Minutive, Vol. 34: SEO without SERPs, the Death of Beacons, and More.

SEO without SERPs is here…Here’s How to Survive.

BY BRYSON MEUNIER
In a typically-insightful column, Bryson lays out an amazing table of queries voice assistants can currently handle and the kinds of queries that remain opportunities for SEO. Don’t expect any traffic from them though. As I said following Dr. Pete’s terrific post a couple weeks ago, when it comes to voice, attribution is the new clickthrough.

Google Answer Box Impact on SERP’s

BY DENNIS GOEDEGEBUURE
The impact of Voice extends beyond just assistants. Voice has focused Google on single-answer results across desktop and mobile, too. On mobile the impact is just as enormous as on voice, as Dennis G’s (Airbnb’s former head of SEO) latest post lays out beautifully with an example of a high-volume, highly-commercial travel query.

There are simply going to be far fewer winners in this new environment, which is probably not healthy for the traditional SEO industry.

Ah beacons, we hardly knew ye. One of the leading companies in the beacon industry calls the technology dead, echoing my rationale in a year-old Twitter debate with Yext CEO Howard Lerman: beacons solve a marketing problem, not a consumer problem.

It’ll be interesting to see whether Yext doubles down on its beacon strategy or follows Euclid’s suit and pivots yet again.

The 7 Citation Building Myths Plaguing Local SEO

BY JOY HAWKINS
One of many posts Joy has authored in the last year that I wish I’d written! Yours truly agrees with every bullet in Joy’s list.

Report: 2.5 million US businesses buying Facebook ads, spending $1,500 per year

BY GREG STERLING
For those doing the math, that’s a $3.75 Billion annual long-tail opportunity on which Google has largely failed to capitalize in the 8 years since they first introduced the Local Business Center.

Emojis work in GMB business names
BY CORI SHIRK GRAFT

Before you ask if it’s worth the risk–probably not for most small businesses. But if you aren’t dependent on Google for most of your business (like Whitespark isn’t) then it’s absolutely worth a shot. Check it out!

Slightly Off-Topic:
How Otto Defied Nevada and Scored a $680 Million Payout from Uber

BY MARK HARRIS
It’s hard to overstate the effects the self-driving truck industry will have on society.  The economic prospects of the white rural voter are bad in 2016, but they look downright rosy compared to where they’ll be in 2020.

Based on its contempt for state and municipal regulations, the industry’s “leader,” Otto, should fit right in with new owner Uber. An interesting aside–one of Otto’s co-founders is Lior Ron, former product manager of Google Maps and architect of Hotpot.