Google Places - Are you Seeing Crazy Results? New Algo, Bugs or What???

by Catalyst eMarketing

Posted: 13 years ago 8 replies

OFFLINE MARKETING

Hey guys, I've been wanting to ask about this for a few days.

Is anyone else seeing some really weird, different or just bad local SERPS and Google Places rankings lately???

I just did a long blog about some of the problems I'm seeing, but for the sake of not creating duplicate content and due to carpal problems and all the cutting a pasting that would be required I'm not gonna repost the whole thing here.

Just will post enough of the meat to get a convo going to see if anyone else is seeing weird results to see if we can determine if there is a new algo being tested in some markets or if it's just buggy results.

The primary part I'm wondering about is in red below. Excerpt from my blog:

I’ve been getting lots of calls and seeing lots of posts in the GP forum about really strange Google Places ranking shakeups. In doing research for these people I’ve noticed some very odd results that make me think either Google is doing a bad algo test in certain markets or the algo is simply broken!

One user in the Places forum that said not only his listing, but all the page 1 rankings in his market dropped to page 6. I’ve seen that happen and heard about it for other markets as well. So it’s not just one person that has a ranking drop (possibly due to a change the user made), but all the page 1 rankings dropped to page 4 – 6. (See some screen shots and SERP links below.)

In some cases it appears that in certain markets, G is reverting back to the old style 7 pack listings. (Note: I know the “pack” style listings have been showing up more for secondary search terms but not for core keywords) HOWEVER this Places algo does not seem to work the same as the old Places algo did, or appears to be buggy. Listings that are well optimized, have LOTS of reviews, citations AND have held steady on page 1 for months have dropped to page 4 – 6. And again these are “pack” style listing that used to rank based on # of reviews and citations. Now many of the listings that are on top are fake, not relevant, or even out of the area and should not be ranking on page 1 at all.

Have you been seeing odd results or anything similar to the results I mention above?

Love to hear what you think!

#algo #bugs #crazy #google #google places #local seo #places #ranking #rankings #results #seo

Dr Dan 13 years ago

This is part of the reason I stopped using GP for the most part. It keeps changing and is a pain in the ass to mess with.

I still offer basic set up as an upsell, but try to stay away from it most of the time.
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redcell1 13 years ago

I noticed a new change in GP for a local client. it went from a 5 pack to a 3 pack and before it was 3 results before the places and now its only 2.

So my client went from #3 down to #6
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Just here to see the shenanigans.
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iAmNameLess 13 years ago

I have noticed crazy results on quite a few clients... one is page 2, one is page 8, one is page 4.... and they were all #1...
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- Catalyst eMarketing 13 years ago
  
  Luckily all my clients are still on top, HOWEVER they still happen to have the merged ranking layout. And the places I'm seeing big drops are where G has changed to the old style Places layouts.
  
  So all the listings I'm referring to are either from consulting calls I've gotten or reports I'm seeing in forums. And again most of the rankings drops I'm seeing or crazy bad results are on core search terms that have changed to the old "pack" style layout over the past couple weeks.
  
  I'm glad people are posting cuz I'd like to try to help everyone by trying to figure this out and will share anything I learn.
  
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pepes4329 13 years ago

My listing was good not its rejected again after 4 months of no problems........in my dashboard its rejected online it still shows Owner verified.......and I keep on moving for the past 4 days up and down
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Bruce NewMedia 13 years ago

There are many things I am coming to dislike about PLACES....one thing is, I have a client that just got a scathing review from a former employee, all untrue accusations.

It's a restaurant, and Google won't even act on the complaint I filed with them, showing them specifically whats going on. There this review sits, on top of all the other good ones, bashing his business, and making him wish he wasn't even listed in G Places. ...and yes to OP, rankings seem to have started 'dancing' again as well.
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jsherloc 13 years ago

I am not noticing anything strange at the moment after looking at some of my clients positions. I am starting to get the impression that they are just going to keep experimenting with Places as the months go on. They seem to test different stuff just about every month at this point, even when there is no mention of them going in and "fixing" loopholes and what not. Usually at least once a month I notice a weird anomaly or weird map displays placements when doing client reporting/research.

@brucerby So this bad/fake review was posted directly in Google Places from a google account and it is not being pulled from somewhere else?

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- Bruce NewMedia 13 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by jsherloc
  
  @brucerby So this bad/fake review was posted directly in Google Places from a google account and it is not being pulled from somewhere else?
  
  - Jim
  
  Good point, I will need to go back and check. I know Google did supply me with the form to file complaint with THEM.
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Google Places - Are you Seeing Crazy Results? New Algo, Bugs or What???

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