Did google adjust the filtering algorithm?

[JS Girard]

I don't exactly have hard data on this, since it's not something you think of tracking (nor do we have the tools for it at my agency), but I could swear Google made adjustments to the Filtering algorithm.

It seems they're willing to show a greater proportion of the profiles at a given address. Last year I wouldn't see more than one profile unless there were at least 15 or twenty of them. Now I sometimes see 2 profiles with as few as five or six profiles at the same address. Conversely, it seems Google is less willing to show the filtered profiles through the methods that used to work (either that or the SAB profiles I deal with are not where I think they are supposed to be!).

 

[JoyHawkins]

Yes, I've noticed this in the last year as well.

That being said, the filter is still very much a problem. I had a business that neglected one location of theirs and it wasn't filtered until the summer of this year.

 

[JS Girard]

Oh I agree! I just wanted some validation about this hunch that it had gotten a little more flexible.

One of our client started getting filtered this summer too. You know the type, "oh, we already have reviews and are ranking just fine. We don't need to do anything." *surprised pikachu meme when they suddenly vanished* ...of course they STILL won't cooperate on the review angle.

 

[cleverlyengaged]

When a location is filtered, does it mean it is prevented from ranking for any non-branded keywords?

I have a client that I thought was getting filtered that used to rank in local map pack for 50 keywords and now is only visible for 3.

 

[JS Girard]

When a location is filtered, does it mean it is prevented from ranking for any non-branded keywords?

I have a client that I thought was getting filtered that used to rank in local map pack for 50 keywords and now is only visible for 3.

Filtering is query-based. That is, it depends on whether other GBPs at the same (or very close) address for that query. So some keywords may be filtered and other not depending on what the competitors target.