Recent content by chriscc

Ha! This is amazing, every time I think we've got it figured it out someone else shows up with a good explanation. @Nycnite You're right that most of the effect I see is indeed BL's shift to Maps data (and the Edward Sturm podcast was also presenting grids from BL, so just trying to diagnose the...

Hi Aldo, fully agree, the count of businesses occupying top3 spots in a grid tells us much of what we need to know; I also am not a big fan of average rank. I'll start comparing search pack and map results - that would be interesting. I generally only use grids without specifying a neighbourhood...

Morning Joy, yes definitely impacting - calls/directions/clicks down. Yes, chrome browser searches still show local packs (no AI overviews), and the local pack results are like the maps results (i.e. proximity prioritised)

Hi Kurt, yes unfortunately the change has 'stuck'. I've seen a striking increase in competitor ads. Strong listings still seem to be performing if the searcher is far away AND a location keyword is in the search, so "coffee shop in [neighbourhood]" would still prioritise the more prominent...

Ah ha! Glad to know I'm not going insane! Thanks both. @Arthur yes that's exactly the issue I have (UK). Our other location (same category) in a less densely packed area ranks much better than our one in a dense one.

Hi Joy the industry is massage. The keywords are massage-related (deep tissue, sports etc), no location specified, just rely on searcher's location. As you might imagine there are adult-adjacent listings too that we have to compete with that would previously have had low/zero visibility. I was...

I just started using dataforseo.com and have been busy manually checking against a phone with GPS spoofed - results match extremely closely (identical top 10, with one or two places swapped but no major outliers)

Hi Ben, thank you for the reply! The three most recent reviews were today, 2 days ago, and 2 weeks ago. We don't solicit reviews and they trickle in at maybe 3-4/month. We have over 400, and 4.8 overall. It's not so much that we have dropped or that a new competitor has risen, but everyone has...

Me again.. I've now done a manual walkabout with a logged-in phone, and cross-checked a dozen grid points. The results closely match the rank tracker search grids which ran just a few hours earlier, so I think we can rule out results poisoning, especially as the search grids have been very...

Thanks Joy, I had thought maps searches were still reliable, and certainly didn't know that simple incognito searches from an otherwise normal mobile would be affected! Sorry, I mis-read your post, I see you specified i should be logged in. I'll have to walk around and check. I always (used to)...

Yes I checked with a 'walkabout' when i noticed it a few days ago, and also created my own grid using dataforseo's API, and they match up. When doing an 'incognito search' i open an incognito chrome tab on mobile, go to the google maps on the browser (not the maps app), allow location access and...

I should add that brightlocal changed their own grids in the same period, increasing search depth from 20 to 100, but i see the same average ranking drops even normalising for that

Hi Joy, I use brightlocal - here's a before and after pic of the grid. i also cross-check with dataforseo data, with the same finding. similar result across different search terms and different locations. but the same result for previous 3-pack dominators - i.e. a significant ranking drop

Hi everyone. I've been looking into what looks like a big drop in ranking for my locations. I run search grids every few weeks for a handful of keywords (11x11 grid, 200m spacing) I noticed a steep decline in average position for my locations some time between early Sep and late Oct I assumed...

I got the same email last night re. my case. There's a case number in the subject line, but it wasn't told to us when we submitted the case. Glad to see it's working, albeit with some wrinkles