Google local map pack goes missing in search results (now fixed)

The local pack that Google generally shows for queries with local intent has gone missing.

Chat with SearchBot

The Google local pack, the map results, you see Google often display in the search results seems to have gone missing. I assume this was a bug, but no one was able to trigger a local pack to show up in Google Search for a 20-minute period.

Examples. Try searching for [barber near me] and you won’t get that local pack. You just get the standard ten blue links, without the map.

Google Search Example

This seems to have stopped working at around 11:30 am ET.

And now has returned about 20 minutes later, I now see the local pack:

Barber Google Local

Why we care. The local pack drives a tremendous amount of traffic to local businesses. It going away, even for a short period of time, can be a huge loss for those local small businesses.

This appears to have been a bug and is now resolved.


About the author

Barry Schwartz
Staff
Barry Schwartz is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry can be followed on Twitter here.

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