Understanding Google My Business & Local Search
Is Google Reducing the Local Search Result Footprint?
I first noticed this yesterday where every search for “storage + city” returned a 3-pack result regardless of the city that was searched (ie storage Toronto, storage Detroit, storage Miami etc etc etc ). This was true even on international searches like storage Paris, Fr.This change apparently occurred about two weeks ago and despite doing a range of searches both logged in and not, the “storage + city” never returned a Blended Result nor a Pack other than the 3-Pack.
While this search result was strange enough, today at least, many search results that were returning 7 Blended results or the 7-Pack are now returning many fewer pinned results.
So my questions for you:
1)Are any of you in the storage business and how long have you been seeing this 3-pack only result?
2)For all of you, are your local searches now returning fewer pinned results in the main SERPS?
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Comments
131 Comments
I actually was just noticing the same thing this afternoon! I’m graduating from handling just the company I work for to taking on a client or two, so I’ve been searching a lot so see where they stand.
Several searches where I expected to see a 7 pack or blended results came back with only three places under the adwords. For example “roofing contractors” with the location of Newpor News, VA. But “Roofing Contractor Yorktown, VA” turned up a blended SERP with 4 local results.
@Sharon
1)Good luck
2)I am seeing the same on those searches elsewhere as well
I am seeing the 3-4 pack with the majority of local searches for plumbers, dentist, chiropractors, roofers etc.. since Jan 24th. Hope this is not permanent.
@Jake
Yes… I am seeing lots of 3-4 Blended results on those terms.
I’m seeing this too, not universally however (no pun intended).
E.g. http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=hotels+playa+del+carmen
Mike,
not only “storage” will handled giving not more the “three” results only.
Same seems happen with “factory” or “academy” maybe others too.
Best Regards
@Ehg
on “factory” and “academy” (schools in the US?) when did they switch to just the 3 Pack?
@Joseph yes it is more apparent on head terms. Interestingly on the Locksmith searches it is mostly returning 3 Blended results not the 3-pack like with Storage
@Will Thanks for looking
@Robert
It will be a big change thats for sure…
It seems to be the same situation for locksmiths. I tried toronto locksmith, new orleans locksmith, and new york locksmith and the most I got was 4 for New Orleans.
Tried new york lawyer, los angeles lawyer, and Toronto lawyer, and got a mixture of 3 packs with and without blended results.
But, when I try more specific key phrases like, personal injury lawyer new york, personal injury attorney los angeles, and auto accident lawyer boston, I am getting more 7 packs and, in the case of auto accident lawyer boston, I got a blended results with a 9 pack.
Maybe Google is specifically targeting broader local key phrases.
I’ve absolutely noticed this over the course of the last 2 weeks. It seems more widespread this week and appears to be the norm now. I am also seeing a lot of blended results with only 4 map listings A through D.
As Google continues to add new types of search results to the first page (Your World Shares, videos, etc) the real estate on the first page of results keeps shrinking. We’ve seen this for organic rankings for a while now. Some searches are so crowded with different types of results only the top 3 organic listings make it on the first page.
Looks like Google is spreading this to local results as well. Which means local SEOers job is going to be a lot harder going forward. Top 7 won’t be the standard we’re judged by anymore, looks like for some markets, we’re gonna have to shoot for Top 3 or Top 4.
I’m seeing it as well for “hotels”, “restaurants”, “wedding venues”.
What’s interesting is that when I search in a large market, such as New York, LA, or Chicago, I’m consistently getting the 3-pack.
When I drop down a market – St Louis, Omaha, Tallahassee, I start seeing 4-packs.
When I get to relatively small market (Evanston, Fort Wayne) the number of listings continues to increase. For Fort Wayne Hotels, I have 6 listings.
These observations are by no means conclusive. Galveston Hotels brings up 4 listings and Arlington, TX brings up 3.
Also, we’re seeing a different number of results based on whether the plural or singular form is used. In the past, results have varied by this, but now the number of results are also varying.
Thanks for bringing this up Mike.
not sure since it happens but I noticed some others starnge results:
compare repair + city (in the US) with iphone repair + city (in the US)
or car repair + city (in the US) and compair
repair, seattle (http://goo.gl/GF3aU)
with repair, seattle, WA (http://goo.gl/mRrG0)
I’ve definitely been seeing a lot more blended 3’s, 4’s and 5’s
Didn’t see it yesterday… but alas here it is today – Canada
storage Calgary – 3
pizza Calgary – 4
locksmiths Calgary – 3
florists Calgary – 7
dry cleaners Calgary – 3
dentists Calgary – 4
chiropractors Calgary – 5
lawyers Calgary – 4
massage therapists Calgary – 5
Dang! Not good news!
Most I’ve checked like Seattle Chiropractor and various City Dentist searches have shrunk from 7 blended to 5. Which is better than 3, but still!
Doing more research now. Oh man this could really suck!
With these smaller sets of blended local results what then are they filling the rest of the results with? Are some major directories getting a reprieve after being kicked to the curb for the past while? Or is it more local business websites, but those that just rank well on purely organic factors? Maybe it’s both which would probably produce a better result set overall.
Seeing 3-4 pack blended result for plumber(s) here in Indianapolis and surrounding suburbs.
@Stever
Interesting point about what is taking up that space now, I looked at the results again and was suprised to see no yp.com/yellowbook/city search results for any of the roofing related queries. It was all local businesses and national product manufacturers. Searches for “florists” in various local towns reflected the same, a local directory or two showed up (hosted on the local TV stations site), but no national directories. On the auto repair side the results had 3 local and half the organic results were of the yp.com variety. Hmmm.
@ Mike, thanks! I need luck, my first client has 8 phone numbers, 3 business names, 2 URLS, and 1 physical location. This is gonna be fun.
Hi Mike,
I’ve noticed this as well. I’ve been seeing “packs” of 3, 4, 5, and 6. Thanks for confirming that it wasn’t just me.
You’ll see and especially weird-looking one (or at least I did) if you search in Philadelphia for “bakery”: 1 GP result, followed by two organic results, followed by 3 more GPs to round out the 4-pack.
I’m sure you know more than I do regarding the likelihood of this being a “just” another test, but in any case, I wonder if it’s a move toward greater flexibility OF the GP rankings themselves–maybe to accommodate more PPC and/or Plus results.
People may be more likely to notice / pay attention to PPC or Plus results if (potentially) they’re interwoven with GP results, or if the GP results are just of such a varying number that there’s simply more room on the page to accommodate these other results Google that would LOVE people to see. Just my speculation, though…
Good question Steve. The ones I’ve checked don’t have ANY directories, so all filled in with more organic listings, more actual Dentists, etc.
Hey Laura, I’ll get back to your email soon and do have an answer about your other Q.
please compare the results in genuine search http://goo.gl/SHoSq with the results on GMaps http://goo.gl/s97f6 – not the same top listed three business on Storage Dallas
ehg, inside GMaps itself you are dealing with a very different algorithm than the one producing results for regular search.
@Stever & EHG
EHG is showing 3-pack not blended… which isn’t a totally different algo… the main differences are 1)its a different map area thus resulting in different ordering and 2)Google filters out untrustworthy listings and doesn’t show them…
@Mike, aha, I didn’t even click the links to check and see that regular search was showing a 3-pack instead of blended. I take back what I said about different algo.
@ehg, to what Mike means by map area zoom in a few clicks on the Map results so it shows less area. You’ll the the results on the side change order.
A 3-pack in regular results, which is the Maps algo inserted into regular results as part of Universal Search, tends to be a pretty tight map area.
I’m seeing smaller packs (3, 4, and 5) for chiropractor, realtor terms, and internet marketing terms. Needless to say, none of these have shown smaller packs for years.
Hey Mike,
This is a strange new day, indeed. I’m seeing a 3 pack for such a huge search: ‘hotels san francisco’. The 3 results above the 3 pack are from various entities (hotelsl.com, tripadvisor and expedia). Below the 3 pack are individual hotel websites plus one other info site.
Temporary shakeup/test? Maybe?
@Miriam,
What you described actually happened way back in June as well: measly little 3-pack results showing up for ultra-competitive searches.
The example I wrote about then was the 3-pack showing up when I searched in NYC for “pizza” (http://bit.ly/z2p8zd).
That test only lasted for a few hours. It was very similar to this one, except it was only 3-packs. Maybe, just maybe, it’s not a test this time…
Hi Mike down here in Australia seeing 3 & 5 packs and also some serps slightly mixed with 3-5 results; ‘fencing brisbane’ ‘storage brisbane’, I have been expecting this for a while, the Places have taken up too much screen real estate. Next thing Google will be charging for the listing … For all the investment we put into Places sure is a rollercoaster ride.
So, do you think that there could be any logical reason for Google to shrink (to 3-4) and expand (to 8-9) the search results, or it is just another bug?
I first noticed it on tuesday out here for wedding photographers. I am very happy to be coming up above the fold now for the first time since I was dropped from local places for whatever reason.
Also I now notice on the right side just under a map are “People and Pages on Google+
related to Wedding Photographers”
with 2 listing from Google+
and then the ads start below that.
Lots of responses.
Did a bunch of searches on hotels and Italian restaurants for a number of different geo areas both w/ a lot of hotels and a lot of Italian restaurants.
I did 6 different geo areas. Generally saw pacs w/ between 4 and 9 results.
One was interesting. I looked at both search phrases hotels Crystal City and Crystal City hotels In one I saw 1 maps insert and the other I saw a 7 pac.
Geez there are about 4,000 rooms and over 20 hotels there last time I checked.
I personally think Google keeps changing presentations on a regular basis and have been doing that consistently with change over a pretty long period.
I’ve been noticing this more and more on searches in the law field.
As others have noted, maybe it’s just a test, but I also wonder if it could be in response to some of the backlash I’ve heard towards Google for having many non-“organic” results above the fold that support their own web properties.
Mike,
I was noticing the same thing this morning- many 7 pack results on the restoration industry are blended & showing as 3 or 4 pack only.
Could it be Google+ and “search plus your world”? Blending in those shares and +1s to searches for signed in users was putting a major squeeze on regular organic results. I saw some searches that only had 2 or 3 organic entries on page 1! The rest of the real estate was taken up by maps, “personalized” results, videos etc.
While it makes very little sense for Google to alter their entire algorhithm for what appears to be about 10% of their user base, I wouldn’t put it past them. . .
Phil – thanks for the link. It’s definitely a test of some kind. Whether it sticks or not, we’ll see!
In Brisbane, Australia. Same deal, the 7 pack for ‘brisbane karate’ the 5 pack for ‘karate brisbane’ and the 3 pack for ‘karate’. Might fall under the academy category.
Definitely seeing similar results in Florida. Been watching this closely over the past year especially, and have come to the conclusion they have no idea what they’re doing with local results.
I’ve noticed 1-2 organic results over a 3-5 pack of places listings, some services no longer even show local listings when they used to, some only show the 3 pack, then organic – it changes so often I’ve simply stopped chasing.
I tend to think they’ll merge places with google+ and I think that’s probably for the best
This is so annoying. I have been trying to rank my carpet cleaning company. Having the search engines change their mind so often really hurts the bottom lines of these local companies. Give us the rules and let us work on listing our companies. That is all we ask!
Truth is most SERPs showing local results are useless – niche-targetted directory sites are much better in terms of usability. I guess they finally figured that out.
I have one for car dealer that shows one at top and then 5 lower: car dealers in Gastonia NC
@Michal
WTF?
I too saw this yesterday but didn’t really pay any attention to it as I was busy, but now I read this I’m like “oh yes, i saw that too…”..
So I checked some queries, here are my findings:
1. doesn’t seem to matter if your logged in at google. Getting the same results.
2. there is a difference for: “keyword” compared to “keyword city”
3. NO ADWORDS?!
4. with only 1 place result, the right sidebar shows this places result details
5. keyword only includes universal search results. others do not
Screenshots:
1: keyword only: http://screencast.com/t/v3Mbuqbqaqb
2: keyword + city: http://screencast.com/t/XLxXkrFjx
3: keyword + city + area: http://screencast.com/t/QhPZtWhtuY
1:
Search for keyword only. 1 normal result with sitelinks. Smaller map on the right. 3-pack. Universal results (news, image)
2:
Search for keyword+city: 3 normal. 5 places, followed by 5 normal results. Larger map. And very interesting: No Adwords on the right! (link to serps: http://goo.gl/zrq5b)
No univerals.
3:
Search for keyword + city + area: 3 normals, 1 place with details on the right. 7 normal, no universal, no adwords @right sidebar.
Also VERY interesting here, like to have this one confirmed:
It seems that when there is one place result, the places details are shown. I have tested this with some other queries too.. I then noticed, the details are only shown if the place page has been VERIFIED by the owner. Otherwise you will just get a map with no details like opening hours etc.
does this forum use moderation? I posted a reply, but don’t see it, and also no message it is being moderated?
I’ve noticed that 2 days ago. Many SERPs with lost 2-3 pinned results mainly where these listings were not “merged” with their website – results without description. Small business owners should think about better websites that also rank well for their main keywords.
@Mike & Steve and regarding to three yesterday comments 20 – 22 about differences in Genuine Search & GMaps (http://goo.gl/SHoSq & http://goo.gl/s97f6)
My point is: we are here discussiong a new behavior of handling place packs by genuine search and all hints about what is NEW there could be useful.
And despite of knowing there are certain differences of the algos in Search & Gmaps of course there are different areas used for showing them on a genuine search and a GMaps search.
But why this?
From a users point of view (resp. “search”) he cant do much about the shown area if just typing in his keyword terms [term] [city ] into http://www.goole.com or into maps.google.com isn’t ?
Its happening in the UK too, its making our jobs harder if you sold your customers a guaranteed first page listing, what are they playing at.
Here in Germany I also did not see a 7-pack anymore. But the results vary a lot for each search term. We can see 6, 5, 4 and also a lot 3-pack results.
Seeing this in Ohio as well. Showed a 3 pack yesterday for the non-competitive term “home inspector cincinnati”. However, today serps show a 5 pack with an organic result embedded after the 1st map result. (see here: http://screencast.com/t/4rVO4EFJxbVl) It’s literally changing every day.
We’ve seen the maps results fluctuating all over the place from blended to 10 packs to 7 packs to 3 packs to mixtures in between, especially for the most competitive terms (lawyer, dentist, electrician, storage). Seems to be testing IMO.
http://goo.gl/WGQY2 – 10 blended results. The last time I reported about this was right after the first appearance of the Google Places Search.
I have seen this with MANY search results. I haven’t seen a 7-pack of any type for about a week now. Mostly 4-5 packs.
In cases where there is a “pack” of results being shown, I seem to now be seeing a 3-pack. However, it seems like for the majority of local searches, they are showing more blended results now than ever before. I’m going to guess that it won’t be long before there aren’t any “packs” of local results and they are all blended. In my opinion, that’s the best way for them to display local results and it requires a more holistic SEO strategy to perform well. A good combination of proper Places Pages setup and on-site (and off-site) SEO will be key to ranking highly.
@Stever
Which part did you not understand? They are simply useless for a user.
I do not remember good experience with these results.
Thanks for the post here Mike,
I’ve been seeing something even stranger than the changes that are being discussed here.
My dad’s got a massage therapy business up here in Wisconsin and after the past couple of years of working to rank his site in the Google local SERPS…he is, for a number of different search queries, THE ONLY LISTING BEING SHOWN at all for the local results, right at the top of the page.
It’s like a ONE-PACK?! Super weird. Has anyone else seen this. Fortunately, it we who have the spot…but it kind of sucks for anyone else, lol.
Here’s a look in you’re interested, pretty crazy.
Any thoughts on this??
Aubrey
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