Google Unveils New Place Search: It Will CHANGE The Way We Search Locally

Google Unveils New Place Search: It Will CHANGE The Way We Search Locally

Google is unrolling their new place search.  Need to find a new designer shop, or the neighborhood deli? Google’s new local search result organizes information about those local shops from information around the world.

“We’ve clustered search results  around specific locations so you can more easily make comparisons and decide where to go.” says Jackie Bavaro, Product Manager at Google

The new results are identifiable by red pins and each listing is a unique place with relevant information and links from across the Internet.  It is now easier to compare and decide where you want to go.

One of the great things about our approach is that it makes it easier to find a comprehensive view of each place. In our new layout you’ll find many more relevant links on a single results page—often 30 or 40. Instead of doing eight or 10 searches, often you’ll get to the sites you’re looking for with just one search. In our testing Place Search saves people an average of two seconds on searches for local information.

Jackie Bavaro

So how does this affect you?

Google Place Search is locally focused to your area by default. This means if you’re searching for say a sedation dentist, it shows sedation dentists in your immediate area before all others. This really changes the game as far as SEO and your target market. More than ever this means optimization of your local market is a critical part of your SEO strategy. It also goes without saying that your business has to have a Google Places listing now. Search results without Google Places still show up in the results, but ones with Google Places show up with maps, directions, and reviews in addition to your normal website URL, so it’s easy to see how these would be more appealing.

The screenshot below displays an example of these results:

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