Here is today’s roundup of news related to local marketing and advertising, local media, technology, local commerce, consumer behavior and more.

Amazon Wants to Put Alexa in Hotel Rooms. Here’s Why That’s a Big Deal (June 19, 2018)
LSA Insider: “This morning Amazon announced a new program called “Alexa for Hospitality” as well as a partnership with Marriott to install Echo devices in hotel rooms to act as a kind of “virtual concierge.””

The Future Success of Your Brand Depends on the Voice of Your Customer (June 19, 2018)
LSA Insider: “Ratings/reviews are the lifeblood of your reputation. The more reviews you have online, the more findable you are on Google, and the more likely it is that customers will choose to do business with you.”

Retail is alive and well: How brands are evolving for today’s consumer (June 19, 2018)
SmartBrief: “Before e-commerce, and the tightened wallets of the past 10 years, consumers tended to spend with the brands they knew and, once the consumer-brand relationship was established, it was trusted and long-lasting.”

Google Video Carousels Seen Replacing Thumbnails In Search (June 19, 2018)
MediaPost: “A video carousel, mainly intended for mobile, has been serving up in Google desktop search results, replacing video thumbnails.”

Study: Mobile ads to exceed 30% market share in 2020 (June 19, 2018)
Mobile Marketer: “Zenith’s estimates of ad spending show the ongoing strength of mobile platforms as audiences shift their viewing habits to smartphones that have bigger screens and greater capacity to handle streaming video.”

Google local pack business categories dynamically change based on query (June 18, 2018)
Search Engine Land: “Google now uses searchers’ keywords to customize the local pack business categories.”