an audience outside of my immediate network.”

The Takeaway

While video continues to be one of the most powerful content formats to reach users today, Giegerich’s analysis emphasizes that videos aren’t the best option for everything. Both formats provide benefits for most effectively reaching people at different points of the sales journey. If used strategically, both can be useful for initiating potential customers to your business and gradually advancing them towards making a purchase. 

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