Google raises local search stakes with new places SERP

November 03, 2011 | Online Marketing

Yesterday Google formally announced some changes in the presentation of local results on Google.com SERPs. It brings a great deal more of the Place Page into the SERP and will become a new focus for local SEOs.

Google only shows these new SERPs in the context of a search for an individual business location. If the business has multiple locations it won’t show the richer SERP. However if you search on a single location it typically does (e.g., “cheesecake factory” vs. “cheesecake factory ventura blvd”).

Yelp has been left out of the list of review sites that appear in the right panel. I conducted a range of searches in different business categories and Yelp was typically in the “above the fold” organic results in the center but not among the “more reviews” site list on the right. This is no doubt a conscious decision on Google’s part to avoid any further disputes with Yelp, which has become one of Google’s most vocal critics.

Get the full story at Search Engine Land

E-Mail Newsletter


Visit our sponsors: