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Google's announcement that the Snack Pack or Three Pack will now be a Two Pack, plus an ad, has sure shaken things up. It s now a greater challenge than ever to get your client into the top spots. Here's an idea of what the new format may look like Gone is the Real Google Local - Any Business may now PAY for the top local spots. Now it seems that the only requirement to get to the top of Google is some money. Being the best local business in any category seems to no longer matter so much.
This also offers a greater challenge and headache to SEO companies and local business owners. When Google went from a 10 pack to a 7 pack, there was quite a shake up. Next, the 3 pack or snack pack proved to be really challenging for businesses to be included. Now there's even 1/3 less space for local businesses to rank organically, and it seems that the top space of the three is going to the highest bidder. "Best Of..." seems to no longer be of importance. There seems to be a tremendous amount of spam in a number of categories, so genuine, quality business owners who play by the rules are being pushed out in favour of profits! The Goal of Google is pretty clear - profits over people. The cost to the consumer: No clear indication of the value of a business in terms of providing good, quality products and services. Good businesses are being penalized or forced to spend more money on promotion. Such behavior on the part of Google encourages more black hat - grey hat strategies to try to get a leg up. Local AdWords Extensions
The Ad Pack has not been added to the Three Pack/Snack Pack - yet. These ads will become part of AdWords Extensions which will only be available to local business owners who have their Google My Business listing connected to their AdWords Accounts. Google's Paid Inclusion Squeezes out Good Businesses Being able to pay your way into the supposedly organic search means that any business - regardless of their value to the community - can gain priority placement in local search results. It's no longer of value to be the BEST business for consumers. It's about who has the most money. This change presents an even greater challenge for local business owners. Hotel Searches get New DEALS Tags Blue DEAL icons were recently featured for hotel listings. DEAL tags can be displayed in both the Three pack (see screenshot below) and on the Local Finder page. These DEAL tags will be displayed when a Hotel is offering below normal rates, or lower than the rates of surrounding Hotels or when a partner is offering a discounted price versus the market rate.
DEAL tags feature on Hotel listings: While the DEAL tag does not make the hotel sit at the top of the Search Results, it does make the listing stand out, which is very likely to produce greater conversions. Is it possible that Consumers will Rise Up Against Google?! Are most consumers even aware of what's going on? If they are, are they likely to take their searches elsewhere or do they really even care?
While most consumers are used to seeing more of the Ads in their search results, most know what they are. In spite of the "Ad" label, searchers may take a while to accept the paid ads in the local SERPS. Are you surprised by paid ads in the local pack? How do you think it will affect local consumers / searchers? What s the future for the new 2-Pack? Google's decision to limit the organic search results to only two business listings has made getting into the top spots even more challenging. Here's a mockup of what the new local snack pack may look like, assuming that the green "Ad" label will be added: Google Local Pack Mockup Here is a mockup of how the ad may show in the local pack, at least, how I think it may show
There has definitely been an uproar in the industry. And, while it's currently still possible to have your business ranked in one of the top two spots, it's definitely more challenging. Do consumers know or care about the change? Even though they will no longer be seeing the majority of the relevant and local results, will it really make any difference to them? Consumer Survey: Advertisements in Local Listings A large group of consumers were surveyed, and they were shown the mockup (above) of the proposed changes to the Snack Pack. The consumers were invited to imagine that they were doing a search on Google, looking for a local dentist, and were shown results with the top position as a paid
ad, and the other two were local results; and they were asked: Which would you choose? Why? The results below are not scientific results. You're right. This is not a real life test, but it still gives some "insights" into how people "choose" a company to do business with. In a real test, the results may be significantly different. Also, please note that: We've guessed at the way Google will display the ad. The results chosen were a good mix of differing reviews. Question #1: Of the top 3 businesses listed, which would you choose? (Users were shown this mock-up image) https://www.brightlocal.com/2016/07/01/58-of-localconsumers-dislike-local-ads-in-googles-localpack/#2pack Key Findings: 36% would click on the top (1st) business 20% would click on the middle (2nd) business
43% would click on the bottom (3rd) business Analysis: When viewing the mockup, 43% of the people who were asked would select the bottom business, and 35% would choose the top business. It is very likely that the business reviews played a major role in the decisions, since the third business had the best and most positive reviews, the middle business had NO reviews, and the business listed in the top position had some reviews. Important Findings: 36% would click on the top business 20% would click on the middle business 43% would click on the bottom business Analysis: In terms of pixel space, the first and third listings take up more space because they also displayed their business hours. From these results, we note that consumers do not seem to be put off by the Ad labels showing up in local results, and a number of other factors must play an important part in their choices. Some probably appreciated that the results they were seeing were in their local community (instead of larger corporations).
Question #2: Why did you choose a particular business? 47% of consumers chose a business because it had positive review stars 16% selected a business simply because it was at the top 13% selected a business that grabbed their attention first 12% chose a business because they liked the name 13% picked a business at random, or weren't sure why What stands out most is that the majority - 47% - chose a business because of the positive review stars. Even though the paid listing might be in the top position, if it doesn t have the eye catching star ratings, it won't be selected as often.
Once Google rolls out the paid local results, it will be more important than ever to have a strong review strategy. Only 16% clicked on the top result just because it was in the top position. While this may be a good statistic for any business owner who is willing to pay for this position, it's not the greatest result. It's a challenge to know what caught the attention of the last 13%. This survey just proves that there's a lot more involved in the psychology of what drives a person to click through to a site than just the position in search results. It s very possible that the more your listings stand out reviews, stars and open hours the more clicks your listings are apt to receive. Question #3: Were you aware that the top listing was an advertisement with an Ad icon beside it?
60% of consumers were aware of the Ad icon on the top result 40% of consumers were not aware of the Ad icon Although a small difference, more consumers were aware of the Ad label on the top result*. Consumers have become accustomed to seeing Pay Per Click ads and most seem to know that they are advertisements. It is possible that they will have a different response to getting paid ads in their local search results. *NOTE: Google may not use the green "AD" icon in the paid local listing. The style was copied from other AdWords results for the sake of the mockup. Question #4: How do you feel about Google including paid Ads in this type of search results?
42% of consumers like paid Ads or are happy as long as the businesses are relevant 44% of consumers dislike paid Ads or would prefer not to see them 14% feel tricked by Google When search results delivered a paid ad in the local results snack pack, 58% of consumers had a negative reaction and 42% either positive or indifferent. Additionally, among the negative reactions, 14% feel that they have been tricked by Google. Conclusion
It's obvious that looking for a local product or service is a personal experience for each consumer. In the past, a large percentage of consumers used Google because they trusted the relevance of their results. When Google introduces paid ads into local search results, that trust may begin to dissolve. Consumers may feel tricked by being shown a paid ad above what Google determines is the most relevant business for them. However, how often is the top result in the local search really the most relevant? Since there is so much spam in many industries, how can you really know that the business listed on top is "the real deal"? Is the business REALLY shown there because of the quality of product or service and excellent reviews? It's very possible that they have an aggressive Local SEO team working for them, or they've figured out how to game the system. As far as Google is concerned, searchers will be pleased as long as the results are relevant to their needs, regardless of how the listings are determined. It's not likely that Google will stop the proposed changes. And, once again, local businesses and SEO companies will have to scramble to figure out the changes.
Disclaimer Google's algorithm (the rules and guidelines that determine which business listings they display at any given time to any given individual) may have changed since this document was published. While the steps outlined above were working for us at the time we published this document, Google may have changed its procedures since then. With MAPS PhD we constantly keep up to date with Google's latest changes. Copyright 2016 - All rights reserved. Jack Hopman, http://www.jackhopman.com You may not copy, sell or distribute this document without advance written permission from the author.