Google Pigeon Collateral Damage & What You Can Do About it

[steven]

One of my dentist's appears twice in a 3-pack... But I haven't linked the DDS listing to an internal page yet...

 

[cdawg2610]

Margaret,

I think this update is similar to the one-box update on a couple levels. Remember that? I complained about it for months last year and so did Mike.

Attack of the Bad Google Local One-Boxes!

It was digging up all these old crusty spammy listings or bogus or out of business listings that had previously been buried.

But the type of listings is not the only similarity.

I believe (don't know for a fact but am pretty sure) that both of those algos are controlled but the organic search team. They are trying to deliver the best "universal" search results and don't specialize in local.

Maybe the regular search algos are not trained to pick up on local violations. OR trained to check to see if locations are real or phone numbers still work.

Maybe they are just trained to pick up other signals like keyword in domain, age of domain or backlinks or whatever. So they are ranking on whatever those organic signals are and not taking into account all the local stuff like the rules, legit locations, etc.

Now all that is just my gut feeling, but I feel pretty strongly that it's at least something along those lines that's at play here.

Does that make sense?

Linda as I look more at the examples we've been seeing I think you are correct in the gut feelings on this - while there's many similarities in the signals of organic and local, the spam results are really starting to highlight the differences (legit locations for one)

 

[Art]

Linda, after reading this entire thread I'm little confused. The question is, should we go head and add city names, services/keywords in our description box? I think that will look spammy, but we have to do what works. Any idea how long it takes to see the results after the description is updated? I just want to run some tests.

Thanks,
Art

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hi Art, since that Q is kinda separate from this Pigeon update thread which I requested be focused on examples of bad SERPs, but has gotten off track a little...

I think it's a better question for the following thread which is focused on the description issue.
Would you mind posting it over there so we don't take this thread off on a description Q A track?

<a href="http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/google-local/20824-google-support-says-gmb-description-helps-rankings.html">Google Support Says GMB Description Helps Rankings? Pigeon Ranking Signal Change?</a>

Just trying to keep things more organized so people can find the info they need.

Thanks!

 

[Amber Robinson]

One odd thing I've been noticing is that a lot of job listings pop up in place of where local business websites used to rank (organically). For example, if I search "water treatment Youngstown Ohio," I get Monster.com listings for jobs in water treatment. I've seen this happen in other industries in my area as well. I don't know how Google assumes you are looking for a job in water treatment (or carpet cleaning, etc) if you don't include the term "job" in the search query.

Manda,

I have noticed the same thing when searching "electricians in houston". Indeed.com is a frequent visitor in those SERPS. The only reassuring thing I have noticed lately is that it is one of the organic results that does not remain consistent for those queries. Google is obviously still trying to determine the intent behind searches like this, even though it is obvious to us that a User is searching for a local business and not a job.

I think Linda sums it up best at the end of this thread -
WHAT CAN YOU DO??? - Some thoughts and suggestions below...

The Local community as a whole is working to send valuable feedback to Google when we notice bogus or spammy listings. Currently I am working on a process to report the Pigeon Poo and have enlisted the help of my entire office! I'm sure they are ecstatic!
After a brief meeting this morning informing them of what to expect I got a few questions like this:

Do you believe doing what you have laid out will have an impact on our clients?

If this is in flux with Google and there is no way to know where it will land, is our work merely going to be hopeful? Do we believe it will change anything?

Is there anything we could be doing otherwise that would impact them more?

Honestly, we have seen more positive from this update than we have experienced negative. So do I think our clients will be directly impacted....I honestly don't know b/c I can't control Google. But if I have the opportunity to give feedback to Google when I find a result that is crap, I'm going to report it. I can't be sure that my report will make a difference but what if it does! I want to improve Local search. I want to be a part of that and Google is giving us the opportunity.

As far as the last question goes I simply restated what I said in the meeting... I'm not going to go out and make changes to any listings. Anything that could be done otherwise to impact our clients more ("them") should already be happening, not just as a reaction to this update. A good example is Linda's tip and techniques in her advanced training on how to help your clients stand out and boost conversions.

Sorry for the novel!

I'll end it on a cheesy but honest thought I've had after reading/APPRECIATING all the information and research that the Local community continues to share (that I have absolutely no time to contribute to but am able to benefit from)-

I hope that the fact that we are all in this together brings you a little comfort like it has done for me.

Best wishes your way!

 

[Margaret Ornsby]

Re: Google Pigeon Collateral Damage &amp; What You Can Do About it

Fly In Fly Out pigeon?

Yesterday I discovered to my horror job sites dominating the page for a particular search term, and only when I put a geo locator on it. I remember someone else reporting the same thing.

Was in a rush so didn't take an image of it.

Today I repeated the exercise and am unable to recreate it.

I checked the local packs this morning and there's been another little shuffle, but nothing like what you're describing in the US.

---------- Post Merged at 10:06 AM ---------- Previous Post was at 10:02 AM ----------

Sorry, should have said these are Australian results

 

[davidcharles]

This is a great post, Linda. Thanks.

At this stage of play, does anyone actually have any suggestions for how you can do best post-pigeon, or are things so up in the air right now that nobody can see a best approach?

Stick to basics until a pattern emerges or the algo gets fixed/changed? Hide somewhere dark until it's all gone away?

I'd also like to know if you think this will get fixed before it's rolled out to other countries or, if not, if anyone has any advice as to how to 'prepare' for it. (I realise the first question probably answers this one, but just in case anyone has any tips).

 

[MandaLynch]

Thanks Linda and Amber for your replies. Sometimes I forget I'm not the only one in this boat!

Not much has changed over the last few days in the Youngstown market. The biggest thing I've seen since I last posted is map packs appearing for a day or two, then disappearing. Replacement windows had a 2 pack for a couple days. It was awesome because my client was #1 in that pack over their biggest competitor. Now as of this morning, it's gone but they are still ranking first page organically.

I've been playing with ranking local Youtube videos on Google and before this update it was a breeze. Now it's the same disappearing act: appear on page 2, disappear for 2 days, come back on page 1, disappear for 3 days, etc. It is driving me crazy!

I'd like to ask the same question as davidcharles. I've been trying to find patterns but the only "consistency" I'm seeing is inconsistency, lol.

I personally have just kept plugging away on my usual routine, which mostly consists of local content development (I focus more on local organic results than maps). I do this and hold my breath hoping that Google will work itself out and realize it's more relevant than the spam it's currently ranking first page.

This algo is just scary. It feels like you're optimizing for a black hole.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Stick to basics until a pattern emerges or the algo gets fixed/changed? Hide somewhere dark until it's all gone away?

I'd also like to know if you think this will get fixed before it's rolled out to other countries or, if not, if anyone has any advice as to how to 'prepare' for it. (I realise the first question probably answers this one, but just in case anyone has any tips).

I'd like to ask the same question as davidcharles. I've been trying to find patterns but the only "consistency" I'm seeing is inconsistency, lol.

I personally have just kept plugging away on my usual routine, which mostly consists of local content development (I focus more on local organic results than maps). I do this and hold my breath hoping that Google will work itself out and realize it's more relevant than the spam it's currently ranking first page.

This algo is just scary. It feels like you're optimizing for a black hole.

You are both right. There are no consistent patterns yet. Blumenthal and the guys with tools like Moz and Whitespark who can do a lot of analysism are working on it too. No one can figure it out - because it makes no sense!

But also because it keeps changing, so it's hard to pin down. So I don't think it's worth putting much energy into trying to figure out the algo, until it settles into something predictable.

BUT ideally you should not chase algos anyway, because they will always change.

You can't control the algo, you can only work on the things over which you DO have control!

Just keep up with every best practice task you can work on. Better on-site SEO, more unique local content, work on strategies to attract natural local links, be sure your G+ L page is up to snuff and not violating any unwritten rules. Work on citations and keep trying to get reviews.

That's all you can do, is keep working on the RIGHT stuff. If you do that you will always tend to be higher up once the algo shifts to something fair that does not reward so many spammers.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Just did another ranking update screen shot on Seattle Chiropractor, the SERP I've been doing ongoing rank tracking and analysis on.

More major movement and some interesting changes noted in post #5 above.

(Note that's the OTHER thread. Updating there, instead of the Seattle shots in this thread, because that one has a lot of additional shots of ranking changes over time. So check out all the changes on that SERP since this hit.)

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hey I just realized no one commented my masterpiece image for this thread that took me over an hour so get those cloud looking speech bubbles right. (Because I don't have great graphics tools and am not an artist.)

<img src="http://marketing-blog.catalystemarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/pigeonstrikeFinal.jpg" alt="pigeonstrikeFinal" width="65%" /></a>​

You no likee???

And here I thought I was being so clever...

 

[Tammy Wood]

 

[Scott Rawlins]

Linda - it is a great graphic that I am seeing everywhere. Nice job.

Tammy - love yours too!

 

[Linda Buquet]

WHOA! 5 hours later another big shakeup.

Just did yet another ranking update screen shot on Seattle Chiropractor.

More major movement and some interesting changes noted in post #5 above. I've never seen SERPs change so much and so often like this before.

(Yes I'm always double checking search location now and all screenshots were set to Seattle.)

 

[Linda Buquet]

Moved Seattle Chiro tracking to new thread a few days ago. Just trying to circle it into this thread.

<a href="http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/google-local-important/21189-tracking-google-local-pigeon-flux-over-time.html">Tracking Google Local Pigeon Flux Over Time</a>

 

[dani]

Have you noticed what kind of sites Google shows in local results for more review? Sites that provide information about websites or domain name like WebCompanyInfo.com - Information about any Web Company


Look for "seattle divorce attorney" and look the first result in local. I`ve noticed that this site appears for other searched also.

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[Linda Buquet]

See this new monster post that explains a lot.

<a href="http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/google-local-important/21886-pigeon-analysis-new-insights-about-crazy-google.html">Pigeon Analysis - New Insights about this Crazy Google Local Algo & the Constant Flux</a>

 

[Linda Buquet]

Did the 7 pack disappear for anyone else in FF or is it just the data center I'm sitting on?

"Los Angeles personal injury attorney" Location set to LA.

In FF I get no pack even after hitting refresh several times. That's the browser I normally use and used to get the screenshots in the 1st post.

In classic maps I get pre-Pigeon algo.

In Chrome and new maps I get a Pigeon pack.

Sadly the 2 bogus listings are still sitting at C and D, just like in the 1st post.

 

[steven]

In FF I'm seeing a pack. Set to Los Angeles. It's got the lawyers com and avvo com at C and D.