Step-by-step guides a busy owner can actually follow. Marketing math, platform changes, and the one thing to do about each.
Google's own ranking help page now says "popularity" where it used to say "prominence," and the shift is real money since recent engagement now outranks years in business.
Run an ad for one full buying cycle before you judge it. For anything over about $500, that is three to six weeks, not the seven days Facebook reports by default.
For most local shops, the Google Business Profile brings in more customers than the website does, and it costs nothing. Fill it in first, in this order, before spending on the site.
An independent Indianapolis restaurant typically pays $250 to $700 a month to sell food online once you count the website, the POS, and delivery commissions, and most owners have no idea which piece costs them the most.
Google starts moving Local Services Ads into Google Ads in August 2026, and your historical performance reports do not come with you. You get 14 days of notice to export them.
Meta replaced Facebook's reach and impression metrics with a new "media views" model on June 15, 2026, so a swing in this month's numbers most likely reflects that new definition.
Starting in September 2026, Google will automatically convert Dynamic Search Ads, automatically created assets, and broad match campaign settings into AI Max, with no opt-out.
Meta changed its health and wellness ad standard on July 22, 2026. Before-and-after photos are allowed again for cosmetic ads, and rejections now come from the claim in your copy rather than the photo.
OpenAI opened ChatGPT ads to any US business with a credit card on July 22, 2026. Clicks run $3 to $5, but the ads never reach paying subscribers, so most Indianapolis shops should wait.
Google closed its in-account appeal window on July 21, 2026. You get six months from the date of a disapproval or suspension to appeal inside Google Ads, then the button disappears.
Google places automated calls to your shop and uses the answers to change your listed hours. A new Collected info tab shows every piece of information it gathered, and the date it landed.
Since July 14, 2026, removing someone's Google Ads access requires a second admin's approval. If your account has only one admin, you cannot remove anyone. Add a second admin today.
A text sent two or three weeks after a haircut, oil change, or cleaning costs a shop next to nothing and beats a Google ad that costs five to eight dollars a click for a stranger.
I asked an AI browser to book a table on three restaurant websites. It finished the job once. The other two tripped on the same mistake, an easy one to fix this week.
Google now requires a live, unedited video instead of a postcard to verify most Google Business Profiles, and getting the recording wrong can leave your listing dark for weeks.
Mailchimp's free plan now caps at 250 contacts, down from 2,000, and a 2,000-name list runs about $60 a month on its Standard plan. MailerLite and Brevo send the same email for a fraction.
Nearly half of shoppers now ask an AI like ChatGPT to find a local plumber or dentist, up from six percent a year ago, and it recommends barely one percent of eligible businesses.
Google Search Console can now show you which of your Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or X posts get found through Google Search, even without a website.
Instagram rolled out per-slide captions on carousels in June 2026, and for a shop posting step-by-step photos, that is the difference between one caption doing ten jobs and ten captions each doing one.
AI phone receptionists now answer calls, book jobs, and text back missed customers for as little as 25 to 95 dollars a month, cheaper than the one job you lose to voicemail this week.