Loading ...Google recently changed everything with local, according to Brian Combs, the CEO and Founder of ionadas. For approximately the past 2 years, Google had been running the 7-pack local business listings beside the map. Now, however, the search engine has essentially merged the organic listings with the local listings and restructured the page, calling it Place Search.
As part of this restructuring, Google moved the map to the right side of the search results. Incidentally, Combs and ionadas recently conducted a heat map study on local results and found that the map itself draws very little attention. It doesn’t receive clicks or even looks from users. Combs believes Google knows people aren’t looking at it and moved it to the right where the ads are usually located.
He also thinks that local is exploding and will continue to do so. Interestingly enough, Bruce Clay recently told WebProNews that Google would become a local search engine in 2 years.
Combs said the cynical part of him says that these changes Google has made are about driving more clicks on paid listings. He also adds that it will be harder for companies that do not have a local presence to come up in the search results.
“I think Google, to a certain extent, is at a disadvantage in that space because they don’t have the armies of people to help out small businesses,” said Combs.
In addition, companies such as Citysearch and Yellow Pages will have a harder time driving traffic. Combs goes on to say that the real question will be if someone will be able to monetize this.
Although there are a lot of unanswered questions about local, the one thing that is certain is that local is not going away.
What are your thoughts regarding these latest changes Google has made to local?
I started noticing that Google was changing the Local Places design a few weeks ago. I believe I was getting these results while they were experimenting. I instantly disliked the new structure.
Google is presuming to know when I want to look at local listings, but I use Google for researching the subject matter of whatever I am interested in, not for local listings. Unfortunately if the subject matter is related to a product or service which is obtainable locally, I don’t have a choice and Google presumes that I want to see local search results. Just because I search for the word “plumber” or something related to the plumbing field, doesn’t mean that I want to see local search results.
I don’t care if they put the map at the top or on the right, but I prefer having the local search results next to the map so I can ignore them if that’s what I want to do. That’s probably why your research showed that most people ignore the map and local search results.
Google is making a tragic error which is tragic because it affects their brand. Google got to where they are because they have been known for providing the best search results for researching a topic. Now, Google is changing their brand to focus on local search results like a yellow page website that also happens to have some research results if you look further down the page.
I have now started to use a different search engine for researching a topic because I don’t want to see local search results mixed in at the top with the type of results I have used Google for in the past.
This will open the door for a competitor to take Google’s original place. Google should stop trying to become more like one of their competitors and should focus on their original brand purpose. There have been many large companies that get into trouble or even disappeared because they changed their brand.
Google can’t tell if reviews are good or bad. The only thing they have to go off of right now is the frequency with which reviews are posted. Their tactics of manually removing reviews that they “think” are spam has got to stop. Maybe they should train their people better, maybe they should look at the IPs the reviews came from or maybe start caching a review profile of Google accounts that give reviews. They are hurting small businesses. One of my client had all of his reviews removed. All were positive reviews and all of them were legit, posted by customers that use his service. He is frustrated and I have to hear about it. Problem is I’ve posted the information in the forum and nothing happens. Google, address this issue.
Frustrated with Google right now…..
I wrote in the past that I used to google but since they changed the way the results appear I found the results I look for at the 5th~10th page, later on they pushed the “suggestions” which drove me to use Bing but bing followed google and now it is very difficult for me to find the results I look for under the 20th page on both engines.
Localizing the search may look the right thing to do but what about services (like mine) that give service in a 200Km radius that includes about 15 locations?, ok, I got #1 on “my” epicenter but I loosed the other 14th or new places that I could get new costumers.
I think that search engines should step out of “local” and leave that area to “yellow pages” and “local portals” and go back to “global search”.
Googles local search has serious problems that are unfair to businesses such as mine. If your searching for a drugstore, you want the local search. If your searching for a service that COMES TO YOU local search is unfair and a HUGE disadvantage.
I am a home inspector ( http://www.ableinspector.com ) I service Ft Myers and Naples FL and work out of my home. My home is just outside the map boundaries so I am at the bottom of page 2.
Since ALL of my business is at the customers location, my SERVICE AREA is what counts, not my physical location.
There are numerous businesses in my predicament. Appliance repairmen, house painters, handymen, pest control companies, maid services, lawncare, etc…….
The physical location of NONE of these buisnesses matter. What matters is their service area.
I doubt Google cares enough to ever get this right, as long as their pay per clicks are doing well.
I think that this new emphasis on local, sucks. As Bruce says if a business comes to you then the local aspect is a disadvantage. We were on the 1st page of the map for most of our keywords then bang. Local, and its mainly page 2, why? We have a 200k range which seems to have no relevance to local google.
Like the other people who posted, we are very upset with Google Local also. We want customers from all over the world, and we pay good money for our google ad word account and SEO optimization. Now Google Local has us almost dead in the water. It’s great if your a restaurant or a brick and mortar shoe store, but we are a manufacturer looking for new business, and it’s not local. It’s global. Leave it to google to invest time and expertise and money in finding creating search algorithms that help retailers go after that elusive consumer dollar; while leaving companies like ours, who really do boost the economy, with no recourse but to go back to advertising in print and in on-line business directories. I think local search is great on mobile devices.As most of us will be looking for a restaurant, once we are out of the workplace away from our PC’s. But at work, I’d really like to see SRP pages give me the best site for my query.
Great information! Love your blog. Please keep up the good work. Email me if you have more info on search engine optimization.
What are your thoughts regarding these latest changes Google has made to local?
Hmm,
Google is making a tragic error which is tragic because it affects their brand. Google got to where they are because they have been known for providing the best search results for researching a topic. Now, Google is changing their brand to focus on local search results like a yellow page website that also happens to have some research results if you look further down the page.
Thanks a lot …
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It sucks even more now. Is that because of Panda placing more emphasis on the “Local” aspect?
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