Local RankFlux reporting major spike in flux to local rankings🚨

[StephanieNewton]

Hi everyone,

Local RankFlux (a free tool that tracks fluctuations in local rankings) is reporting record numbers today.



For context, 4.78 is the highest score we've seen (excluding a bug in August 2019). It's higher even than when we experienced the Bedlam update last November.

Is anyone seeing fluctuations to their rankings? We're taking a look on our end but I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has noticed anything.

Thanks!

 

[AndySimpson]

Yay!

 

[JoyHawkins]

We're definitely seeing tons of movement. I'm not really going to do anything though for now until after several days have passed and we see what sticks.

 

[john wieber]

Yes, lots of volatility. Never make any changes, until it all plays out.

 

[rosie.brightlocal]

Thanks for sharing, Steph! I've had a very quick look into some of the Local RankFlux data, and it looks like hospitality businesses haven't seen any unusual changes, while all other industries have seen a pretty big uptick in flux.

When comparing to a 'normal' day (24/1, for context), businesses are 50% less likely to have stayed in the same position as yesterday. 'Normally', around 35-55% of businesses don't see any changes, but today this was just 26%.

It also looks like more businesses saw big drops (more than 10 places) - this was up about 139% compared to the 24th - though these account for a pretty small number of the overall businesses (0.27% on the 24th, to 0.68% today). About 90% more than usual businesses gained 10+ places today (5.32% of businesses, up from 2.71% on the 24th). But, we've seen slightly higher than usual flux over the last week or so, so this could potentially be businesses returning to their places before the smaller-level fluctuations.

I'll keep an eye on the flux score over the weekend, and may do a little deeper digging if we see any more significant change. Could just be Google making sure I'm paying attention

 

[StephanieNewton]

Local RankFlux update -

We saw a slight dip in volatility yesterday, with LRF reporting a score of 2.83 — which, while a little higher than normal, isn't quite the spike we saw on Friday and Saturday. Today's score is 3.07, so you may still see some flux to local rankings, but hopefully we're over the worst of things now.

As ever, it's probably worth keeping an eye on your rankings, but as Joy and John said, best to not make any drastic changes until we know what's going on.

 

[MarianoF]

I have lost almost any keyword that I was ranking for in the pack. Very similar to the Nov update. I assume it will pass eventually but it is very annoying. I am in the health industry and today I am not receiving any call at all.

 

[Fernando_]

I’ve been experiencing this issue since 2/7 for over 400 listings. The main problem on my end is that department listings are appearing for branded searches instead of the main listing. Its been very frustrating. Really hoping this gets fixed soon.

 

[StephanieNewton]

I’ve been experiencing this issue since 2/7 for over 400 listings. The main problem on my end is that department listings are appearing for branded searches instead of the main listing. Its been very frustrating. Really hoping this gets fixed soon.

Hey Fernando,

I've heard of quite a few people having this same problem, mainly car dealerships by the looks of things. We hosted a Local Search Clinic last week and Greg Gifford offered some good advice to try to get this fixed yourself in the meantime: Make sure your categories for the main listing and department listing are unique, each listing and sublisting has different phone numbers (so if you have a parts department and a service department, make sure the phone numbers for those listings go directly to those departments), make sure URLs for each listing are distinct and not all pointing to the homepage, and then once you've done all that contact GMB support via Twitter to let them know what's happening.

Hopefully that helps somewhat

 

[Fernando_]

Hey Fernando,

I've heard of quite a few people having this same problem, mainly car dealerships by the looks of things. We hosted a Local Search Clinic last week and Greg Gifford offered some good advice to try to get this fixed yourself in the meantime: Make sure your categories for the main listing and department listing are unique, each listing and sublisting has different phone numbers (so if you have a parts department and a service department, make sure the phone numbers for those listings go directly to those departments), make sure URLs for each listing are distinct and not all pointing to the homepage, and then once you've done all that contact GMB support via Twitter to let them know what's happening.

Hopefully that helps somewhat

Thanks, Stephanie! Unfortunately, I've already done all that and it hasn't worked. 😔 Some listings appear to be fixed for a day or two, but then "break" again.

 

[StephanieNewton]

Thanks, Stephanie! Unfortunately, I've already done all that and it hasn't worked. 😔 Some listings appear to be fixed for a day or two, but then "break" again.

Oh sorry to hear that Fernando! That sounds extremely frustrating. I'll have my fingers crossed (along with everyone else in SEO) that the bug is fixed soon. 🤞

Out of interest, did Google get back to you with any helpful advice when you contacted them?

 

[Fernando_]

Oh sorry to hear that Fernando! That sounds extremely frustrating. I'll have my fingers crossed (along with everyone else in SEO) that the bug is fixed soon. 🤞

Out of interest, did Google get back to you with any helpful advice when you contacted them?

All they said was, "Search rankings on Google are determined via data/algorithm that we don't have any control/influence over.".

 

[JoyHawkins]

@Fernando_ Have you tried posting on the GMB forum? I have heard a few people mention this and I'm wondering if Google is aware of it. I'd be happy to escalate a thread there for you if you post one.

 

[Fernando_]

@Fernando_ Have you tried posting on the GMB forum? I have heard a few people mention this and I'm wondering if Google is aware of it. I'd be happy to escalate a thread there for you if you post one.

Hey Joy! I haven't personally, but I've been following the thread below which describes the same issue. Additionally, the doc below the thread was sent to Google showing examples and a video of the issue.

Dealership's service department listing suddenly is showing up for dealership branded search. - Google Search Community

Listing Issue | Departments/Main

Support Thread: https://support.google.com/business/thread/27674936?hl=en Listing Name: Prime Honda Saco Address: 754 Portland Rd, Saco, ME 04072 Location ID: 16758906400697520954 Website: https://www.primehondasaco.com/ Listing Name: Prime Honda 128 Address: 88-98 Walkers Brook Drive, Rea...

docs.google.com

 

[JoyHawkins]

Perfect - I'll escalate it and see what's going on.

 

[Fernando_]

Perfect - I'll escalate it and see what's going on.

Thanks, Joy! FYI I created that doc so if you need any additional information there, let me know and I'll add it in.

 

[JoyHawkins]

Yeah, at first I thought you were the person that posted that thread and then realized you were not lol.

 

[Fernando_]

Lol all good!

 

[Fernando_]

@JoyHawkins Good morning! Wanted to check in here and see if there's been any word from Google on your end.

 

[JoyHawkins]

No, it will likely be a few days before I hear back. I'll update the thread (on the Google forum) when I do.