Major Google Local Algo Update - Google "Pigeon" Update Shakes it Up!

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks for reporting Kate and I'm sorry for your loss. That totally stinks but this thing is totally in flux, so maybe will change.

 

[Linda Buquet]

I've been doing more analysis and have shared observations at Mike's that I wanted to post here too. Also want to share posts he's written because the commentary there is always priceless!

<a href="http://blumenthals.com/blog/2014/07/25/7-pack-decline-of-over-60-reported-by-mozcast/">7 Pack Decline of over 60% Reported by MozCast | Understanding Google Places & Local Search</a>


Mike's post above + something I discovered that's changed with this algo:

Mike I just made an important discovery I think.

It could be affecting the accuracy of the Moz data. OR if the Moz data is correct, then could affect the results that those here are getting when they are trying to compare and cross check the Moz data.

I hate to link drop again, but my point is better explained by the screenshots in post# 5 where I?ve been tracking the pack changes for Seattle Chiropractor: http://localsearchforum.catalystema...ocal-algo-update-google-pigeon.html#post44489

See new update 7/26 in the post above.

In briefer nutshell: If search location is set to city than the city in the query search results NOW vary WILDLY. They did not before as long as city was in the query.

In the past if I searched Seattle Chiropractor, as long as city was in the query I?d get the same results, no matter where my search location was set. In other words, location would be set to LA or Dallas, did not matter. I?d change location to Seattle to double check rankings and they would still be exactly the same. It would usually have no affect. (Occasionally maybe one listing would be off.)

Now search location settings appear to have a dramatic affect. I can see wildly different SERPs by changing the city. So it appears location settings have to be set right to get an accurate reading now.

<a href="http://blumenthals.com/blog/2014/07/28/mozcast-data-7-packs-dropped-but-probably-not-as-much-as-mozcast-indicated/">Google 7 Packs Dropped But Probably Not as Much as MozCast Indicated | Understanding Google Places & Local Search</a>


Below some new observations I made over the weekend:

Other changes to the way Google processes data that I?ve noticed include:

1) The Google pack ranking order no longer matches Google Maps results like they used to. (Used to most of the time, not exactly.) They are radically different now, so this is going to affect lots of the rank tracking programs because they use maps to detect placements beyond the 7 pack.

NOTE: From what I see the map ranking order is still the old serps ranking order. At least for Seattle Chiro maps ranking order perfectly matches the Serps ranking order of the old algo.

2) The algo for KW queries without geo modifiers seems to have changed too but I never tracked that one much. (Should though since tons more consumers search for KW only.)

3) There are more duplicates in the pack. In the past Google would not list 2 companies twice in the pack. (Or a practice and a Dr at same location.)

4) Don?t even know what to call this one except just wrong on multiple levels : ?San Jose Plumbing? https://www.google.com/search?q=san+jose+plumbing.

In addition to the more obvious problems in that pack, and the fact that 2 out of 3 are not in San Jose but are same companies with different PO boxes I think (yet another problem) ? that A listing looks borked to me. United States and NO city. (Not service area mistakenly set up, checked that.)

5) But that leads to my next one. In the past for competitive terms a pack would normally show listings IN the city in the query. Now many searches yield a pack with 4 ? 5 different nearby cities in it.

In the pack above 2 out of 3 plumbers aren?t even in the query city. But they do have query in name, so maybe it?s doing more of a brand search, in that particular case.

6) For ?San Jose plumber? (not plumbing), The A spot goes to a listing not even in San Jose. It?s in Los Gatos, but it?s one of those same listings where name and site =s San Jose Plumbing. (Site not even well optimized and G+ L page bare.)

In addition to the A spot being in a different city than query, location =s PO Box. So much for good quality, local, nearby listings.

I?m sure there are positive things about this update and I hope more honest businesses are moving up and spam is moving out. So above are just a few random observations.

 

[HurricaneK8]

I checked some more and so far it's only hit a few phrases that previously had 3 packs/1 boxes. Maybe they're trying a variation of the algo being put out?

 

[Linda Buquet]

Just checked with Colan and he said: "I?m still seeing the pack for Real Estate searches in Toronto."

 

[Linda Buquet]

OMG, this is total PIGEON CRAP!

<a href="http://blumenthals.com/blog/2014/07/28/crap-google-results-yelp/comment-page-1/">Crap Google Results & Yelp | Understanding Google Places & Local Search</a>

Wow! So bogus!

9 - 10 YELP results ABOVE THE PACK!

Have to think that's a temporary anomaly that will be corrected. Google never lets one company monopolize the results like that.

 

[HurricaneK8]

Yes, I think I jumped the gun! It was just a few phrases there was one-boxes for (in Milton, right outside Toronto) and they could have changed pre-pigeon crap

I'm not seeing other phrases changed yet.

 

[Louis Nava]

Wanted to chime in with some of my experiences over the past few days..

Many of my tour clients have seen increases in their rankings. Those who I have helped in the past with their Local Visibility have either stayed the same or seen an increase.

A client who is a specialized pest control company couldn't get in the pack since the last Panda update now they are back on top.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Oh great to hear Luis! Thanks for sharing the good news!

 

[Linda Buquet]

OMG, this is total PIGEON CRAP!

<a href="http://blumenthals.com/blog/2014/07/28/crap-google-results-yelp/comment-page-1/">Crap Google Results & Yelp | Understanding Google Places & Local Search</a>

Wow! So bogus!

9 - 10 YELP results ABOVE THE PACK!

Have to think that's a temporary anomaly that will be corrected. Google never lets one company monopolize the results like that.

Ignore that comment. Mike just point out to me on Google+.

"These were first spotted on July 16 https://plus.google.com/+MattStormsSEO/posts/7EixFt9P44N by +Matt Storms. Ie they preceded the current update."

 

[feedingofthe5k]

One thing I have noticed for CAR DEALERSHIPS in a certain city where one of my clients resides :

"used cars <city>" "used car dealers <city>" & variations, etc. Were always returning New Car / Franchise Dealers in the map pack, depending on the supply/saturation of the area. So of course, in Van Nuys CA, the entire Van Nuys BLVD is chock full of new car stores, while there lies hundreds of used car dealers around them.

Google Map Pack returned new car dealers ALL THE TIME. Until last Friday.

"used cars <city>" shows the actual used car dealers now.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Thanks for sharing. So that's a boost in relevance which is good to hear!

 

[21Development]

FYI - the real estate clients I have are returning no pack at the moment. However, if I search location + real estate consultant, I get a pack most of the time. If I change consultant to "agent", there is no pack.

Food for thought.

 

[21Development]

setting location and then searching "real estate consultant" give me a pretty reliable pack for some cities and not others. See screenshots:

 

[Linda Buquet]

Dr Pete from Moz just posted this re the Mozcast results being off.

For those that have not been following all Mike's posts and comments. I noticed that Geo search location parameters work differently now. And some others were seeing results that didnt' agree with the Moz data.

So Mike brought it up to Moz and I think part of it is the geo search issue I brought up and the other issue is Moz was using "near" city, instead of just city in queries.

Dr Pete wrote on G+.


Update (7/28) -- Further testing today has pretty much proven beyond any reasonable doubt that "near=" is unreliable post-Pigeon. I don't believe that Google deprecated the parameter to mess with us, but because Pigeon radically altered how geo-location works.

We believe we have a fix, and it may be implemented on MozCast as soon as tomorrow AM (fingers crossed).

 

[feedingofthe5k]

One thing I have noticed for CAR DEALERSHIPS in a certain city where one of my clients resides :

"used cars <city>" "used car dealers <city>" & variations, etc. Were always returning New Car / Franchise Dealers in the map pack, depending on the supply/saturation of the area. So of course, in Van Nuys CA, the entire Van Nuys BLVD is chock full of new car stores, while there lies hundreds of used car dealers around them.

Google Map Pack returned new car dealers ALL THE TIME. Until last Friday.

"used cars <city>" shows the actual used car dealers now.

Adding to this. I am currently in a cesspool of mixed analytics right now for all my independent dealers.

-"used cars <city>" now has NO MORE Map Pack in certain cities, while others are still intact.

-"used car dealer <city>" is more relevant from the epicenter of what Google considers to be the center of <city>.

-Setting location in Search Tools *%&@ifies Map Pack up when searching for "used car dealer"</city></city></city> in a certain city (Van Nuys showing Los Angeles new & used, which is approx. 17 miles away).

I will just go with it's still being rolled out and we really won't have an idea of where to go from here for a couple of weeks.

 

[Alex G]

Linda,

I'm wondering what your thoughts are on some of these packs (particularly those related to REAL ESTATE and REALTORS) either being permanent removal of the 7-packs or if this is just temporary bug? As mentioned above, real estate keywords working fine in Toronto, but not in any other cities that I can find. We have a lot of realtor clients who have ranked in the 7-pack for a very long time and get business from it, this would be devastating if a permanent change. Let me know if you have any insight. The weird thing is it still remains in Toronto but I cannot find any other cities where real estate keywords bring local 7 pack(besides 'real estate consultant' as mentioned above).

Alex

 

[21Development]

Linda,

I'm wondering what your thoughts are on some of these packs (particularly those related to REAL ESTATE and REALTORS) either being permanent removal of the 7-packs or if this is just temporary bug? As mentioned above, real estate keywords working fine in Toronto, but not in any other cities that I can find. We have a lot of realtor clients who have ranked in the 7-pack for a very long time and get business from it, this would be devastating if a permanent change. Let me know if you have any insight. The weird thing is it still remains in Toronto but I cannot find any other cities where real estate keywords bring local 7 pack(besides 'real estate consultant' as mentioned above).

Alex

Hi Alex,

Hopefully it's just a bug, but I doubt it in this case. If you search "real estate consultant" and have location set, you *should* get a pack (*it is today). I imagine that Google sees an "agent" or "agency" as part of a larger company that may not need their own listing (whether that's correct or not is beside the point). The term "consultant" suggests an independent office/business. I could be waaaaay off base here, but that's what the data is telling me so far.

Thoughts?

 

[Alex G]

I've noticed 'list of realtors' brings up the 7-pack in most cities. Also just 'realtors toronto' brings up 7-pack, so there is still some interest in realtors by Google. That's why I'm wondering if its a bug or not, or if they just haven't gotten rid of those last few keywords yet.

 

[feedingofthe5k]

Guys, I think this is merely a wait-for-it-to-take-effect-100% situation.

See my last posts, the same is happening for "used cars" and "used car dealer" "used car dealerships" "car dealers" etc.

 

[Linda Buquet]

This update has not hit Canada yet to my knowledge, only US.

I don't see any reason why Realtors would be removed from local, but don't have any insight to share. Another TC asked Google but we didn't get a reply yet. They often won't comment on ranking type questions.

This thing is still rolling out I think, so may just need to wait to see what shakes out because I think they sometimes do some tweaking after it hits and they see how it's working.