Google GBP Suspension Increases?, The Future of Reviews, and Liz Reid’s AI Vision for Search

In this episode of the Near Memo, Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal dig into Google Business Profile suspension increases over time, the broken state of reviews, and insights from Google’s Liz Reid on AI Overviews, AI Mode, and monetization. What do these changes mean for small businesses, SEOs, and consumers? Tune in for an unfiltered take. 00:10 – Intro & Today’s Topics 01:02 – Why Google Suspensions Keep Rising 05:01 – Google’s Small Business Hub (and what’s missing) 06:09 – Review Losses & Google’s Ambiguous Guidelines 10:50 – Living in Google’s Probabilistic Reality 12:04 – Reviews as Ranking vs. Business Improvement 14:13 – Review Inflation, Fraud & Algorithms (Google vs. Yelp) 17:04 – Can Trust Signals Replace Reviews? 20:43 – AI Review Summaries & Amazon’s Rufus 23:26 – Broken Systems & Customer Service Contrasts 24:59 – Alternatives to Reviews? Scoring Systems & Transparency Badges 26:59 – Liz Reid on AI Overviews, Mode & the Future of Search