Google Local Recent Change Round Up

We’ve seen some more big changes happening in the local space for Google My Business listings.
Recently, Google began changing over the usual 7-pack local listings to all 3-pack, also called the “Snack Pack” local results.  This means that instead of showing 7 businesses in the local results and on the map, those spots are now only available to 3 local businesses.

Here’s a wrap up of the recent Google Local Changes:

7-Packs Are Now 3-Packs

In an unusual move for local results, Google launched this change both in the United States and internationally at the same time.

Exact Addresses Have Been Removed

Google has also removed specific addresses from the snack pack listings, and now only shows the street name.  This requires a searcher to either click through to the website or the map listing in order to get the exact address of a business.

Phone Numbers Removed

Searchers will no longer have easy access to the phone number of the business. They now need to click through the listing or get the number from your website. The mobile version doesn’t display the phone number either, but does have a “Call” option for each listing. Many speculate if this will always be free for businesses or if it will become a Pay Per Click marketing tool down the road.

Google+ Links Removed

Also removed are the Google+ links we have all become familiar with. Because Google has pushed for local businesses to claim their page officially, this change is pretty interesting. With the closing of the Google+ Social Network push, the Google My Business listings will still be in place and accept customer reviews.

Store Hours Added

Local search results now show store hours, including opening and closing times, depending on the time of day of the search.

Reviews No Longer Labelled “Google Reviews”

Gone are the labels on the reviews listing them as “Google Reviews.”  Now they are simply called “reviews” with the number of reviews and a star rating for each business still listed.

No More Flyout Menus

We are used to being able to scroll over local listings to see the local Google card for the business displayed on the right hand side of the page. This no longer happens, to see the “Card”, a searcher will have to click through to the secondary local page, and view the map listings.

Where Clicks Go

When a user does click through to a listing on any place other than the “Website” link, searchers will see additional local listings and the map.  There are 20 local listings per page, and users can click through to see additional ones.

The card on the right is similar to what we normally would have seen as the flyout on the search results page.

For comparison, here is how it used to look as a 7-pack, for the same local search.

Now What?

So what does this mean for your local business? Read more about how the Snack Pack affects your business in our recent article, here.