Google Testing New Local Brand 3 Packs - Good News & Bad News

[Linda Buquet]

There is a new different style 3 pack out in the wild. A "Brand Pack."
It shows when there are multiple locations for a Local Brand.

3 differences: 1) Labeled A,B,C 2) Full address 3) NO REVIEWS

Jen over at The SEM Post reported on this new style this AM.
<a href="http://www.thesempost.com/brand-local-searches-still-show-full-address-omit-google-reviews/">Google's Local Brand Packs Still Show Full Address & Omit Google Reviews</a>
Head over to check out her explanation screen shots.

HOWEVER - these brand packs are not consistent, so I wonder if it's just a new style Google is just testing.

In looking at Jen's examples, I thought at 1st maybe they displayed this way because they were retail type locations. But in doing more research I found that's not the case.

Gentle Dental San Diego pulls a standard 3 pack with reviews, no address or A, B, C.



HOWEVER NOTE: That 3rd listing does show full street address like these new packs all should.
Wonder why that one is displaying differently that the rest???


But Ehline Law Los Angeles pulls the new A, B, C brand pack with no reviews.

​

Roto-Rooter Los Angeles pulls the new A, B, C brand pack with no reviews as well.


So scratching my head a little on this display style. As big as Google is on reviews, not sure why they would omit them.

I guess we can chalk this all up to testing, but it's still good to see these testing variations so we have a clue what changes may be hitting us next.

AND it's good they are testing and not stuck on this new display.
Maybe they'll do a test that actually has reviews, full address, phone and 5 listings.
Now that would be a welcome change!


What do you think???
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[Linda Buquet]

Just noticed something else on that Gentle Dental example.

If you were new to the area and didn't know street names and where they were, without the A, B, C you can't correlate which listing is which on the map.

 

[Brian Barwig]

Nice article and analysis here. I noticed addresses being populated this morning for various searches.

Im at a loss for this update so far as Im unable to decipher why some listings are ranking in the Local Pack and others arent. Some of the websites ranking in the 3 Pack are horrible UX, look like they were built in 2000, others dont have a verified G+ page, and some listings have been permanently closed.

Peculiar why some searches have 1 listing with an address and the others dont. This SERP I found this morning. Why does that have an address where the others dont?

 

[Carolyn]

Wondering if anyone is seeing this on an unbranded local niche search - if a business has reviews - there's a link to leave a review - if a business does not have reviews - I can't find a link to leave a review.

E.G. Massage Therapist Austin



the business with reviews - link to leave a new one


business with no reviews - no link to leave a new one


Any thoughts? An oversight - something not working?

 

[Linda Buquet]

REALLY great point Carolyn, thanks for the examples.

You know I had noticed that "no reviews" message but was looking at this from the story angle, so didn't click to follow it through. So thanks for raising.

You'd think as into reviews as Google is - if a business has none, they'd want to make it easy to gather some??? Maybe an oversight?

I'm sure they are all over the posts here and probably use posts here for UI and market research, since the eagle eyes here discover so many nuances, glitches, inconsistencies and missing features!

 

[JoyHawkins]

Hey Linda,

I was seeing these branded packs right at the beginning of the roll-out. I referenced it in the article I wrote:

Branded – this is the type I’m seeing for most branded searches. For example, “Starbucks”, “McDonalds”, “State Farm”, “Sears”, “ReMax” etc. It adds the city-name, adds a red “A,B,C” and (this is huge) removes references to reviews and gold stars.

Although I’m seeing the Branded Snak Pak on most searches, there are some odd ones that don’t follow that pattern. For example, Google shows it for “handyman” searches and not for “CrossFit” searches.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Oh right, you did mention that. I can't keep up with all the variations! LOL

Plus there is so much news about all the changes, I can barely skim, so need to slow down and READ so I don't miss anything!

Too many changes! Mind bending!

 

[heckler]

Is the Marantha Massage Therapy a verified listing? (doesn't appear to be)

I can leave a "Marantha Massage Therapy" review when doing a brand query (1-box), but not from the local stack or finder.

Additionally: I was able to find CIDs in the local finder (#interesting).

 

[Dobo]

Thanks for pointing this out!

I'm trying to think like Google here... If I'm searching for a brand in a particular city, then I've already decided that I want to pursue this brand and just want to know the various locations (i.e. which location is closest to me). Hence, Google displays the addresses (the A, B, C) and doesn't reference the reviews in the results. However, if I'm undecided on the brand and I'm searching for a product/service in a particular city, then Google displays the reviews to let me compare between the different brands in the area. Could this be Google's logic?