Skip to main content

Google Launches New Local Search Algorithm: SEOs Notice Significant Ranking Changes


Last night, Google pushed out a new and major local search ranking algorithm change. I broke the story at Search Engine Land where Google provided details for me on this update.
Note: Later we named the update the Pigeon update.
This is not really a spam change but more of a fundamental change to the local search ranking algorithm. Google would not tell me the percentage of queries impacted by this change but based on early reports, I'd say it is a significant number of queries impacted by this local algorithm change.
The changes have rolled out to both the Google Maps search results and Google Web search results. Google told me that the new local algorithm has "deeper into their web search capabilities, including the hundreds of ranking signals they use in web search along with search features such as Knowledge Graph, spelling correction, synonyms and more." It also has better accuracy over distance and location rankings.
This has rolled out only for US English results and we have no idea when and if it will roll out for other languages or countries.

Significant Changes Seen

SEOs and webmaster have already picked up on significant changes. I have a screen shot from a search result for [ice cream] from earlier this week and the results are even different with that query.
Before:

 After:
 
Even without knowing there was an update, SEOs picked up on it last night and this morning in the Black Hat World forum and WebmasterWorld (paid membership required) forum. There are many forums discussing all the changes and there are a lot of ranking changes.
Also, back in 2009, Google dropped local results for web designers and SEOs. Well, now it seems some of that has come back with this new local search algorithm.

Comments

ottvard said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
October 11, 2014 at 4:39 AM
ottvard said…
Hi, thanks for this article. This was very helpful and i will keep coming back to your blog.

Regards http://www.professorblackhat.com
October 11, 2014 at 4:40 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Intel launches website to help gamers on integrated graphics get a boost in gaming performance

Integrated graphics solutions won’t get you far when it comes to gaming, but they’ve evolved to the point that you can actually get decent frame rates in relatively modern games with the right graphics settings. Looking to remove some of the guesswork for gamers on a budget, Intel has set up a site compiling the optimal settings for a bunch of titles based on your Intel IGP. To get started users must head to gameplay.intel.com and manually select their CPU. Intel will then show you a selection of games that are playable with your chip’s integrated graphics solution, or you can manually search for a particular title, after which you are presented with a screenshot of the in game optimizations and settings recommended by Intel. Intel doesn’t mention what kind of performance you can expect, nor what other hardware was used in their test system. But it’s still a good starting point for anyone wanting to find out what games are playable on a given IGP. While providing ga...
Post a Comment
Read more

Google's plan to fix big cities starts with Sidewalk Labs

Google wants to do more than just simplify privacy for its users and put autonomous cars on the road, it wants to "improve city life for everyone." Co-founder Larry Page writes on G+ that with Mountain View's Sidewalk Labs, the company intends to do just that. The plan is to tackle cost of living, transportation efficiency and energy usage by creating and fostering what he calls urban technologies -- stuff Sidewalk says is a bit harder than just relaying traffic conditions or apartment prices. He likens the size of Sidewalk to that of the X lab responsible for Project Loon in terms of investment. The former head of Bloomberg LP and New York City's Deputy Mayor of Economic Development Dan Doctoroff is leading the project as CEO, from New York. As The New York Times reports, he provides the experience and know how from his time working with New York City, while the search giant brings the cash and tech know-how. Sid...
Post a Comment
Read more