Although I haven’t ever generated an online or offline transaction from my own firm’s Google Local Business Center listing, I have closely monitored my listing and its appearance or lack thereof in Google search results since business listings were first introduced.
Over time, the type of results have changed from lists of ten to as few as one result for specific business or category localized search queries.
I have also watched Google’s Local Business Center product evolve to its present version which includes rudimentary search traffic stats.
Because of the nature of my firm’s listing categories (advertising and marketing), generating a search referred transaction isn’t expected.
However, many small businesses have come to rely on the referrals Google local search listings provide.
Fortunately I haven’t relied on Google’s free local search referrals for generating new business; because if I had, my business would have since dried up with the recent changes impacting what appears to have only occurred in geo-modified advertising and marketing search results.
Prior to the recent paring of local advertising and marketing results, firms like mine could count on their local business listing being displayed for queries in their respective markets.
A generic web search query for marketing + city used to produce the following type of results.
Marketing
A generic web search query for marketing consultant + city used to produce the following type of results.
Marketing Consultant
In both instances and because of my firm’s listing presence, Google saw fit to publish my company’s details for these types of queries.
Once my Local Business Center listing even appeared inexplicably atop a Google Maps search for “marketing consultants”.
Google Maps Search Marketing Consultants
However, today the same search query for marketing + city produces the following results sans One Plus Box or any other type of previously seen types of multiple listing results.
Marketing Oklahoma City
The same holds true for a search for marketing consultant + city. No One Plus Box results or any type of multiple listing results.
Marketing Consultants Oklahoma City
Nor does my listing still appear atop a Google Maps search for marketing consultants. My listing shouldn’t have probably been there to begin with but its unclear to me as to why any of results that do appear for this particular search appear as they do.
Marketing Consultants Google Map Search
Historically when these types of changes have appeared in search results, the new results types were evenly distributed across all business categories.
I am not so sure that is the case this time.
It looks like the advertising and marketing categories are the sole beneficiaries of these new types of category search results.
A quick search for other categories still produces any one of the previously identified One Plus Box results types.
A search for a local Doctor’s listing still produces his Google Local Business Center listing data.
Dr Local Web Search
A search for “Luxury Apartments Dallas” produces the recently discovered seven local results format.
Luxury Apartments Dallas
However, a local search for my business name and city no longer produces a Google Local Business Center result like the the Doctor’s listing above.
Instead it produces a traditional search engine results page.
Google Web Search Advanced Marketing Consultants NIchols HIlls, OK
Although my local business center listings information still appears in a specific business name search in Google Maps, the One Box type result for my categories appears to be totally gone.
Google Maps Advanced Marketing Consultants Nichols HIlls, OK
To confirm my experience isn’t unique, I ran several search queries in other markets for the same generic terms and produced the same type of results.
A search for “Advertising Agency New York” produces the same type of results as those identified above – no One Box or any type of multiple listings.
Advertising Agency New York Web Search
Yet a search for “marketing + city” produces a buggy list of non marketing related business listings ( (must be the data center).
Marketing New York
I have seen these type of results before where similar nonsensical business listings appear in search categories unrelated to their primary business. Could these types of results been a catalyst for these recent category results changes?
However, a search for “marketing consultants new york city” produced the same type of search engine results pages mentioned initially.
Marketing Consultants New York City
Are these new search engine results pages for advertising and marketing related category + location specific search results by design and the new norm or are these new results the by-product of a bug?
If these results are indeed the new norm for the advertising and marketing industries, agencies and marketers alike may need to get acquainted with Google’s advertising product – Google Adwords – if they want their businesses to have a higher level of visibility in both Google search engine results pages and Google Maps.
Search Marketing Communications 
You must be logged in to post a comment.