Google Maps local listing now showing web search results

Brian Barwig spotted Google displaying web search results in the Google Maps local search results listings for an individual business. Brian, a local SEO, said “we are noticing a new section, “Web Results”.  We, at Search Engine Land, were able to replicate this.

Where to see it. Go to a business listing in Google Maps and scroll past the business information and towards the bottom, you will see “Web Results.”

What it looks like. Here is a screen shot from my business listing:

Web results in local. Google tends to try to keep local search and web search results separate but there have been overlap before. Google did show web site mentions in the local results before. Google also leverages algorithms used in web search for local search, such as neutral matching and others.

Why we care. If potential customers scroll down your local listing in Google Maps and the web results do not look appropriate for your business, that can end up being a turn off for those customers. Do your best to make sure those web results are accurate, the snippets and content in the results look good, just in case someone does scroll down to look at them.

About The Author

Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz 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's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.