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

Study: 66% of Virtual Assistant Owners Say They Are Using Smartphones Less (February 20, 2018)
LSA Insider: “Based on new data from Accenture, it appears virtual assistant usage is resulting in less time spent with smartphones.”

4 Ways Google’s Speed Update May Change Your Agency’s Offerings (February 20, 2018)
LSA Insider: “Whenever Google announces a new ranking factor, it’s important for digital marketing professionals to try to determine how much this factor will change how they can best serve their clients.”

Google No Longer Supports the Meta News Keywords Tag (February 20, 2018)
Search Engine Journal: “Google has revealed it no longer supports the meta news keywords tag, and hasn’t supported it for several months.”

Why entities may power the future of location-based data (February 20, 2018)
Search Engine Land: “Businesses with physical locations need to strengthen their entities, says Columnist Adam Dorfman — doing so helps Google track customers and strengthen your findability.”

How Augmented Reality Will Change Local SEO (February 20, 2018)
Street Fight: “According to Statista, the number of AR users is expected to reach 200 million this year, up 233% in just the past five years.”

Why Smart Marketers Need Not Fear The Crumbling Cookie (February 19, 2018)
MediaPost: “U.S. consumers now spend five hours per day on mobile devices, and only 8% of that time is spent on a browser.”

Brand Appropriateness: Marketers Need A Deeper Understanding of Context And Impact (February 19, 2018)
AdExchanger: “The digital advertising industry needs to move away from the incendiary headlines toward a more nuanced perspective of brand safety.”