Google Places News & Articles

This week the battle for the hearts and pockets of SMBs between Microsoft and Google continues with Microsoft offering Bing marketing for SMBs and Google upgrading its Places. SAP offers businesses that want it a cheap way of doing e-commerce, while new research shows that many SMBs are not ready for web traffic spikes.

Social media moves so fast, it's hard to keep up. Here are the week's top stories in scan-friendly format:

• TBD.com Launches With Innovative News Approach
• Businesses Aren't Using Social Media Wisely
• Like Yelp, Businesses Can Now Talk Back To Customer Reviews
• Who Are The Top Brands On Foursquare?

Yesterday Google announced their new location-aware display ads for mobile devices. The addition is hot on the heels of Google's Places app (a Yelp competitor, also for mobile) and together these two solutions are poised to provide some serious leeway for marketers with on on-the-go consumers in mind. 

Last year Yelp turned down a US$ 550 million dollar offer from Google, and today remains one of the few companies to have walked away from the famous, primary-colored clutches. Not to be outdone, it looks like Google's answer to the local and location craze is a mobile solution called Google Places. 

This week, we look at how web publishing can help children and Google's new push for the ad dollars of local businesses.