Our crack legal team has suggested we mention that the prevoius post was entirely a work of fiction and intended as parody. Or that the previous post was inserted into our feed by a nefarious hacker. I can't remember which.

Just before today's update to Google's News personalization form, this version appeared for a few brief seconds, shedding light on possible new features in an upcoming release...

1. Given the current polarized atmosphere, providing the ability to filter results according to political leanings is not surprising, but the default settings will be viewed as a bit heavy handed.

2. After countless complaints, Google apparently has agreed that users should be able to dial back the Panda update in News results because "spun" articles have such a rich tradition in American journalism.

3. While less sinister than hiring an agency to highlight a competitors shortcomings, referring to this feature as "Personalization" is a bit of a stretch. An internal document claims that the "None" and "Fewer" buttons were omitted due to the long label, but a casual glance shows this is not entirely true.

4. We almost missed this one. Unable to find a legal way to incorporate results from other search engines, Google, in a bold move, will evidently allow users to swap algorithms to uncover otherwise missing results.

When 32 top experts on local SEO were asked to identify the most important factors for achieving greater visibility in local search, there was nearly unanimous agreement on what belongs at the top of the list: Claim and update your Google Places page. Assuming Google knows you exist, Google has already created your "Places" listing, including a dedicated page with details about your business, photos, reviews, and more. So where does this information come from? Unless you have claimed your own page, it comes from anywhere Google can get it, including submissions from random strangers and your competitors. So here's a quick why, where, and how to claim and update your page:

You've done it! And it was easy and free! Now keep the listing updated, continuing to add timely information, specials, events, etc., and responding politely and professionally to reviews. And don't forget to check out your Google Places dashboard to view analytics on activity, impressions, actions, keywords and more.

In a recent interview, Google Vice President, Marissa Mayer, succinctly summed up her company's four key areas of business: Search, Mobile, Local and Social.

Nice to know, but if you're a small business owner, why should you care about how Google is structuring their business? Because, while Google's product may be information, Google's business is advertising. And Google has structured their business model around the four spaces that matter to any advertiser or business trying to reach people online.

So Google's "four key areas" provides a valuable metric by which to measure the reach and scope of our online marketing efforts. Or, put another way, 'Does our marketing plan really take advantage of the full spectrum from Search to Mobile to Local to Social?' Even today, the majority of businesses have have barely tackled half of one, i.e., they've worked on SEO for their Web site. (Paid advertising being the other half of Search.)

SEO has been the golden calf of online marketing for well over a decade, and it's still critical to your online success. But online marketing is not a one-cylinder vehicle, and putting all your effort into tuning one cylinder may leave your business sputtering and making little headway. Why not build on what you've already accomplished by exploring news ways to reach more customers in new spaces online.

Lucky for us, Google has given us a nice set of buckets to help organize our ideas. Here's a non-comprehensive list to jump-start your thinking. Which of these online marketing tools or techniques have you employed, and which do you need to learn more about?

Feel free to tell me what I have left out or put in the wrong bucket. Then pick just one new opportunity from the list above and put it to work for your business.