Google’s latest local algorithm update, “Pigeon”, took off in late July, 2014, affecting U.S. English queries. Local business website owners have been scrambling to adjust, as some deal with the fact that they’re no longer showing in the seven-pack local results at all.
Indeed, some are referring to Pigeon as the biggest Google update to the local search results since the Google Venice update in 2012. Google has said that the latest update would make local search results more closely mimic traditional organic rankings.
Early reports showed consistent feedback that specific queries and sectors had been impacted, like real estate, and that directories were now being favoured in the results above local businesses (possibly due to the authority of a directory site like Yell over a local business’s site). Take my client Automax, a car repair centre based in Banbury, Oxfordshire. For the search term “car repairs banbury” they show up as listing B for the local map results and then 5th and 6th in the organic results but 2nd and 3rd place organically is taken by Yell.com.
Whilst the latest local algorithm update fixes the problem for Yell, many businesses have experienced a loss from Pigeon. New data coming from BrightEdge’s Data Cube analysis reveals more about what businesses have been impacted – both positively and negatively – since late July.
Not everyone complained after the latest local algorithm update. As previously mentioned, directories seemed to get a boost, and, so did certain queries. The latest analysis using BrightEdge’s massive data set from June to August shows an uptick in the results for queries related to the following:
Additional wins occurred in smaller percentages for queries related to:
According to the analysis in BrightEdge’s data set, we found queries related to the following topics being the most negatively impacted by Pigeon:
Reports across the Web from multiple sources show real estate queries experiencing dire consequences from Pigeon, and as you can see, the BrightEdge data confirms the same.
Other queries related to the following showed somewhat negligible losses:
The following is a table of the findings. Note that some of the queries were difficult to classify in the analysis, so the industry data by row does not add up to “all” data.
Will the results we’re seeing be definitive? Maybe not. Those who are following the algorithm agree: the Pigeon update has not quite settled into its new home.
As we wait and see what the algorithm will do, it’s best not to panic. Continue to focus on the tried-and-true methods of local search that you’re used to.
Don’t stop performing the best practices, like:
Hopefully, your local SEO campaigns have not been affected too badly, but we’re interested in hearing what others are seeing from the Google Pigeon update. Please leave your comments below.
