The Future of Local Search
Over the years Google has swiftly changed the search results landscape. These changes have affected both organic and local search results for area businesses. Today Google implemented a major change by limiting the number of local search results from seven to three. Whether this is for preserving more first page real estate for advertising is unknown, but my first guess is that we can expect to see more ads.
I have to admit that at first I was experiencing some panic. Ranking a business in the top spots in local search is a huge undertaking – more so than what it was to rank in the top seven-pack, or ten-pack… Then I noticed a menu icon in the lower-left corner of the 3-pack results container.
The Pros of Google’s Local Search 3-Pack
When I clicked on the menu I suddenly realized the obvious advantage to the new three-pack!
Not ten, but 20 local businesses were displayed in the left menu (scroll) column, with an area map on the right displaying all the markers. All the schema and star ratings are intact, and the business phone number and reviews are displayed when you select a business from the mega menu.
It appears that Google’s efforts may be to help local businesses share in the competition as organic search results are taken over by the larger websites.