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| Google Pigeon Algorithm |
Google released a new algorithm
about a week ago to help improve the accuracy of local search results.
Unofficially dubbed as Google Pigeon, the algorithm was quite
significant and local businesses overall are seeing either increases or
decreases in website referrals and traffic. The idea is to offer local
search results that are more closely related to some of the ranking
signals used in search as well as other features like the Knowledge Graph,
synonyms, etc. In addition, it is said to improve distance and location
parameters to make local search more accurate. So how exactly does this
effect local businesses?
An algorithm for local businesses
Google just released an update to this algorithm which was only
introduced a week ago. But even so, it is significant for local
businesses, and not necessarily in a bad way. Local directories seem to
be getting the most out of this update.
In the past, when you would search for something local, you would get
your carousel results and then a list of organic results, typically
individual restaurants. Now, you will sometimes see directories showing
up in the search results below the carousel including OpenTable,
Urbanspoon, and even TripAdvisor for certain queries.
Below is a screenshot example of a query with local directory results.
For this particular query (and with many other examples), an individual
restaurant didn’t show up in organic results until page two. If you were
to continue scrolling down this page, you would see results from Zagat,
Yelp, and even Groupon.
It’s also worth mentioning that the Yelp ordeal has been solved with
this change. Last week we reported about some of the confusion with Yelp
and Google, essentially reporting that Yelp wasn’t showing up on search
results even when the word “yelp” was used in the search query. In
other words, Google was accused of putting their own local results first
even when they weren’t the most relevant.
Since the new update, this is no longer the case and Search Engine Land gives several examples here.What It Means?
As discussed above, if you’re a directory this is a good thing. However,
other local businesses may suffer. Keep in mind the goal of this Google
Pigeon algorithm update – to tie local results more closely to standard
Web ranking signals. With this in mind, it’s those sites that have
solid and strong SEO signals that are going to prevail. Directories
generally do outrank individual companies in this area, so local
businesses are going to have to work harder to come out on top.
Currently this update was only rolled out to US English results, and so
far that’s about all we know. We don’t know when Google plans to roll
Google Pigeon out to other countries (if at all), and we don’t know the
percent of queries impacted. We’re hoping the details will come soon and
we will keep you updated.
Want to talk about this new algorithm? Let's do so in the comments section
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