Understanding Google My Business & Local Search
Google Mobile Search Results for Hotels, Restaurant and Other Entertainment Locations Updated
Google announced yesterday that mobile searchers would now be able to filter restaurant results more effectively. It appears that the mobile display for restaurants and hotels has also been updated and hotels also offer a filtering option. These new results are also showing for museums, music venues and amusement parks. The list of location types is very similar to those that return the carousel on the desktop. The change applies to both iPhone and Android clients. H/t to Linda Buquet. This was reported in her forum yesterday.
I presume, like the carousel, that it is US only. Can someone confirm that?
Only three results are shown in the initial search and all locations and all results that display like this (amusement parks, music halls etc etc) offer a filter option if only by rating.
When you select “See all” you are presented with a longer list and no organic results.
When you click on the calendar you are offered the ability to select a date range
Hotel filtering allows choice by class and rating:
This may have been there before but when you drill into a single hotel property you can now book from the mobile screen:
Restaurants have a similar new display treatment:
And as noted elsewhere the ability to filter by price and ratings.
© Copyright 2024 - MIKE BLUMENTHAL, ALL RIGHT RESERVED.
Comments
17 Comments
Yep, currently only showing in the US
@cori interestingly unlike the carousel which shows on US based searches of foreign lands, this does not act that way.
Another interesting observation that I haven’t seen mentioned elsewhere: the order that the hotels are displayed in the mobile interface is the same as the order in the local carousel. Makes sense, but just figured i’d point that out.
@matt yes it does make sense. The slide buttons are a pretty slick way of moving left to right as well
Mike: From a business perspective its quite provocative in a number of ways. On the hotel side there is a sizable business in same day bookings. Estimates vary and its a minority of all business but it is sizable. Its also great for hotels as they command higher prices. In the hotel business its bigger for highway hotels and less important for resort hotels. Mobile apps for same day bookings are growing…and this is an app like feature in its view.
From the perspective of a number of hotels along routes such as I- 90 or I-80 on either side of you I’d bet its a significant issue that bears attention. It really speaks to optimizing for Maps.
From the restaurant side I was doing some mobile searches in some restaurant submarkets near me. When there are a lot of restaurants in a submarket it definitely speaks to winners and losers on the mobile side as the large 3 winners of the Maps ranking game take up a lot of space on a mobile phone…and the presentation gives them a lot of opportunity to highlight their hours, features, menus, reviews, etc.
I don’t see tons of restaurant ads in my submarket, though I do see ads for chains. I would think this kind of presentation is a compelling reason for restaurants to do some ppc to get stronger visibility in the competition for top of the mobile visibility. That of course and getting a great Maps ranking presence. 😉
@Dave
The small screen size really does favor ads and local and not much else. The good news is that they haven’t started highlighting reviews. 🙂
Hi Mike,
yes, we can’t see the carousel either. But by using the following parameters we can simulate the look – e.g. https://www.google.com/search?gl=us&hl=en&pws=0&q=Hotel+in+filzmoos (works of course on mobile as well).
I just clicked on a detail page of a hotel carousel result and have seen that the latest G+ Posts are shown there as well – see: http://www.alpenhof.info/img/screenshot-mobile.png
@dave it looks like the margins with same-day business will be impacted by hotel finder.
Great to see the Fairmont up top :), also check out their Knowledge Graph on desktop.
I just tested the restaurant setup, it is a decent update, but nothing impressive. I sorted by American restaurants and it was giving me restaurants 3 miles away. I work in a restaurant populated area where there are much closer and better rated American restaurants near me., yet only a few showed. There is still a lot of work to be done there.
@Ryan Is that the fault of Google’s algorithm or the fault of the restaurant owners for not doing their due diligence (Local SEO) as a local business?
Yes Mike, here in the Netherlands we still don’t have the carousel, and local hotels, restaurants and the like are still being displayed the “traditional” way.
Has anyone shown this yet in specific US cities for any of the Entertainment Venue’s?
I tried it in the UK and Spain while I was traveling last week and it was still the old way, so you are right. Only in the US. I’d like to see the carousel.
The “OK Google, call….” command mentioned in the announcement from Google makes sense from a usability standpoint, as Google expands its voice command features. However, for those who still enjoy good ol’ fashioned tapping, it’s one extra tap to get to the “call” button.
Does anyone have any other information regarding when and if this will be taking place for any other industries at all?
How is Google determining the “3-star hote” or “4-star” hotel ratings?
If I recall correctly it is from a 3rd party site: NorthStar
Comments for this post are closed.