ionadas local LLC

Google Places results without traditional listings

Chris Boudeaux and Adam Edwards are reporting that Google is testing search results with local listings only. In their case, a query for [car rental nyc] returned a new page format: the map on the right hand column with AdWords below it and a center column with more AdWords at the top, and nothing but Google Places listings below it.

All indications are that this is a very limited test at the moment and there’s no way of knowing whether it will become generally available. But the implications of such a change would be huge. For certain types of queries (i.e. those that tend to return the map today), traditional SEO efforts would no longer be of any value.

Only AdWords and Google Places listings would matter.

I doubt the screen capture the linked article shows reflects what Google would use in the long run, as it seems fairly clumsy. There are only 2.5 listings above the fold, with a great deal of wasted space.

But we certainly could see something like this in the near future.

Hat Tip to WebmasterWorld for pointing this out to me.

Disadvantage of Service Areas in Google Places

Recently, Google added support for Service Areas to its Google Places management system. This allows you to register businesses that mostly go to clients’ locations, rather than having the clients come to the business. It also allows you to prevent the address in your Google Places listing from showing.

This is especially welcome for home-based businesses, who might not want to list their home address on the internet for all to see.

Businesses owners should realize that there is a significant disadvantage to this approach, however. A large part of Google ranking calculation is based upon the Citations a listing has received. Citations are pages that Google has found that list the company’s name, phone number and address (and are trusted by Google).

Yes, you can list your home-based business with Google and prevent the address from showing within Google, but you’re going to have a harder time building citations. You can try listing just your company name and phone number, but those citations tend to not be as strong.

So, do you use your home address or not? At the end, it comes down to a value judgment, but you need to be aware of the pros and cons of various approaches.

Screen Captures of Google Places Tags

Google has added a “tagging” system to its Google Places system. These tags let a business highlight aspects of your listing, so that they stand out from the others. This advertising program is available in Austin, Atlanta, Houston, San Jose, and Washington for a flat fee of $25/month.

Being in Austin, Texas, an offer for this advertising program popped up in ionadas local’s Google Maps management system this morning.

“Learn More” takes you to Google Help pages. If you “Preview and select a tag, the following dialog box is shown:

You have the option of highlighting coupons, photos, videos or your website. If one of these is not available in your Google Places, it won’t be offered for tagging.

Here is what the ad looks like, in the 7-pack, the 3-pack, and the 1-box, respectively.

It’s too early to tell if this will result in an uptick in traffic, but watch here for updates. In the meantime, here’s the dashboard the advertisement adds to your management system, although it does not have any data yet.

ionadas local at PubCon South

Note: We also have a coupon for PubCon 2010 Las Vegas.

ionadas local will be attending and speaking at PubCon South 2010 in Dallas the second week of April. CEO Brian Combs will be speaking on the “Personalize Search – Universal Search – Life Goes On” panel with Michael Gray and Dr. Amanda Watlington.

Brian’s panel is at 1:30pm on Wednesday, April 14th, and he will be discussing developments within Google Maps and other local search engines as they pertain to universal and personalized search.

If you’d like 20% off your ticket to PubCon South 2010, use the code “rc-7200720″ when registering (coupon expires April 9th at 5pm central). We hope to see you there!

Google Local Adds Service Areas

If you logged into your Google Local account the last day or two, you may have noticed something new.

You can choose whether or not your listing has a physical address associated with it. According to Google Maps Help:

Service Area Listings With An Address
Listings with a designated service area and a physical address appear the same in Google Maps search results as results without a service area. Once a you click on the listing title, the information window that appears allows you to toggle service areas on and off by clicking ‘Show/hide service area’. By default, service areas are hidden. On the map itself, the listing appears as a red pin. If you’ve chosen ‘Show service area,’ the service area will appear as a see-through red shape.

Service Area Listings Without An Address
Listings with a designated service area and no address appear in Google Maps search results with a red circle and the city the business is located in. Once you click on the listing title, the information window that appears allows you to toggle service areas on and off by clicking ‘Show/hide service area’. On the map, the listing appears as a red floating circle. If you’ve chosen ‘Show service area,’ the service area will appear as a see-through red shape.

Unfortunately, there is no interface for this functionality through the bulk upload system yet. You have to add the Service Area by hand.

Service Areas are something that we’ve been looking for in the Local SEO world for some time. Many businesses do not have customers coming to their location, but rather go to the customer’s location. While these firms certainly have a tight geographic focus, the Google Local system has been failing them until now.

It’s not clear what the limitation is on geographic range, but I expect that the further a location is from the center of your range, the harder it is going to be for you to rank for your target search terms.