On a website, with adsense ads, people are scanning over the whole page as they try to figure out what that site is about. Images are one of the things that pop out and draw the eye’s attention. So that works in that context (new visitors on a new site).

Google SERPs are not a new discovery for most users. Pretty sure they’ve done a search or two. So the break from the usual, images in search results, has the opposite effect of images next to PPC ads when exploring a new site for first time as there is no built in expectation, just yet.

My sense is that we have way too little information (perhaps my headline is overzealous) to make conclusions on the little research we have…

If we go back thru the two recent reports (google’s & Enquirio), neither truly addresses the question at hand: What does a searcher typically do when confronted with a Universal Local Result?

We know from Steve that in his study that there were more clicks on the organic…we don’t know about phone calls…or visits…

We know from Enquirio that in a certain type of search users look at the top of the 10 pack but may skip down and not see highly placed ads…

We know from Google that the thumbnails did not “significantly” alter the order of scanning.

The one conclusion we certainly can draw is be in both places (top of local and top of organic) if at all possible. We can probably also safely postulate that if you can’t be in both places be in one…. as high as you can..

Beyond that we don’t really have enough information to draw too many conclusions about user behaviors…I would love to see Google’s work specifically as it related to the the various Universal Local results and see how it affected scanning and clicking and calling behaviors….

Mike

In relation to the One box vs. Organic I’m not sure how much “intent” actually makes the difference there. For a website that comes up #1 for local and organic, on that main broad service/location keyword phrase, I don’t see how there is different intent that would lead more to click the organic link vs. the 10 pack (is same keyword after all).

Seems to me maybe the optimized title tag link plus description snippet of an organic result would make up for most of the difference. Provides much more initial info to a user before they decide which result to click.

Heat map then reflects this as people want to scan titles and description of first few organic results below 10 pack.

10 pack actually provides little info to make a decision with. A list of 10 business names and 10 spots on the map is all it really amounts to.

Don’t you think, as they noted at Enquirio in their research , that it is a matter of user intent?

Mike

Stever’s conversation with the guy who ‘never clicks on those things’ echoes conversations I have had with small business owners. I think unfamiliarity has got to be a contributing factor to the lack of use of the 10-pack.