Google has started its offensive: with a completely renovated algorithm, the Mountain View giant has transformed into a true local search engine. Whoever is searching for specific providers in a certain city with the help of “Places Search“ no longer has to deal with the pain of sifting through countless results that are irrelevant, but now has a virtual directory book on the computer screen. What does this mean for local SEO?
It’s actually no big surprise, considering the Local Business Listings in Places were first relabeled, then Google combined results into a href=“http://www.lokalesucheblog.de/2009/10/google-gibt-gas-bei-lokaler-suche-apple-geht-auf-distanz/“>Place Pages. And now, in a one fell swoop, the term “Maps“ has given way to “Places” – with many consequences.
The feature is called Places Search, which hides behind the seemingly harmless name swap. But what this may really mean is that Google, after a long, long, long exertion, has finally made it to the world of local searching. Whoever searches for a location with location specifications, they’ll notices that the “good old” 7 pack is gone. Okay, so there are still seven results, but all of which are specified to a local vicinity. But the Maps map is detached on the right side of the result list and travels with the user during down scrolling.
Those users that click the link “More results in vicinity of…” or in the left side list in the “Places” mode will see what the whole package actually contains: instead of the all too well-known Maps view – with the results squeezed into a small list on the left, with the map to the right in large – all the local results are now displayed in the classic most relevant list.
And that’s not enough: with every related location, it is now easy to see the various ratings the businesses have received through various communities. The most valuable of which in Germany is Qype. The link to the Place page has also been renamed: instead of “More Info” it’s now called “Google Maps-Profile”. And for those that just want the classic Maps view just have to click on the map.
At a first glace, the whole thing just seems to be purely cosmetic. But the relaunch has some major consequences for the local search engine optimization. The 7 pack will likely loose its meaning in the local SEO, especially since it doesn’t even exisit in the US version of the results list, having been replaced by a generic list. Instead, the red Maps flag is now suggesting local results.
The fact that ratings and their numbers in communities are now being performed in Places Modes shows the direction in which local SEO is going: what can be expected is the bundles of links and the content of the Places Pages are gaining meaning – the best example is the launch of the two new features is Boost, for local advertising, and Business-Fotos, for interior views of stores. Both are services that only companies with their own Places account can use. In other words: current information, ratings, promotions, and pictures will contribute to the ranking in Places Mode, raising the stakes.
To make it even more clear: in the past, it was normal that users found the location among the classic 7 pack when searching for a specific firm, but also a bunch of generic links with similar offers, in which users had to decide which ones were relevant.
In Places Mode, only one result accompanies the result. All other results are only to be seen when the users clicks his way through the Places page.
Google wrote in its official blog:
“We’ve made results like this possible by developing technology to better understand places. With Place Search, we’re dynamically connecting hundreds of millions of websites with more than 50 million real-world locations. We automatically identify when sites are talking about physical places and cluster links even when they don’t provide addresses and use different names (“stubb’s bbq” is the same as “stubbs bar-b-que”).”
What’s for certain is that Google’s audition will be a normal stimulus for the local search in the internet. Places is different from Maps in that it’s an easy feature for anyone to use when searching within a local vicinity, which makes it a major competitor for the directory services. One of the most thrilling questions in the next few months will be what the results will be of Places Search on the directory market. The “Location Wars” that experts discussed at the beginning of the year is finally in full gear.
To be (surely) continued…