Google Raises Local Search Stakes With New Places SERP

Yesterday Google formally announced some changes in the presentation of local results on Google.com SERPs. The right rail has been turned into a rich display of Places information, including links to interior business photography in some cases. It brings a great deal more of the Place Page into the SERP and will become a new […]

Chat with SearchBot

Yesterday Google formally announced some changes in the presentation of local results on Google.com SERPs. The right rail has been turned into a rich display of Places information, including links to interior business photography in some cases. It brings a great deal more of the Place Page into the SERP and will become a new focus for local SEOs. It also will virtually eliminate any right column ads “above the fold,” when the new SERPs appear.

Immediately below is a “before” image of the results for a query on the San Francisco restaurant “Gary Danko.” The Places content appears below the restaurant’s own sitelinks. There’s address information, some images and links to reviews. However much of the information is visually buried.

Screen Shot 2011 11 02 At 6.41.32 AM

Now the “after” SERP, with the Places content moved to the right and organized more clearly. It’s a much more user-friendly display of Places content: hours, location, menu links and links to reviews. There’s also a quick link to directions at the top of the map.

Screen Shot 2011 11 02 At 6.41.55 AM

Here’s a closer look at the right panel:

Screen Shot 2011 11 02 At 6.53.26 AM

The first “pegman” image on the left immediately below the map sends users into Google Maps and offers Street View-like interior photography. Users can pan around the room and get a sense, in this case, of the ambiance and physical layout of the restaurant. This imagery is the by-product of Google’s local business photos program.

Screen Shot 2011 11 02 At 6.42.44 AM

Bing also offers this capability (“Step Inside”) through a partnership with Everyscape. The Page below is Bing’s local result. However Bing.com’s SERP for the restaurant is less compelling. I suspect Bing will need to respond to what Google has done in pushing more and richer local information to the SERP.

Screen Shot 2011 11 02 At 7.00.52 AM

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.

Screen Shot 2011 11 02 At 7.19.41 AM

My guess is that the sites on the “more reviews” list on the right panel will see a jump in traffic vs those in the middle of the page. I’ll leave it to others to fully explore all the local SEO implications of the new pages but they should cause more business owners to claim their Place pages and to beef them up with more content and images. It should also boost Google’s “local business photos” program.

Related Entries


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Greg Sterling
Contributor
Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, a member of the programming team for SMX events and the VP, Market Insights at Uberall.

Get the must-read newsletter for search marketers.