Unable to See Business's Star Rating/Number of Reviews at First Glance?

[Cordell Crowley]

So we were doing some research on vehicle detailing businesses in the Dallas area and noticed that we didn't have any first-glance knowledge of the businesses' review data. We couldn't see what their star rating is or how many reviews they have without either clicking on the listing itself, or hovering over it, in which case the # of reviews and star rating show up out on the actual map itself over their pin.

The screenshot above details (no pun intended) what I mean. Screenshot below shows a plumbing search we did as a comparison test that shows the review data.

Anyway, I was curious if this was a glitch, something new Google was testing playing with, or if it isn't new at all and we've just happened to not see it until now. It would certainly be interesting if Google went this route and took review data out of the equation for deciding with Maps listing to click on.

 

[Garrett Sussman]

Interesting discovery, Cordell. I wonder if it's just industry specific. I know historically, Banks have never had star ratings either. I'm not sure why detailing businesses as an industry wouldn't though.

Here's a bank example:

 

[Yan Gilbert]

Hm, yes can confirm. "Car detailing" does not show the stars , while "car repair" in the same area does. "car repair and detailing" will show the stars even though the businesses listed are showing 'car detailing' in the category section and some of the same listings appear.