Google Posts Showing in the Local Finder

[JoyHawkins]

Dave DiGregorio posted on Twitter that he spotted Google showing Google Posts in the Local Finder. I have been unable to replicate it and wanted to see if anyone here has seen these? My assumption is that it might be a limited test.

 

[Cordell Crowley]

I was able to replicate it somewhat doing the same search of "Chicago foreclosure lawyer", but it was for a different business listing and it looks a little different.




Here is the listing in the finder, with the post preview and the "!" icon, and you can see that the preview is same as the title of the Event post. In the original screenshots, it was pulling the post description but mine is pulling the title.
I also don't get the "related to your search" box at the top of the knowledge panel like in the original screenshots.
It's also interesting that the post in the original screenshot is an expired post from Jan. 3 and it is still pulling.

I'll keep an eye on this going forward. We post for our clients and I didn't see this replicated for any of the posts we've done for them, but maybe we will in the near future.

 

[Yan Gilbert]

I can't seem to replicate at all. Just getting website and review mentions.

 

[JoyHawkins]

This definitely looks like a test - especially since you guys are seeing different things. I'm jealous I can't replicate it!

 

[SmilinGeoff]

Same Here

 

[Amy Toman]

Hey, did anyone get this to trigger consistently? I saw a tweet from Brodie Clark that said it's "surprisingly simple to trigger. Choose a keyword you already rank in the map pack for & add it to your Google Post. Very similar to "website mentions". " Just wondering if this is testing or has gone away.

 

[JoyHawkins]

So I just found one in the actual 3-pack (not the local finder) so it has even more visibility.

 

[Susan]

This is awesome, but i"m not able to replicate at all.

 

[JoyHawkins]

It appears to be a really limited test. I can't see it live whatsoever but I come across screenshots in Bright Local that show it. Reminds me of how it was for Local Services Ads before they launched for everyone.

 

[Brodie Clark]

Here's some more details:

Have tested it out for 5 separate businesses now and have been able to get it showing regularly for 4 of them. I suspect the 1 that didn't work is because it already had a "website mentions" feature attached, which G may consider more relevant than my G Post.

Something else that's interesting to note (which was touched on by Cordell in this thread) is that a G Post doesn't need to be active (published within < 7 days) or of the standard format for this to work. In terms of other types of G Posts this works for, here's an "Offers" Post I did which worked almost instantly with the title:



There's bound to be CTR benefits from using this effectively, along with the added exposure of having your Post featured at the top of your GMB listing as a related search result.

 

[JoyHawkins]

Hey Brodie,

For the ones you did it for, were their competitors already showing posts or was your business the first to get it? Trying to determine if I need a SERP to already show one for someone else before getting one myself.

 

[Brodie Clark]

Hey Joy,

I did see a couple of examples where the Post Mentions were showing beforehand, although I know I did manage to trigger one that didn't have that feature previously (from what I could see in the Local Finder).

Something else I noticed today, which might change things - is that I'm unable to trigger this feature at all when using incognito. This could relate to it still being a feature that's being tested though...

I don't think it just works when you're signed in to a Google account either, because I'm able to trigger it when not signed in (just not in incognito).

Will be doing some more testing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[JoshuaMackens]

Any updates on this?

 

[Brodie Clark]

Writing an article on this at the moment - will post here when finished : - )

 

[Brodie Clark]

Hey All, here's the article: What do the symbols mean in Google’s Map Pack and Local Finder? - Search Engine Land

I was hoping this feature would be out of the testing phase while I was writing, but looks like it could still be up in the air.

Have compiled all of the information we know so far in there though.