Understanding Google My Business & Local Search
Google Testing New Mobile Local Finder
Google is testing a new mobile local finder.
The Google iPhone Search App is often a proving ground for large scale tests that precede rollouts to browser based mobile search.
This test/rollout is an interesting one because of its dramatic shift from the focus on the business listing to the focus on the map. And in moving to a horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the screen, there is a shift from a ordered rank view to one that is more egalitarian in presentation.
This presentation is the same across both restaurants, hotels and all other listings unlike the current displays that are different in those groups. Here are the current browser based mobile Local Finder displays:
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Comments
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I’m fairly sure I saw this format on my Android over the weekend, too.
Wow, that is REALLY interesting. I’m excited to see how this impacts local search. As a user, I really like being able to view business on a map and adding the scrolling looks like it will be so much easier to search- as a marketer, I want to know how this will impact results. Of course 😉
Way easier for the whole “front page” of results (though technically it wouldn’t be I suppose) to be ads in this format that’s for sure.
So does that mean that the address has to be visible on the listing? I suppose in a way then, this means that more businesses get exposure in one hit?
Funny seeing this post as I live in Olympia, WA. Even funnier, I noticed that a local favorite, Olympia Coffee Roasters, is not ranking very well downtown. I made a user edit and changed the GMB category from Coffee Store to Coffee Shop. That brought them up from ~10 to first in local.
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