October 2010 - Remember Google testing new layouts with local search SERPs earlier this year?
It seems that Google is showing them again. This is what we saw an hour ago in Google.com.au:
Related: November 2011 - New Map Layout in Google.
Local listings have snippets this will make Local SEO in Brisbane interesting! Well at least usually, we've found some keywords for which the new layout pops up, but with the old snippet-less listings. Nice, huh?
What's very interesting is that not only the layout has changed but also the ranking algorithm.
There are now only 10 listings on the first page. The number of local listings on the front page vary (usually 7), for some searches the first page shows only local listings. Wow.
The good news is that the local listings appear to be ranked with a combination of Google's standard search algorithm and the old Google local ranking algorithm. This looks like Google's attempt at solving the Google Maps spam problem and we have to say - it looks pretty good. At least we and our clients like it 🙂
If these changes are here to stay this will mean:
How do you like that? Tell us what you think...
[...] had been testing in more cities (Update: I have reports that this is being seen in Burbank & Australia and others that it is not being seen in Orange County, CA and Washington, DC so this could just be [...]