Mike Blumenthal

Tech went from "don't be evil" to the villains of the culture.

On the Near Memo, Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal on how it happened, from Google's AI-or-no-Search ultimatum to schools to data centers losing 38 of 41 ballot measures. Link to full post below

No new Google reviews in 2 weeks? In a high-spam category, that’s likely a ~30-day review penalty, and Google won’t email you.

What to do while you wait it out 👇

What can your AI infer about you?

Do this prompt first and then follow up and ask it to add your public web presence and to update your profile based on its additional findings
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Prompt:

Using only my past [your chatbot name ] conversations and what you know about me, build a consumer persona profile of me as a researcher would. Search my chat history broadly before answering. Don't rely on this conversation alone.

Organize it by:
1. Demographic and situational facts I've actually stated
2. Income estimate: a range and best guess, with the signals behind it
3. Household size: a likely number and range, with the signals behind it
4. Psychographic traits: values, risk tolerance, trust posture, decision-making style
5. Behavioral patterns: how I research, which sources I trust, how deep I go, how I use tools
6. Decision drivers: what I weigh most when choosing products, services, or approaches
7. Emotional tendencies when facing a problem: urgency, skepticism, need for control
8. Interests and recurring topics
9. Buyer persona: who I am as a buyer, goals, purchase triggers, buying process, trusted and ignored channels, pain points, objections, what wins and loses me, and a message that would land

For every claim, label it
Stated (I said it), Observed (a pattern across several chats, with examples), or Inferred (your interpretation, with a confidence level). Flag where the evidence is thin, and list what my history can't tell you.

End with a one-paragraph persona summary and a suggested persona name.

Google is actively rolling out an AI Agent for your Google Business Profile

Many Google Business Profiles business's messaging numbers are being automatically updatedwith a Meta Facebook Messenger or WhatApp number.

What do you think is going on?

It appears to me that Meta is providing a feed to Google that is automatically posted to your business profile. Businesses might not notice until its too late and you have lost a customer or three.