Some of you may remember my Brief History of Google Places infographic from January 2011. It's time to update that graphic with the most memorable events of 2012 to ring in the New Year!
2012 was yet another interesting year in Local Search. Obviously, the release of Google Plus Local in May will be remembered as one of the year's biggest for quite some time. But for Google, that release was the start of a long, fairly quiet period -- not only for new product announcements, but also for algorithmic updates, personnel changes, and SERP interfaces. Compared to the frenzy of 2011, 2012 looks downright placid.
In fact, for most of the second half of the year, Google seemed to devote time to shoring up the infrastructure behind this new product, increasing the speed of updates to its business index, and updating its review guidelines. Some of this backend work undoubtedly paved the way for Google's other big 2012 release: a native iOS Maps app launched in December, which has been met with rave reviews.
For many in the search community, though, it was another year of playing whack-a-mole with duplicate or improperly merged client listings, missing customer reviews, and opaque "we do not support this location" messages in the Places Dashboard. Mike Blumenthal's epic late November rant captured this frustration better than any other.
Speaking of the Places Dashboard, most of us are surprised that it still exists. The promise that a merged Places-Plus Dashboard holds is largely unfulfilled thus far, save for a couple of nice features around reviews and comments.
Surely Google will have another big Local release coming in the first half of 2013 -- especially given their public pronouncement that 1/3 of all searches are Local -- but their outward opacity for most of 2012 has opened a window for some of their biggest competitors to begin catching up. Yelp announced an IPO and used some of the proceeds to buy European rival Qype. Facebook also IPO'ed and released a major mobile competitor to Google at the end of the year with Nearby. And, of course, Apple made its second major splash in the Local Search arena by releasing its own (widely panned) Maps app.
As I said earlier this week on Hubspot, in terms of features, I don't see 2013 being an earth-shattering year, either for Google or its competitors. I think we'll see some consolidation and maturation of existing feature sets. The most interesting thing that I'll be watching for will be the extent to which algorithmic updates by Google reflect new opportunities for engagement by business owners on Plus.
I'd love to hear from the community! Is the updated graphic and list below missing any major events that we'll remember three, four, or five years from now? What do you guys see coming in 2013?
Noteworthy events in 2012
1. Jan 12 Search Plus Your World Goes Live - Increasing personalization and socialization of results sets the stage for coming influx of social recommendations into Local.
2. Feb 12 Plus Authorship Integrated with Places - The first stage of the natural evolution of SPYW into Local.
3. Feb 12 Venice Update for Local Released - Local takes over organic results to an unprecedented extent.
4. Mar 12 Yelp Completes IPO - Cash infusion will help Yelp scale to many more locales in 2013-2014.
5. Mar 12 Places Help Forum Transitioned - One of many infrastructure updates for Google in 2012, paving the way for unification of Places and Plus.
6. Mar 12 Google Releases Offer Rewards - Google's foray into digital loyalty programs -- will this be rolled into the Plus Business Dashboard?
7. Apr 12 Adwords Express Removed from Places Dashboard - (See question above.)
8. May 12 Facebook Completes IPO - Investors think Facebook is a ~7x better bet than Google at launch, despite no real Local effort. Still a sleeping giant at this point in the year.
9. May 12 Google Plus Local Launched - Local becomes social -- or more accurately, WILL become social.
10. Jun 12 Business Builder Article Appears in WSJ - Mainstream media speculates on additional features Google might be rolling out in its SMB products. Timeframe of "as early as July" wildly exaggerated.
11. Jun 12 Yelp Announces Bing Syndication Deal - Yelp positions itself even closer to the center of the non-Google ecosystem.
12. Jun 12 Mercury News Features Map Maker Reviewer - The first mainstream news article I can remember seeing about Google's backend mapping infrastructure.
13. Jun 12 Reviews Become Available in Places API - Google tries not to lose market share in the coming explosion of location-sensitive third-party mobile apps.
14. Jul 12 Google Plus Local App Launched - An incredibly boring app, but an important first effort at a native social-local-mobile experience.
15. Jul 12 Yahoo Hires Marissa Mayer - Hype around Mayer's expertise in Local and Yahoo's future appears to be overblown at this point.
16. Aug 12 Merge Process Goes Live - Businesses can now consolidate their Places and Plus pages. However, process is rife with bugs.
17. Aug 12 Frommers Acquired - Google doubles down on curated reviews after Zagat purchase a year earlier.
18. Aug 12 Google Releases Organic 7-Pack - We've had Local 7-packs for years...what's the big deal?
19. Aug 12 Furor Erupts over Plus Review Policy - Massive loss / filtering of existing Plus Page reviews. Bugs continue for Google.
20. Aug 12 SuperMedia and Dex Merge - Two of the four largest Internet Yellow Pages companies decide to combine forces. Are new products forthcoming, or just a consolidation of sales forces?
21. Sep 12 Google Maps Featured in The Atlantic - Second mainstream media article in 2012 about the back end of Google Maps, this one much bigger than the Mercury News's...part of a blatant PR campaign to head off coverage of Apple Maps.
22. Sep 12 Apple Maps Launches - Google's primary mobile competitor launches with a thud.
23. Oct 12 Google Adjusts Zagat Interface - No one understands Zagat's rating system, so Google switches to words that everyone can understand.
24. Oct 12 Yelp Acquires Qype - Yelp instantly becomes the only non-Google player in Europe.
25. Nov 12 Google Announces 1/3 Searches Are Local - More people in online marketing need to realize this.
26. Nov 12 Google Acquires Incentive Targeting - Second major indication this year that coupons and loyalty programs are likely to be a big part of the Google Plus Business Dashboard, whenever it comes out.
27. Nov 12 Plus Frustration Boils Over - Mike Blumenthal finally gets fed up with the number of problems with Google Plus and the lack of guidance provided by higher-ups in Mountain View.
28. Dec 12 Universal OneBox Display Updated - In the grand scheme of things, a minor visual update. But one more indication of Google's increasing preference for brands.
29. Dec 12 Facebook Launches "Get More Likes" - Now HERE is an ad unit that every business owner can understand (unlike Adwords).
30. Dec 12 Google Releases Native iOS Maps App - Massive praise in the tech community, but most of America tolerated Apple Maps anyway.
31. Dec 12 Google Shuts Down Punchd - Puzzling decision given the release of Google Offers loyalty earlier in the year and the recent acquisition of Incentive Targeting.
32. Dec 12 Facebook Releases Nearby - The first indication that Facebook may finally be getting serious about Local.
A useful, semi-accurate (as opposed to what it is now) Google+ Local dashboard cannot come soon enough.
I pray that your prediction of this upcoming release comes sooner than later.
Google+ Local was one of the biggest things in 2012, even with all its bugs, problems and dificulty to manage. But I guess it can only get better. LSEO will be the new big thing. Humm, I think I'll add that to my business card.
Fantastic recap David, and very nice visual as well.
The upgrade to Google+ local has certainly been the biggest change of the year and I echo what Bryan has said above: A Google+ Local dashboard needs to arrive! I think we have all been surprised how long Google has been taking on this. Like you said, since the big update in May of Google+ Local, it's been very quiet!
In 2013, I see an increased amount of searches being made through the mobile apps like Yelp, Foursquare, Apple Maps etc and there being a lot more social integration: I see having a cross-section of reviews on these platforms continuing to be a strong local ranking factor.
Nick,I 100% agree with you that the # of in-app searches on mobile is going to explode this year. Comscore said in February that up to 50% of all Local Searches on mobile devices may already be happening there.
I've noticed that in the SERPs with local listings, Google no longer refers to any other outside reviews besides Google+ places reviews, does this mean a considerable amount of energy should be refocused towards earning Google reviews as opposed to reviews and citations on other sites, or is the recommendation still to diversify the review sources as much as we have in the past. This is in regards to a local ranking perspective as opposed to a holistic brand building perspective.
Hi Joe,My qualitative experience indicates that Google is using third-party reviews relatively heavily in its ranking algorithm, particularly in competitive niches like restaurants and travel. I would still say it's better not to put all your eggs in Google Plus basket (yet?).
I agree on many levels that the 3rd party reviews sites help in local rank factors. I am pretty confident that user sentiment is an important factor after the NY incident.
I really like Yelp for customer reviews. I do try to spread them across several sites but focus mostly on Google reviews.
I completely agree with you Joe. Google+ is surely going places this year in both the perspectives as you have pointed out. Also, as said in the article, there is no big change in sight this year as far as functioning of Google and its competitor goes. As for the SEO, the Google algorithm updates of 2012 stands to be more effective this year.
While Google does consider other reviews when calculating SERP ranks, I think that conversion rates dictate that you make more of a focus on Google Local reviews. Because Google Local/Zagat reviews are the only ones that are actually displayed you will find that your local links will convert better with more and better reviews displayed. It also dictates that you focus more on optimization of reviews because Google does not display the most recent reviews first but instead displays the “most helpful”. In my experience this reduces the importance of all reviews from people that are not active in submitting reviews. So make sure you find out a way to get reviews from people active in the Google Local community. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Excellent work! Going to print it and place on the wall in the office ;)
David, Where is the acquisition of a Get Listed by SEOmoz on December 4th?
"Announcing Our Acquisition of GetListed & Plans to Help Local Marketers & SEOs" For me, this was top 10 news for the year in Local!
Thanks 1Mike...as I said above, I don't know that SEOmoz-GetListed should really be on a graphic next to "Yelp IPO" and "Facebook IPO" ! :)
Impressive data collection for the local US market (As I highlighted several times we would love to have that for the European market, too :-).
One of my favorite points of the infograhpic is "Dec 06 Mike Blumenthal's First Maps Ranking Speculations". He is really a "luminary" in the scene.
And the 2nd I want to point out: "Nov 12 Google Plus Frustration Boils Over".
Since Google Plus Local is online I could really write a book about all that mess and bugs I had to face with - and of course the rest of the world, too, I suppose.
Problems that seems to stuck in the "Google Plus Nirvana" like status "In Progress" and "Under Review", wrong display of the phone number and the list goes on and on...
Saidly we highly depend on Google on Local.
Aaaah, Google+ Local Nirvana. I think many of us have been there! (and some still stuck there)
Awesome post David. I missed it yesterday, will share it today.
One of the changes in 2012 that had some of the most wide reaching impact and rocked many businesses to their core, was the Google Places guideline change on 3/23 requiring many businesses to hide their address.
Without announcing or alerting businesses to the change Google starting deleting service area businesses who did not comply with the new hide your address rule. When I 1st announced the new guideline, I was initially very concerned, but had NO idea what a huge impact it would end up having on so many businesses.
I believe hundreds of thousands of listings were deleted. Many were down for months and Google for a long time could not/would not bring them back. I'm still seeing numerous reports daily at the Google Business forum of listings deleted for that same violation. So it continues to be a big issue.
Ah yes! Good mention Linda. I can't believe I forgot to mention this one as the address hiding issue has probably been one of the most awkward changes this year (along with the Google Reviews being deleted), and it's a topic that has been discussed a lot on the Local Search Forum, as I'm sure you can testify to Linda!
Linda,Yeah, that was an important guideline release. Was actually on my preliminary list of events to include in this recap, but didn't *quite* meet my threshold of something that I think will be remembered with significant interest 2-3-4 years from now. Obviously not the case if you operate a service-area business out of your home, though!!
Great post David, I have been looking forward to viewing this one. I completely agree with Bryan and Nick on the dashboard, that couldn't come any sooner!
I believe when we all look back three-five years from now we will have some fond memories of 2012.
The most pertinent of these memories/events I believe will be:
3. Venice update
9. The intro of Google+ Local (No doubt we will all shed tears on this)
22. Apple getting in the Maps game
32. Facebook releasing Nearby and showing us they are serious about Local
Two that I think you did not number/mention are:
-How horrible Google+ Local treated us all! (Damn you Mountain View, I utter that phrase all too often)
-The acquisition of getlisted.org from SEOmoz!
As I look to 2013 my hopes, dreams and aspirations are that Google will put more time and resources into Google+ Local and will make a stronger tool/product for us all. May we all pray to the mighty God Hephaestus this happens sooner than later.
Clark, Nice of you to say but I don't know that SEOmoz-GetListed should really be on a graphic next to "Yelp IPO" and "Facebook IPO" :D
While it certainly could have been a better year for Google, I don't know that it was quite as bad as some of the years around 2008-2009 which were rife with Mapspam. Local is a tough ballgame and Google plays it pretty darn well...it's just their 90+% market share position that opens them up for the kind of scrutiny we give them!
Great recap. I used to have many more reviews (I think I had 10) and every month or two that # seemed to decline,and now I only have 4. The reviews I had were all legit so not sure why they filtered them out. I guess I need to work on getting some more.
Interesting point above that they are no longer showing reviews from other sites.
I have a few theories about why legit reviews may be getting filtered:
1) The reviewer created an account, reviewed you, then never used the account again. Reviews from inactive accounts may indicate that they were solicited.
2) The review was solicited via a link in an email, or a link on a website. I am guessing that Google may be tracking the referral source of reviews. If the referrer source is a known webmail provider or a web page, that could indicate a "please review us" request.
3) Simply a bug in Google's local product as they work on migrating everything over to Google+Local. I have seen a number of cases where reviews disappeared, then eventually came back.
Google is looking for genuine, unsolicited, reviews, and they have tightened up their review filtering considerably in recent months.
I don't really think it's interesting that they are no longer showing third party reviews. It's a recurring trend for Google to obfuscate more and more of their data sources. As David replied above, they are definitely still using the data, they just aren't showing it to us anymore, just like how they stopped showing citation data.
Yes, interesting points here Darren on why the reviews disappeared. This was one of the most frustrating events of the year for us: suddenly having our clients reviews (that we worked hard for) disappear overnight.
Darren, on your point 2. of review solicitation, this makes Phil Rozek's Google Reviews handout a very powerful tool for us Local SEO-ers:
https://www.localvisibilitysystem.com/products/google-review-handout/
Very handy tool that a lot of us in Local SEO use with our clients.
Hi Nick,
I love Phil's review handout. It's a perfect way to ask your customers to review you, and help guide them through the process, without leaving a footprint like I mentioned above.
Phil is one of the sharpest local SEOs i know. People interested in local should read his blog and follow him on twitter:
https://www.localvisibilitysystem.com/blog/
https://twitter.com/philrozek
Hi Darren,
Yes, i couldn't agree more about Phil being an excellent Local SEO. I'd recommend anyone interested in Local SEO to follow his blog. He has a way of explaining all things Local in a unique way.
Oh, and while you're at it, go and check out the daddy of all Local SEO tools; Whitespark's Local Citation Finder! Such a great tool Darren - It really is a pleasure to use.
Couldn't agree more with Darren. Phil is one of the real up-and-comers to watch in Local.
Try losing a couple hundred reviews. And this has been happening for a couple of years now. Google's review filter is very dicey. Google set their trip wires based on what data they had. Business owners got smart and blew the curve... again and again. I could write a book on problems with google's review filter. But understanding google's logic and background their filter makes sense, to them. It just doesn't always translate well to the real world.
Great roundup and awesome infographic to accompany. I feel like the Apple maps app inadvertently strengthened the Google maps offering in two ways. By showing that in comparison Google's was not only a superior product, but also prompting Google to follow up with their native iOS app that rocked even harder.
Hey David
Are you aware of any kind of fix or process to speed up a fix for the "we do not support this location" debacle? I have a few clients that have felt the wrath of this after updating a listing and despite a darn good look, I have not found anything that has worked for us and we have tried the various fixes on the https://blumenthals.com site.
Would love to hear your thoughts on this.
Cheers!
Marcus
Hi Marcus,Sad to say that I don't have any silver bullets for that debacle & my experience is that it totally varies on a case-by-case basis as to when that notification shows up.
Awesome timeline of the year in local! and the graphic is great.
Hey David. This is a great graphic. Can you recommend anywhere to keep an eye on to get updates? Saying that, do you have a blog? From what I can gather you are the man for Local SEO!
Don't worry, I managed to track you down. I knew I should have been a stalker, I'm so good at it!
Great overview of local search for the year. It is great that SEOmoz will now cover more local it is important part of SEO.
Great post David. Last year was one of the most turbulent years in local search. Where do you think Google is going to take 2013 as far as local search goes?
They started offering phone support the other day and it makes me think it is finally going to get a little better from the small business owner point of view.
There are many other changes in last year that are still missing but you did a great job! 10x
Great recap David. Always nice to have a reference point for an entire year of local search changes. Will be interesting in 2013 to see both the effect that Facebook Nearby has on local as well as Foursquare's exploration into become more of a local search engine. That, accompanied by the continued integration of Google+ into search results, could lead to social being more influential in 2013 than ever before.
Thanks again for putting this together!
Great post, thanks! Actually I can advance the Google Maps a wee smidgen by highlighting Japanese games giant Nintendo's plans with Google. They've developed a new Google Maps app for their latest console - the Wii U. It uses Street View to very interesting effect! Have a luke here:
https://www.business2community.com/tech-gadgets/google-maps-the-next-generation-0363664
David, great post! I'm excited to see more things from you, and local marketing in general on Moz! I think it has been quite the interesting year in Local (and SEO in general). I think the more stringent review system is good as a whole, if it functioned as it should. I know before there was a lot of manipulation of reviews; people making fake ones, and this at least somewhat solves that problem. The issue comes when you have a client who says they asked a bunch of customers to review them, and they did, yet they don't show up on Google; I don't think it's fair to the customer to waste their time, or for local businesses either.
Anyway, we shall see what happens in the near future.Zach
How many of 30-40% local searches are Navigational, Informational, Commercial or Transactional?
Hi John,Google (and everyone else) is very cagey about releasing these #'s, particularly specific categories within them. This is probably as good as we're going to get.
Also of interest is Comscore's February study that showed up to 50% of Local Searches on mobile devices might be happening in-app.
Nice review, David. In one context though Local is such a broad concept that it opens the door for so many changes, that probably merit breakdowns into verticals and categories of types of purchases.
For instance researching, investigating, and buying legal or specialty medical services are a dramatically different process from getting a local pizza, figuring out where to meet your friends for dinner or a movie, or buying shoes or other merchandise. In fact you don't need to buy shoes or merchandise at a local business, its all available on the web. All of which is to say that as search is omnipotent, and google dominates search in the US and in many lands there are interesting opportunities to break into aspects of local, that open doors for various other applications and methodologies. Since mobile is so strong, there are endless opportunities for apps with specific appeal to certain verticals.
On top of that there are totally different data bases of user actions on the web. Google has data on search, Amazon has data on sales and conversions, and facebook has data on friends interactions, customer demographic data, etc; all of which play into different aspects of Local purchases. Its a very large world.....all sometimes categorized under the description of "LOCAL".
Outside of google I think that opens the door for fascinating opportunities for verticals, mobile apps and other possibilities.
But having said that Google is clearly still the king with its hands in Local everywhere.
I would hope in 2013 they clean up the dashboard and make it functional. I hope so for the sake of businesses, their SEO's and for Google's sake.
As a business operator I mostly don't want something that is prone to endless errors. If my business is pretty consistent and non changing, I don't need a lot of functionality in the dashboard. And frankly the data they provide is worthless and mostly a tease to entice smbs into other google services.
Conversely if I'm a restaurant with changing menus and specials, a theater with new movies, a large store with varying specials and new products, the dashboard simply can't handle any of that. All of that opens the door for varying apps from other smaller more specialized and more nimble providers.
Maybe if Google could fix the dashboard they could also handle some of the appropriate applications and interesting updates that other providers are now tackling.
Nice review David. It provokes a lot of stimulating commentary on top of your astute comments.
Nice timeline... Thanks man