Trending Local Algorithm Update in April 2020?

[JoyHawkins]

We've added COVID notices to almost all our clients' sites and I haven't seen any negative impacts.

 

[billenross]

@seoninjaguy - thanks for your input, the 3 pack listing did not come back after removing the popup, I did add the drop down bar, however I have that on over 50 other sites and the 3 pack ranking on those has not bee affected, oddly enough, this client is still #1 organic listing, in many cases even above the yelp listings - something is really odd here, would love to know what it is.

 

[Pete]

Is anyone willing to list the business name, address and the keyword & searcher location so we can take a look?

Hi Joy - 24 Hour Translation Services
KW = Houston Translation Services
Address: 2020 Montrose Blvd #300, Houston, TX 77006

We only have one covid19 post. and have nearly 100 more reviews than our closest competitor. We held a 3-Pack position for close to 2 years. We also purchase Google advertising.

Earlier this month, their AI system removed our "veteran led" designation, but we contacted Google and provided a service verification letter from veteran affairs and Google quickly apologized and added it back.

 

[Pete]

@seoninjaguy - thanks for your input, the 3 pack listing did not come back after removing the popup, I did add the drop down bar, however I have that on over 50 other sites and the 3 pack ranking on those has not bee affected, oddly enough, this client is still #1 organic listing, in many cases even above the yelp listings - something is really odd here, would love to know what it is.

We still have a couple #1 places in Organic too, but we completely fell out of the pick3 and way down the list.

 

[Pete]

Service industry, I follow the three-pack results every day. Currently, the results have returned to normal, i.e. before April.

Rankflux shows higher than normal movement today.

 

[Pete]

Hi Joy! Yes, of course, thanks.

Al Brodeur's Auto Body
Marlborough, MA

"auto body repair shop"

Bill

It doesn't look like you do many posts.

 

[billenross]

Good Morning,

I have several of my clients who have pretty much owned the "A" spot in their local area for as long as 5 years. About two weeks ago these all took a tumble, in most cases now not showing in the 3 pack at all. All have a high number of reviews, and no changes have been made to websites or GMB pages. We did do two things which I'm now suspect of; we added a popup about Covid-19 precautions in place, as these are all 'essential' businesses, however I removed the popup on two clients 5 days ago; no change. The other change was we created a Google post about what they are doing to protect their customers and staff regarding the corona virus. Can't understand how that would have a negative effect.

I'm reluctant to overcorrect here, as if things revert, I may do more harm than good.

Interested to see if anyone else seeing similar issues.

Thanks,
Bill

UPDATE: As mysteriously as the client was removed from the 3 pack, this morning the client is back in the "A" position. No clue. Thanks @keyserholiday , @carolyn2 , @JoyHawkins , @seoninjaguy , @Colan Nielsen , and whomever I missed, appreciate your feedback.

 

[seoninjaguy]

@billenross Google must have been messing things up with their local algo last week as we've also seen some of our clients get back on the 3-pack just today.. I guess things are going back to normal in the local pack.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

There's a very real possibility that this up-and-down fluctuation is just a normal part of the algorithm these days. Not every scenario will fall into that explanation but it definitely seems to be covering quite a few of these scenarios these days.

 

[Pete]

UPDATE: As mysteriously as the client was removed from the 3 pack, this morning the client is back in the "A" position. No clue. Thanks @keyserholiday , @carolyn2 , @JoyHawkins , @seoninjaguy , @Colan Nielsen , and whomever I missed, appreciate your feedback.

Same here. Actually improved for certain keywords. It's really nice that they waited until the weekend to run their test.

 

[Norbert Z.]

I also had a carousel from friday to yesterday, everything returned to normal.

 

[keyserholiday]

There was another algorithmic update yesterday and I am hearing for rankings bouncing back. I am also seeing cases of massive drops too. It appears that Google wants to keep us on our toes.

 

[JoyHawkins]

I've seen several cases where rankings are fluctuating like crazy. Started seeing it Friday morning but it's still going on.

 

[JohnMarathonAir]

There's a very real possibility that this up-and-down fluctuation is just a normal part of the algorithm these days. Not every scenario will fall into that explanation but it definitely seems to be covering quite a few of these scenarios these days.

This is what I've been wondering.

We went from long time number one (although we've bounced down a few times over the last few months, for a couple of days each), to about position twenty over the weekend. We did two blog posts recently about the impact of coronavirus in our industry. Now I'm wondering whether I should delete those.

It kind of seems like we were the only drop but that could be wrong.

 

[JoyHawkins]

For most cases, there isn't anything you did to cause the drop. It's just Google's algorithm fluctuating. My assumption is that they like to test things so every once in a while they just completely change up the results and see how the public responds. Again, this is just a theory.

 

[JohnMarathonAir]

For most cases, there isn't anything you did to cause the drop. It's just Google's algorithm fluctuating. My assumption is that they like to test things so every once in a while they just completely change up the results and see how the public responds. Again, this is just a theory.

Thank you.

We received a one star review late last year. We keep good records of all calls and clients. We had no record of this person, and there was no text with the review.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. A random UK company contacted us, and said that they could get the review removed bc it didn't meet Google's guidelines. And that we didn't have to pay unless they could get the review removed.

We were highly skeptical bc we have read many places that review removal is almost impossible. But, we figured, what the heck. If they could get it removed, we would pay.

Doing some research since then, we think that perhaps they attempt to remove the review by flagging from multiple accounts. (They have not told us; this is just our guess.)

If they flagged one review from multiple accounts, do you think that could have caused some sort of penalty?

We are still in the results, and not suspended. But we have dropped from #1 to #22 or worse. The rest of the three pack seems roughly normal.

 

[JoyHawkins]

Flagging from multiple accounts doesn't work based on everything I've tried and also read from people in the blackhat space. There is no such thing as a ranking penalty in the local results. Google enforces its guidelines via suspensions which might yank the listing off Google all together but don't impact the ranking of the listing.

I'd suggest just sitting tight for a few days (or drink a beer as Mike Blumenthal says). There is a ton of weird fluctuation going on and it will likely stabilize. If you're not confident that your Local SEO strategy is solid then I would suggest hiring someone to do an audit. I'd be happy to quote you on one if you decide to go that route.

 

[JohnMarathonAir]

Flagging from multiple accounts doesn't work based on everything I've tried and also read from people in the blackhat space. There is no such thing as a ranking penalty in the local results. Google enforces its guidelines via suspensions which might yank the listing off Google all together but don't impact the ranking of the listing.

I'd suggest just sitting tight for a few days (or drink a beer as Mike Blumenthal says). There is a ton of weird fluctuation going on and it will likely stabilize. If you're not confident that your Local SEO strategy is solid then I would suggest hiring someone to do an audit. I'd be happy to quote you on one if you decide to go that route.

Okay thank you. We will sit tight then think about audit if waiting doesn't work. Unfortunately, we are cutting most things right now bc we were already getting zero calls.

Flagging from multiple accounts doesn't work based on everything I've tried and also read from people in the blackhat space. There is no such thing as a ranking penalty in the local results. Google enforces its guidelines via suspensions which might yank the listing off Google all together but don't impact the ranking of the listing.

I'd suggest just sitting tight for a few days (or drink a beer as Mike Blumenthal says). There is a ton of weird fluctuation going on and it will likely stabilize. If you're not confident that your Local SEO strategy is solid then I would suggest hiring someone to do an audit. I'd be happy to quote you on one if you decide to go that route.

 

[Alan D]

Hi All,
Big fan on the forum, especially Joy Hawkins!

I have a mens custom suit store in Manhattan and yesterday I went from #1 in the 3-pack for my main keyword 'custom suits nyc' to #7. I have dominated this position for several years. In fact, all my keywords that have NYC or NY have tanked. For example, in my zip code of 10016 if I use the brightlocal tool and google 'custom suits' I come up 3rd but if I search for 'custom suits nyc' I drop to 7th. Has anybody else noticed fluctuations or can anybody else explain? I had not done any edits and once in a while my position would go from #1 to #2 but then bounce back but this seems like a ridiculous drop. Any help would be appreciated. My store is Alan David Custom.

Thanks,

Alan

 

[JoyHawkins]

Hey Alan,

Great to see you on the forum. Rankings are all back to normal as of today

I'm going to merge this thread with the other one so that others can see that rankings have stabilized for some people already.