A man named Neil Parfitt is standing in a field on a cattle ranch outside Warwick, Australia. A white vehicle appears above the trees, a tiny plane a bit bigger than a seagull. It glides towards Parfitt, pitches upwards to a vertical position, and hovers near him, a couple hundred feet in the air. From its belly, a package comes tumbling downward, connected by a thin line to the vehicle itself. Right before the delivery hits the ground, it slows, hitting the earth with a tap. The delivery slows, almost imperceptibly, just before it hits the ground, hardly kicking up any dust. A small rectangular module on the end of the line detaches the payload, and ascends back up the vehicle, locking into place beneath the nose. As the wing returns to flying posture and zips back to its launch point half a mile away, Parfitt walks over to the package, opens it up, and extracts some treats for his dogs.
The Australian test flight and 30 others like it conducted in mid-August are the culmination of the first phase of Project Wing, a secret drone program that’s been running for two years at Google X, the company’s whoa-inducing, long-range research lab.
Video: Project Wing
Read more at theatlantic.com
Client Focus: Dilworth Auto – Dilworth MN
/in Client Focus /by BenjieDilworth Auto
Since opening in 2012, Dilworth Auto has achieved great success. Owner and operator Gene Gebeke, of Dilworth, has been supporting the community for many years. Gene has a tremendous amount of experience (25 years) in the car business, so when the opportunity presented itself to start a used car dealership in Dilworth, MN along busy Hwy 10 he jumped on it. Dilworth is one of the core cities of the Fargo-Moorhead metro area; located directly on the eastern border of Moorhead. Its population has grown by over 35% over the last several years making it a hot spot for new businesses and families to grow. After remodeling the dealership, purchasing a quality selection of used cars and preparing for the grand opening, Gene was looking for ideas to market Dilworth Auto.
To attract customers he started a website www.dilworthauto.com and also contacted Google Street View | Trusted 360 to get Dilworth Auto more visible on Google and online. The main goals when discussing the marketing strategy was to let people know that Dilworth Auto is only 1 mile east of Fargo-Moorhead on Hwy 10, located, “Just down the road from high prices,” as Gene would exclaim. Dilworth Auto is very unique that it has low overhead and is able to offer everyone quality used cars at affordable prices everyday. If you are looking to purchase your first car or just upgrade your vehicle, Dilworth Auto has cars, trucks, vans and suvs starting at $1000 and up. This is not your typical small used car dealership, the inside is decorated with historic car memorabilia, die cast trains, old car license plates, ice cold soda and “Gene’s Famous Popcorn Machine”. The inventory changes daily so if you see something you like swing in or give a call and if you haven’t found what you are looking for let Gene know and he can find it. This is one of the fastest growing used car dealers in the Fargo-Moorhead area so do yourself a favor and swing out to Dilworth Auto, say “Hi” and take a look around the great selection of used cars at affordable prices.
Client Focus: Granite City – Fargo, ND
/in Client Focus /by BenjieGranite City – Fargo, ND
Granite City Food and Brewery is a polished casual American restaurant in Fargo, ND featuring fresh made from scratch recipes since 2001. With over 30 restaurants in 13 states Granite City has won awards nationwide for Best Restaurant, Best Brunch, Best Patio, Best Beer and Best Martini. Granite City Food & Brewery in Fargo, ND was a Finalist for Best Restaurants in the 2014 “Best of the Red River Valley”. Some signature dishes include Grilled Chicken and Asparagus Linguini, Barramundi Buerre Blanc, Grilled Garlic Butter Sirloin, “Big Show” Burger and my personal favorite Cuban Sandwich.
The handcrafted signature beers which are made on-site and use a patented brewing process, Fermentus Interruptus include The Duke (Pale Ale), The Bennie (Bock), The Batch (Double IPA), The Northern (American Style Light Lager), The Stout and seasonal brews are featured throughout the year.
If you haven’t made it to a Sunday Brunch at Granite City you are missing out. They have one of the Best Sunday Brunches around, so bring the whole Family and Enjoy all Granite City has to offer. With so much to offer Granite City Food & Brewery wanted to showcase it’s beautiful building and decor to potential customers online everywhere. Take a look around the Virtual Tour and swing by Granite City Food & Brewery in Fargo, ND for some Food, Brews and Fun…You will be glad you did.
Client Focus: Hatch Realty – Fargo, ND
/in Client Focus /by BenjieHatch Realty and the Erik Hatch Team are passionate about real estate. They are the fastest growing real estate company in the Fargo Moorhead area and recently moved into a new office to accommodate there passionate growing real estate team. Marketing is extremely important when it comes to real estate and so the Hatch Realty Team partnered with Google Street View | Trusted to create a high definition 360 Virtual Tour of there new office at 1205 16th ave Fargo, ND. “Giving potential clients a chance to virtually visit our office before coming in guarantees us more visits.” -Erik Hatch, Owner, Hatch Realty. The entire Hatch Realty team has been involved with “Homeless and Hungry” for the past 8 years and they believe strongly in giving back to the community. The Forum named Erik Hatch “Best Real Estate Agent 2013”. If you are looking to looking to buy or sell a home you owe it to yourself to visit with the incredible team at Hatch Realty.
The Erik Hatch Team of Hatch Realty is in the business of helping people. We just happen to sell real estate!
Inside Google’s Secret Drone-Delivery Program
/in Business View News /by local360adminA man named Neil Parfitt is standing in a field on a cattle ranch outside Warwick, Australia. A white vehicle appears above the trees, a tiny plane a bit bigger than a seagull. It glides towards Parfitt, pitches upwards to a vertical position, and hovers near him, a couple hundred feet in the air. From its belly, a package comes tumbling downward, connected by a thin line to the vehicle itself. Right before the delivery hits the ground, it slows, hitting the earth with a tap. The delivery slows, almost imperceptibly, just before it hits the ground, hardly kicking up any dust. A small rectangular module on the end of the line detaches the payload, and ascends back up the vehicle, locking into place beneath the nose. As the wing returns to flying posture and zips back to its launch point half a mile away, Parfitt walks over to the package, opens it up, and extracts some treats for his dogs.
The Australian test flight and 30 others like it conducted in mid-August are the culmination of the first phase of Project Wing, a secret drone program that’s been running for two years at Google X, the company’s whoa-inducing, long-range research lab.
Video: Project Wing
Read more at theatlantic.com
How to Earn Links with Google’s New Business Photos
/in Business View News /by local360adminIf you’ve ever used Google’s Street View technology and been surprised by the alien relaxing by the side of the road or the two-legged white cat casually strolling down the avenue, you know what kind of fun you might have now that the same technology is available for business use. And we decided that’s exactly what we were going to do.
First of all we had to hire a trusted Google photographer or agency. Then when we knew what date they were coming we staged our offices to provide puzzle’s, objects, images and other creative gimmicks. By carefully planning our virtual tour, we created something that feels more like a virtual reality game, than a boring photo shoot, and that will also add excitement to our social media campaigns.
Read more at searchenginejournal.com
How Google Map Hackers Can Destroy a Business at Will
/in Marketing /by local360adminHe was alerted to that possibility when one of his regulars phoned the restaurant. “A customer called me and said, ‘Why are you closed on Saturday, Sunday and Monday? What’s going on?’” Bertagna says.
It turned out that Google Places, the search giant’s vast business directory, was misreporting the Serbian Crown’s hours. Anyone Googling Serbian Crown, or plugging it into Google Maps, was told incorrectly that the restaurant was closed on the weekends, Bertagna says. For a destination restaurant with no walk-in traffic, that was a fatal problem.
Read more at wired.com
Inside Google’s Big Plan to Race Amazon to Your Door
/in Business View News /by local360adminThough Google over the years had experimented with letting consumers buy goods with the help of services such as Google Wallet and Google Checkout, it accelerated this strategy in 2013 with Shopping Express. The service lets shoppers buy things from local retail stores through Google, which then delivers them to consumers from the physical retail store on the same or next day.
“You can very much expect that we are putting a lot of money into this and we’re excited and willing to sustain that investment over time as this gets going,” said Tom Fallows, head of Google Shopping Express.
Read more at recode.net
Client Focus: Dan Porter Motors Dickinson, ND
/in Client Focus /by local360adminDan Porter Motors in Dickinson, ND sells new and used vehicles. Their new car offering includes Honda, Toyota, and Scion. Recently they moved from a 64-year old building into a newly built, modern dealership. It has features you expect in a modern dealership, like clean and bright showroom, parts and service. Also maybe some features you don’t expect, like a drive-in customer delivery bay they take great pride in. It allows them to walk-around and explain the features of a vehicle in a private, climate controlled area. Rain or shine, hot or cold, you’ll always enjoy those first moments with your new vehicle in comfort.
Dickinson’s proximity to ND’s oil boom means it’s a city with a lot of new people, new businesses, and new buildings. Google Maps Google Street View | Trusted 360 helps Dan Porter showcase once if the nicest of all the new buildings.
Here are before and after screenshots of the sidebar information presented in Google search:
Client Focus: All City Auto Fargo, ND
/in Client Focus /by local360adminAll City Auto is a used car dealer at 4090 Main Ave in Fargo, ND with a large inventory of vehicles to meet any budget. They have a bright and welcoming sales office they were eager to showcase. Grab a flavored coffee, tea or hot chocolate from their single cup coffee maker, or relax in leather seating. Children are welcomed too, with a sweet treat or activity.
The staff at All City Auto is tech savvy, and were the first in line to request a Google Maps Street View | Trusted 360 photo shoot. They take pride in the appearance of their business, and their web presence. Now it shows in their Google Search results, and in the ranking of important key words.
Google Business Photos May Correlate With Higher Local Search Ranking
/in Business View News /by local360adminUp until now, when a client asked if Google Business Photos had any influence on their search rankings, I just kind of mumbled something to the effect of, “Usually when Google rolls out a new service, the companies that adopt the new technology do better in search rankings. And it can’t hurt, so yes, let’s try it out.” But do Google Business Photos help with local search rankings? Google’s been mum, and I haven’t been able to find any research on the matter. So I decided to test if there was a correlation between adoption of Google Business Photos and local search rankings.
Read more at moz.com