Why is this happening and is it fair?

[travelincat]

Searching for "hairdresser russian hill san francisco" all the organic rankings are from Yelp and then comes the 7 pack. I can understand the first listing for Yelp as it is their page for hair salons in russian hill, but all organic listing are only Yelp?

This seems wrong on so many levels.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Well, I don't think it's fair, no. What's more important is that it's not the type of search result that Google is supposed to be aiming for, ie. useful to the user.

Yelp pages have been starting to take up a ton of real estate for a while now. Even more so Post-Pigeon.

 

[accessted]

Searching for "hairdresser russian hill san francisco" all the organic rankings are from Yelp and then comes the 7 pack. I can understand the first listing for Yelp as it is their page for hair salons in russian hill, but all organic listing are only Yelp?

This seems wrong on so many levels.

Of course it is not fair... Is Google fair?

To top it off Yelp is mad at Google? Go figure.. These BIG SEO giants are mad at each other and all they want is ... (drum-roll) our money..

In my niche in another state Yelp has 6 of the top 10 ranking on the first page.. Seems fair huh? It is a big joke.

Too bad the little business owners suffer and can not do S**t about it ...

Ok Off my rant

 

[Eric Rohrback]

To echo what everyone else has said or will say... no, this is not fair to either the user or the small business owner. That being said, this is exactly why business should never expect or try to get a majority of their business from Google. How much of the foot traffic will be coming from offline marketing? From forums? From paid ads? The list goes on and on.

Showing Yelp in every result sucks for everyone except Yelp. The problem is, you can't change that; it's just how Google's algo is working for the time being. Effort and energy is better spent figuring out how to drive more referral traffic from sites that focus on that topic instead of focusing on Google results for that particular keyword.

Keywords and rankings matter to a certain extent, but I've just come to the realization that Google is the way Google is. You can criticize the results, but what has that really done for your clients/your business? Energy is better spent moving forward.

 

[Linda Buquet]

WHOA! WHAT? 10 Yelp Listings above the pack???

Sorry I didn't check that SERP until now. It's crazy!

Google Search: hairdresser russian hill san francisco

And Yelp is complaining??? See: <a href="http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/google-local-important/23200-new-powerhouse-group-trying-kill-google-local.html">New Powerhouse Group Trying to Kill Google Local 7 Pack</a>

 

[accessted]

To echo what everyone else has said or will say... no, this is not fair to either the user or the small business owner. That being said, this is exactly why business should never expect or try to get a majority of their business from Google. How much of the foot traffic will be coming from offline marketing? From forums? From paid ads? The list goes on and on.

Showing Yelp in every result sucks for everyone except Yelp. The problem is, you can't change that; it's just how Google's algo is working for the time being. Effort and energy is better spent figuring out how to drive more referral traffic from sites that focus on that topic instead of focusing on Google results for that particular keyword.

Keywords and rankings matter to a certain extent, but I've just come to the realization that Google is the way Google is. You can criticize the results, but what has that really done for your clients/your business? Energy is better spent moving forward.

I definitely agree with you about not depending on Google. My business can survive without Google BUT you have to admit where do most people search? Yup the big ole G.. Too bad Bing and Yahoo weren't more of a competitor so some businesses could have a little chance to get a bit of the pie. This is Googles world and we are living in it.. (Trying anyway)

WHOA! WHAT? 10 Yelp Listings above the pack???

Sorry I didn't check that SERP until now. It's crazy!

Google Search: hairdresser russian hill san francisco

And Yelp is complaining??? See: <a href="http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/google-local-important/23200-new-powerhouse-group-trying-kill-google-local.html">New Powerhouse Group Trying to Kill Google Local 7 Pack</a>

Yeah how pathetic is that? Really? All of the first page for Yelp... This should be illegal.

 

[Joe Mink]

Totally agree that this is not fair to the small business that are affected as well as the user....

Not that this helps any, but I just performed several searches along the line of 'haidresser city, state' and 'hairdresser neighborhood city, state' and these are returning anywhere from 4-10 Yelp listings above the Map Pack. More when large enough neighborhood areas are included in the search. Looks like Google neighborhood search is being tested.

 

[valesence]

im sure that is exactly what the google user is looking for. You really hit a home run on this update (satire)

Surprising though,,,, look at the number of yelp reviews those business's have. The reviews on yelp from 30-200 but google plus has only about 10 reviews on those listings. Something very fishy here.

Oh and to the op, Fair? LOL, google is not in the business to be fair. Google is in the business to make money. The way google drives makes money is by having tons of traffic, they have tons of traffic by giving a result that best matches what a searcher wants and then selling ads on that result. With the new alog, I think that dominance is not as secure as before.

 

[andykuiper]

yelp keeps yelping, and google buckles... why, anyone's guess.

 

[OSEO.Jenny]

If any one has seen the SERPS for Plumber San Francisco, it's very similar. First 7 results are Yelp, but it's down from 10 Yelp results on the day "Pigeon" launched. Is this progress or proof Yelp will continue to dominate local results? It's frustrating to say the least!

 

[Linda Buquet]

Oh dear Jenny. 7 - 10 Yelp on top for that competitive of a SERP?
Thats not good!

Did you guys see my brand new post? SEland has a post that is saying Pigeon may be getting rolled back.

<a href="http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/google-local/23566-pigeon-rolled-back-they-say-yes-linda.html">Pigeon Rolled Back? They say yes - Linda says no, but is cautiously optimistic</a>

 

[OSEO.Jenny]

I did see that article. I'm cautiously optimistic as well, I just haven't seen it in the SERP's to warrant any jumping up and down. Just look to the plumbers search in San Fran! I'm sure there's many more.

Oh dear Jenny. 7 - 10 Yelp on top for that competitive of a SERP?
Thats not good!

Did you guys see my brand new post? SEland has a post that is saying Pigeon may be getting rolled back.

<a href="http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/google-local/23566-pigeon-rolled-back-they-say-yes-linda.html">Pigeon Rolled Back? They say yes - Linda says no, but is cautiously optimistic</a>

 

[Chris_Tax]

I am battling the YELP issue too. What can I do to beat YELP? I have left anchor text on the city tab and the main tab. I am thinking this might help

 

[ABL3]

Yelp cooperates with the FTC against Google, as well has their own claims which they push through the legal system. def a factor of their July update, but this example of them flooding the SERPS is craxy.

 

[Chris_Tax]

Yelp has created tons of work for Google. Now Google has to deal with the slander issue of competitors leaving bad reviews.

Back to my question. How do I move above Yelp for local SEO ?