{"id":16935,"date":"2014-07-29T13:51:15","date_gmt":"2014-07-29T17:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/?p=16935"},"modified":"2014-07-29T14:07:09","modified_gmt":"2014-07-29T18:07:09","slug":"moz-updates-local-query-set-revised-data-show-23-4-drop-post-pigeon-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/2014\/07\/29\/moz-updates-local-query-set-revised-data-show-23-4-drop-post-pigeon-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Moz Updates Local Query Set – Revised Data Show 23.4% Drop Post Pigeon Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

MozCast<\/a> has now updated their query set to better reflect what searchers are seeing. Even though their\u00a0methodology was different than that of Whitespark, the new results showing a decline in 7-packs due to the Google Local algo update<\/a> are\u00a0much the same<\/a>: a 23.4% drop.<\/p>\n

It is interesting to note that one of their observations which correlates to what I am seeing, is a number of “these queries now have authoritative one-boxes instead of packs”. That is consistent with an Google’s statement to be using more web signals and in this case demonstrating a predilection for brands and one boxes ala Hummingbird<\/a>. This brand preference might also lead to additional 3 packs often seen on brand queries.<\/p>\n

\"MozCast_Feature_Graph\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here is the communication from Cyrus<\/a> regarding the MozCast<\/a> update:<\/p>\n

So, the fix to MozCast seems to have worked, and it’s as we expected – there was a drop, but less than originally reported. On July 23, before the decline started, we measured local packs on 12.06% of localized results. Today, we’re seeing 9.24%.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Interestingly, this is a 23.4% drop, almost exactly what Darren saw in his data (just read that this morning). Could be a coincidence, but since we used different methods, different data sets, and had no idea what each other were doing, I’d say that 24% number is pretty close to the truth.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Here are some queries that seem to have legitimately lost local packs (at least in the regions I’m checking them:<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
    \n
  • jet ski<\/li>\n
  • condos<\/li>\n
  • house rentals<\/li>\n
  • money gram (misspelled – interestingly, “moneygram” returns a pack)<\/li>\n
  • homebrew<\/li>\n
  • wheels<\/li>\n
  • subway store locator<\/li>\n
  • resorts<\/li>\n
  • apartment rentals<\/li>\n
  • custom cars<\/li>\n
  • gardening<\/li>\n
  • jeeps (“jeep dealership” does get a pack)<\/li>\n
  • wedding makeup<\/li>\n
  • bed and breakfast<\/li>\n
  • train tickets<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    In a few cases, these queries now have authoritative one-boxes instead of packs. In a few other cases, I’m still seeing packs on manual inspection, and I can’t account for the mismatch. Our code shows no pack for “used car” in Hartford, CT, for example, but manually setting location in Google does. So, this could be volatile.<\/div>\n
    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    Clearly the Local algo update (note to Matt McGee: can’t we do better than naming it after a pigeon?) has had an impact and a large one.<\/p>\n

    The more important questions though revolve around the real world impact on local businesses. Is there a decline in call? Is there a decline in driving directions? Are their fewer web visits? Over the next few weeks as we learn more about these real world impacts we can hopefully better understand how to advise clients.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    MozCast has now updated their query set to better reflect what searchers are seeing. Even though their\u00a0methodology was different than that of Whitespark, the new results showing a decline in 7-packs due to the Google Local algo update are\u00a0much the same: a 23.4% drop. It is interesting to note that one of their observations which …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-google-plus"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16935"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16935\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16937,"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16935\/revisions\/16937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blumenthals.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}