Editor's note: Since the publication of this post, Google re-branded Google+ Local pages as "Google My Business listings". Happy reading!
Google's Snack Packs (a.k.a Local Stacks) haven't gotten the best reception in the local business community. Many people feel these results serve Google itself more so than the local businesses they feature. For this reason, it may be more important than ever to make sure your local search marketing is both accurate and thorough. In this post, we'll dive into why.
Let's take one of these results apart and discover how best to respond to their limitations.
I was never a fan of Google's Carousel. The vivid, image-oriented, horizontal display moved me out of my comfort zone after a decade or so of easy familiarity with the minimalist blue/grey/green palette of more traditional packs. A few orange stars here, a red teardrop marker there—like most Google users, I had been conditioned to see and understand these elements of pack results at a glance. The carousel felt like a shocking departure from the simplicity I consider to be a chief hallmark of Google's historic style. I wasn't sorry to bid them farewell … until I got my first look at the Snack Packs that have now become the standard results for hospitality and entertainment searches.
Bearing in mind that "Google's goal is to provide users with the most relevant results and a great user experience," please join me in dissecting the parts of a single Snack Pack entry to see if you think it's living up to Google's stated purpose.
Key to the Snack Pack
Here we're going to see what each of the elements of this Snack Pack result for a search for "Tex Mex Restaurants" in Dallas signifies and directs us to. But before we do so, let's quickly note what isn't immediately accessible in this type of result:
- The phone number of the business
- The full address of the business
- A link to the website of the business
In other words, if we want to call the business right now, or understand exactly where it's located, or visit the website to see a menu or get the feel of the place, we're out of luck on our first try. Instead of instant gratification, we're going to have to start clicking around on the elements of the typical snack pack to see if Google will give us what we want. Here's what happens when we interact with these 10 elements:
Element 1
The business name is clear enough. We click on it, perhaps assuming that we'll be going to the website of the business, as we would in an organic result, or at least to a Google+ Local page which years of Google use will have acquainted us with. Instead we end up on a secondary interface that isn't a website and isn't a Google+ Local page. It's more like a large knowledge graph hanging in space above some organic results:
Personally, I find the hanging-in-space presentation of this secondary interface a bit odd, but at least we can now see the full address, phone number and a globe icon linking to the website. Likely, we've now found what we need, but I'm left asking why we had to click to get to this information. Traditional packs gave us instant, direct access to NAP+W—the core name, address phone number and website elements of any citation. By contrast, Snack Packs may make us feel that Google is holding out on us, making us click further into their own product before they'll deliver.
Elements 2 and 3
Clicking on the stars and reviews also takes us to the in-space interface. Fair enough. We probably didn't expect to see all of the Google reviews on our first try, but I do have to wonder why we don't reach them in one click on these elements. Instead, we have to go from the second interface to a third, by clicking on the "View All Google Reviews" link. It looks like this, and is again disconnected, sitting on a greyed-out background:
I have to ask, why doesn't the reviews link in the Snack Pack take us directly to all of the reviews right away? Presumably, I want to see all of the reviews if I'm clicking that link—not just three of them.
Elements 4 and 5
The price gauge and the word "Mexican" take us to the in-space interface. Fine enough. I confess, I'm not sure where that word "Mexican" comes from, and as a student of regional American cuisines, I'll state for the record that Tex-Mex food is not Mexican food. I was curious enough about this to go hunt up the Google+ Local page for Mia's Tex-Mex Restaurant.
You can't get to it from the Snack Pack, as we've seen, and Google has been making direct links to Google+ Local pages harder and harder to find, so here's a shameless plug for the Moz Check Listing tool. Look up the name and zip in Check Listing to get right to the Google+ Local page. No fussing with Google Maps, branded searches, etc.
Then, once you're there, take a tip from Darren Shaw and click on the category on the Google+ Local page to see what appears to be a full list of the categories a business has selected:
Okay, so now we've seen that the business did select "Mexican Restaurant" as a category, and perhaps if we visited, we'd find that they're serving traditional Chiles en Nogada alongside the Tex-Mex standard queso dip. If the word "Mexican" in the Snack Pack display is coming from the categories, it has been abbreviated and given precedence over the primary, exact match "Tex-Mex Restaurant" category. I know the word isn't coming from Zagat, where this restaurant is categorized as "Tex-Mex". I'm not 100% sure about the origin of this word being given such prominence in the Snack Pack, but I guess we can let it go at that.
Elements 6 and 7
I really do have a bone to pick with element 6—the partial street address. What good does this do anyone? Not only are we lacking a street number to tell us exactly where the restaurant is, but the fact that there is no city shown erodes our confidence that we are, indeed, being shown a result in Dallas. We'll have to click through to the in-space interface if we want Google to deliver the goods for us on this one.
Element 7, the sentiment snippet "longtime spot with famous brisket tacos" also takes us to the second interface. It's not a direct quote of the business description which reads, "Bustling, casual, longtime eatery (since 1981) popular for its brisket tacos & other Tex-Mex fare." It also doesn't seem to originate directly from a user review, and I don't see it described this way on Zagat. So, it appears to be a custom hybrid of sentiments Google and Zagat have created. I'm fine with this, but should it be more important to see random sentiment than a phone number in the Snack Pack? Which element do you feel is more deserving of pack real estate?
Elements 8 and 9
This is where I feel the average Google user may become somewhat confused, if they don't understand that Google acquired Zagat in 2011. Clicking on the prominent Zagat logo or the wording "Zagat—Dallas' best Tex-Mex restaurants", one might expect to go to Zagat. But, you guessed, it—we're going ridin' on a freeway right back to the in-space interface, and we're not even taken to the portion of it that shows the Zagat data. We have to scroll down to get to this:
So, now we're kind of intrigued. What does it mean that Zagat is voting this restaurant to be one of the best? We click that link, again likely assuming that we're going to Zagat. Instead, we get yet another interface. It looks like this, and Mia's Tex-Mex isn't even the first thing we see on it. It's down at numero cuatro in some sort of Google list that appears to be branded with Zagat's name:
Just for fun, let's click on Mia's and see where we go. Que cosa? We're back on the in-space interface yet again, and maybe feeling a bit like we're going in circles.
There are actually pages on Zagat for these things. Here's their page for the best Tex-Mex restaurants in Dallas, which I've noticed appears to have a completely different ordering of the results. It's interesting that, instead of Google's Snack Pack or the secondary interface taking us directly to this page, we remain firmly locked with Google's own interfaces.
Element 10
As with most of the other elements, clicking the image takes us to the secondary interface (which appears to be different than the Google+ Local image gallery interface) and that then clicks to a page like this one which also feels a bit disconnected to me.
Unfortunately for this business, their primary image isn't doing their listing any favors, but I don't really have a problem with having to click a couple of times to get to an image gallery.
In sum, the initial interface of the Snack Pack may feel to users a bit like stubbing one's toe on a blunt object of questionable usefulness. I know that's the approximate sensation I have when I encounter this display.
Google may have turned off the Carousel for restaurants, but human users are still getting quite a merry-go-round ride trying to use and interpret the Snack Pack that has replaced it. As they bounce from one Google-owned interface to another instead of being given immediate NAP+W or taken directly to owner-managed websites or Google+ Local pages, or even directly to platforms like Zagat, users are given few signals about what connects all of these disparate elements together. To me, the experience is piecemeal and lacking in cohesive glue and feels like a step backward from the clearer UX of the traditional local packs that Google has so long promoted. What do you think? In your opinion, does this search results display live up to Google's goals of usability and quality?
Snack Pack survival for local business owners and SEOs
However I may feel about Snack Packs, this I know: when I want to play with Google, it's always got to be by their rules. So how can businesses like hotels, restaurants, bakeries, venues, bars, clubs, amusement parks, caterers and their marketers survive Snack Pack treatment?
The answer is clear:
Given that your customers will be interacting within a series of Google interfaces, it is now more important than ever that your Google-related marketing be as flawless as possible.
Using that secondary in-space interface as our springboard, this means that you have to get all of the following correct:
In your Google My Business dashboard
- Business name
- Address
- Phone number
- Website
- Description
- Hours of operation
- Categories
- Images
Beyond your Google My Business dashboard
- You must be earning positive, Google-based reviews and keeping an eagle eye on any patterns of negative reviews that arise so that you can quickly remedy internal service problems and respond appropriately.
- If you're marketing a food service business, you should upload your menu to sites like UrbanSpoon and GrubHub. These are the sites from which I've seen Google pulling menus, but there could be other platforms I haven't noticed.
- Food-oriented businesses must also tackle the Zagat environment. Here are Google's detailed guidelines covering how to get Zagat rated, what's allowed and what isn't, editing listings, uploading menus, and lots more.
- Remember that Google draws data not just from places like Zagat but from all over the web. This means that your website, your structured citations, and unstructured mentions of your business must accurately, and hopefully positively, represent your business.
- There is no replacement for good service at your place of business, and excellent service may earn you additional perks like being added to "Best Of" lists by Google's Zagat, which then make it into the interfaces Google controls.
- Be prepared for change. If we've learned one thing in the local SEO industry, it's that Google makes both small and large changes on an on-going basis. We all went for a ride on the Carousel in 2013 and, with the exception of a few search categories, hopped off in 2014. Now we're gnawing on Snack Packs. Tomorrow, who knows? What has historically stood business owners in good stead amidst all of these search evolutions is adherence to guidelines and data accuracy on Google's products and around the web.
Your key takeaway: Be alert to developments but don't be dismayed—if you're getting your marketing right, chances are good that you'll survive any foreseeable local display change. That's good news for local business owners and their marketers alike!
Header images by Scott Bauer (United States Department of Agriculture) [Public domain] and Ricraider (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], both via Wikimedia Commons.
Miriam: Glad to see you wrote about this. The term "Snack Pack" is way too gentle and weenyish.
Its the Crap Pack. Or more specifically the NO INFO PACK. Its an absolutely terrible USER EXPERIENCE.
If I'm doing a search for restaurants in any town USA and now anytown Europe what I get is some google info, with as you say:
No Phone #
No Link to the restaurant site
No Address.
A street name, but NO ADDRESS. That doesn't help. Suppose the street is five miles long and goes through good and bad parts of the area. Suppose I'm visiting and I'm near one end of that street but miles from where the restaurant is located. What a joke.
WHY would google present information to users in this fashion. Its not helpful.
YELP has a GREAT directory of info on restaurants. Its great. Try it. Look for restaurants in ANY area. Its specific, its chock full of info and contact information, if the restaurant takes reservations via OpenTable you can access that and make a reservation. Its SO informational.
And we ALL KNOW that Yelp is often the small businesses worst enemy and one with a notoriously bad rep from the perspective of thousands of small businesses.
But its directory is INFINITELY more helpful and informational than Google's.
Lets lay it on the line.
This Crap Pack is insulting to users.
Google is doing it to starve traffic to restaurant websites. If I were the restaurant industry spokesperson I'd ask the feds to reopen the investigation into Google as a monopoly and see what is going on. I'm sure google is additionally doing this to starve traffic and try and get more restaurant money via adwords.
They should comment here and explain why they did this set up. Its purposefully atrocious. They should explain themselves.
Nice article Miriam.
Your ole buddy, Dave ;)
The Snack Packs have made listing for restaurants a daunting task. We all agree that it is a terrible functionality which penalizes both the users and the small businesses. Especially since we have no insight as to what prefers some pages to others. I currently optimize for a small nightclub that outranks all of their competitors on Yelp, Google Reviews, and other review sites. They consistently rank for all relevant keyword searches in their field. They even run a small adwords campaign. Yet they never show in the pack for certain terms.
I think Dave offered the best insight into why this hasn't changed yet. These penalties to the user and small business owners must have an ulterior motive.
Hey There!
Appreciate you sharing your experience with your nightclub client. It's good they're doing well on Yelp! Diagnosing Google pack ranking issues can be daunting - between accounting for the user as centroid, ensuring guideline compliance, ruling out negative factors, proper category association, disconnected Google+ Local listings, etc., there are so many things to investigate. It can be fun, but it can also be frustrating when everything seems to point to a client being a dominant player while not achieving the rankings it seems they should. Wishing you good luck with the research. Hopefully, you can help the client with the challenge!
On the plus side, local service in Dallas is still getting map packs. https://screencast.com/t/1MhcvajwOWB
I have nothing nice to say about the 3 packs with no information, so I'm just going to hold my tongue for once.
Hey Scott!
I can respect, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all," when it comes to the snack pack. Very mannerly! Yes - traditional packs are still there for other verticals. I've always wondered why Google treats hospitality/entertainment business differently. I hadn't really realized that they were doing so until they rolled out the carousel, and that has now carried over into the present results display. Thanks for taking the time to read!
For me this is all Google local shuffling is getting ready to switch off all contact points for businesses and force them to use click-to-call or some other kind of paid-mechanism. Already in the hotel space we are seeing lots of doors closing in terms of listings and ability to capture traffic and local is just an extension of that.
I think what we are seeing at the moment is pure testing out in the open, so these restaurant Landing Pages are in early days.
In hotels Google has been quietly going around taking super hi-def photos of these places (heavily discounted) in the same way Airbnb did when they realized that people were putting up horrid photos and it might have turned the website into a non-starter, frankly if I I was an affiliate of any kind (and that includes Booking.com/Priceline/Expedia) I'd be very worried. In fact just look at what's happening in the industry and you can see some of the big players getting nervous. And who wouldn't be, Google is the biggest affiliate of them all, re-using content that you delimited to them under the promise of getting free traffic (since removed due to abuse!) and at the end of the conversion funnel is a click that you get charged for. Just don't expect to understand from your paid-advertising campaigns why there are so many 10s sessions, even when your campaigns are laser focused (but not too laser, otherwise there isn't enough search volume for this search term!).
While I don't think we'll see much changes in Desktop (people sitting in front of their computer demand a certain standard of information) views, if you're in advertising at all on mobile you'll know already that the display market is completely different and while there may be local optimizations that will work in the short-term, long-term it will be about making sure you've got mechanisms in place on your website to convert that paid visit into something of value.
Local businesses need to be doing that because free traffic days are numbered.
Glyn.
Good predictions from you, Glyn, thanks! This seems like a good gut feeling to me,
"I think what we are seeing at the moment is pure testing out in the open, so these restaurant Landing Pages are in early days."
And good points about Mobile - it's a really different environment where the concept of content has a totally distinct meaning. Thank you for taking the time to read and share your thoughts on this.
I have to say, this is exactly how I don't want to look for food. This is how people starve to death.
What's wrong with dots on map that I can expand to see their location, phone number, hours, and a link to their website? Maybe a rating system? Or, you know, the normal Maps Interface? One click from all the information I need to know.
Hey Connor,
Now, I hadn't thought of that! People going hungry while trying to find a restaurant using Google! Unfortunately, Maps results aren't what they used to be either. Google has been making it harder and harder to get to Google+ Local pages from both packs and Maps. Hungry families in search of the nearest pizza place are left in the waiting area instead of being taken right to the table :)
Hey Ole Buddy Dave :)
Sentiments I've been hearing around the industry, like those you've just very forthrightly expressed, were my initial motivation for taking a snack pack apart and writing this post. Of all the interfaces Google has developed over the years in Local, this one stands out as the least informative. Completely agree.
Dave - you've been working in Local for a long time. When you say,"Google is doing it to starve traffic to restaurant websites," what do you see as the big picture motive? Is this moving toward advertising formats ... maybe mobile advertising formats? When Google puts so many layers of itself between the user and either the authoritative website or easy-to-access NAP, how does Google benefit? I'd be very interested to read your take on this, given your experience.
I like your comment about Yelp, too. I agree that their product is extremely easy to use and very thorough for restaurants and I use it all the time. It's accessible and well organized. So, it's interesting to compare Yelp's idea of quality with Google's idea of quality, since both platforms state very clearly that quality is their driving motive. I agree with you that when it comes to restaurants right now, Yelp is delivering more basic information than Google is. A side-by-side comparison of a Yelp result and Google result ... well, it's almost no comparison!
Thanks for the comment, Dave. It shows how much you care about this topic!
I was stunned when the crap pac came out. What could be a worse, less informative user interface? Its horrible information...or more precisely no helpful information. If you want to find out where the restaurant is, or contact the restaurant, or see its menu, or get reservations, or its hours, etc etc. You can't. Every single thing that a searching consumer might want is purposefully hidden.
Its hidden by a search giant that HAS each one of those pieces of info.
Stunning in that google local/maps/googleMyBusiness has for a decade been asking for very detailed identification information for businesses...and has presented that information to users. So what is going on????
I also would contrast restaurant searches with hotel searches in this way:
The hotel industry is HUGELY monetized. In fact google has its fingers in it in more ways than not. There are ads everywhere for hotels. Then there are booking opportunities....and google has a piece of that.
By contrast, in my views and views and views the restaurant industry rarely advertises in Google search. National chains do. Locals mostly avoid it. I'm astonished to see other verticals, and retailers that advertise a lot. But in my views there are VERY few restaurant ads.
What do you see? Compare it to other industries.
I know from back in the day when keywords were available to us that there were enormous volumes of searches for phrases such as "Restaurants/City" or "City/Restaurants" Also Pizza. Restaurant and Pizza phrases got enormous volumes of local search phrases; restaurants by town, restaurants by type and menu and town, etc etc. They were among the Most voluminous types of local search phrases. More than other products and searches.
And yet restaurants mostly avoid adwords.
So, since google doesn't direct sell to potential advertisers: They don't call on smb's. They don't "dial for dollars". They aren't yelp calling businesses....and they aren't their "partner" firms such as reachlocal or yodle or some others or the YP's that used to call......I think they are starving websites from google search traffic.
I think its subtle. I think they are trying to push up advertising from this industry. and they are doing it in a subtle manner by creating a variety of ways for searchers to NOT visit the restaurant site.
Meanwhile having given the PUBLIC the WORST possible user interface of non information....they aren't getting blowback from the public or the industry or anyone.
So they can get away with the most purposeful least helpful presentation of data.
Today when I search for restaurants in a meaningful way I'll use Yelp, or Bing, or Apple Maps, or Mapquest or any kind of other App. Why would I choose to use a search mechanism that has TONS of helpful data that they purposefully won't show. Its insulting at the least.
It should at least get a public and media outcry and google should explain why their search process is so purposefully non informational...especially in that they have the information.
At this point I'd say, "go get em" Yelp and Apple Maps and Bing. Google is insulting users around the world.
Thanks so much for writing back, Dave! Reading your second comment, I think there's a lesson in this. Another way to survive the snack pack is to be sure you're highly visible elsewhere. As you say, "I'll use Yelp, or Bing, or Apple Maps, or Mapquest or any kind of other App."
If, like you, users are being pushed away by snack packs toward other platforms, then clearly restaurants need to make sure they can be found there. A key takeaway, for sure.
Fascinating points about restaurants vs. hotels. A search for 'italian restaurants X city' around the country proves up what you say. Few or no ads. Amazing, huh? I think you've got something there, Dave, and have brought an important perspective to this topic. Many thanks!
Frankly I doubt Google is significantly losing traffic. The restaurants may not be getting it from google with all those internal google clicks to get info...but I doubt the big Goog is losing traffic.
There has been no outcry how utterly miserable and purposeful this change was from google, which has all this contact info and precise info that is helpful and wanted and they are deliberately not showing it. If its not being highlighted by the media then the public is missing the change.
Its simply bad information. Years ago Google "won" the battle for majority share of search by giving good information. Now its purposefully giving bad information and there is better information out there from other sources. That message isn't reaching the public.
Hi Miriam, The "Snack Packs" from Google (also known as Local Stacks) haven't really been a hit with regional businesses. Some people are concerned that these results are more helpful for the search engine than for any actual business they put on display. Because of this, businesses need to ensure that their area search marketing is extensive and precise. There are a number of major shortcomings with Google Snack Pack results. If you conduct a quick search for a shoe store in your city, you may find yourself puzzled when you can't immediately find the business' website link, physical address and telephone number. People who use Snack Pack may discover that they have to do a little more research to find the business details they need. When people finally locate names of businesses they're looking for, they may proceed by visiting the provided links. These links, however, fail to take them to the desired business websites. They also fail to take them to Google+ Local pages. They take them to secondary interfaces that can be rather confusing.
Hi Miriam,
At DelMain Analytics, we've been looking at a lot of articles about the new Snack Pack. We ended up seeing so many different points of view that we wanted to highlight the best info in a Snack Pack Roundup on our blog.
https://delmainanalytics.com/blog/google-snack-pack-roundup
Check it out, and thanks for the effort you put into writing your post! We learned a lot.
Email me, [email protected], if you'd like to chat more.
-Dan DelMain
Interesting that most of this has been corrected
Very good Miriam, nice article!
I had further comments with Miriam about this and it leads me to suggest advertising in adwords as a way to overcome the issues with the Crap Pack.
After discussing for a while, Miriam put it in a perspective that leads me to make the suggestion. If it was MY restaurant I'd do it.
I know. I suggested above that the poor interface and lack of information is EXACTLY google's plan to promote advertising. I know. The Crap Pack and multiple interfaces described by Miriam, are exactly the conniving subtle things to starve websites from organic traffic.
I know its playing into google's nefarious plan, (as I see it) to generate advertising revenues from an industry that generally doesn't advertise.
But if its my restaurant. I'd do it. Here is why.
1. With no others advertising I'd dominate the top of the page.
2. With no others advertising, bids would be low. REALLY LOW!! The cost should be VERY VERY LOW. Adwords costs go up with competitive bids. If nobody is advertising I can bid inexpensively and still show prominently.
3. I can use sitelinks to show my address and my phone number. The link to the ad goes directly to my site. I choose the page. Possibly I use a page with a map on it. In that case EACH CRITICAL feature that google is purposefully eliminating from other restaurants is seen in my ad. My restaurant gets high and precise visibility and no others in the area receive that.
4. I can turn the campaign on and off in a day. No term limits. No multi month commitments. If I can track or sense its working and the payback is positive, I'll keep it up. If its not working stop running ads.
5. Run the ads on a regional logical basis. Where does the restaurant draw customers from? Is it a couple of adjacent towns? I'd run it for those towns. Possibly I'd extend it a bit.
6. Adwords isn't rocket science. Google adwords does offer strong and explanatory help. Alternatively get someone to set up the campaign for you and who charges a set up fee. Stay away from agencies or some notorious firms that have glossy advertising packages but mark up google adwords by 2-3 times.
7. One advantage is that as you run adwords you will see information that you won't find elsewhere. You'll get exact keyword data on the clicks that hit your ad. You'll get precise volume data of impressions. Which keyword phrases are used the most to find restaurants in your town and representing which types of menus. Its really invaluable knowledge.
8. BE the first. You'll pay the lowest amount for that period of time that other restaurants aren't flocking to do this. Meanwhile you'll be the one with visibility; with a link to your site, with a phone number, with an address.....all the attributes that Google has starved from every other restaurant in your neighborhood.
9. If you are being called (harassed) by yelp to run ads and you are thinking about it...run a campaign in google for less per month than the yelp offer. See how it works. Then run yelp. See how that works. See which is more effective.
Okay...so this falls into Google's nefarious plan (as I see it). But be the first, the one doing it for the least money, and hopefully the one that gets the most benefit.
At least that is how I look at it.
Hey Dave!
I sincerely hope restuarant owners will make it down to this great comment of yours and realize that there may be gold lying in that white Adwords-less desert! I thought this was a brilliant observation. Very smart!
Miriam: I wanted to add one thing. When the crap pack came out last year, it was so obviously a terrible user experience. There was no outcry in the SEO Press.
The change was extraordinary: No map, no address, no link to the business. No phone number.
No outcry. Stunning.
It made me think of the Hans Christian Anderson childrens' story. A classic tale. Repeated endlessly over many generations...but I suppose missed by the SEO press...and then possibly the greater press.
The emperor has no clothes. Do you recall that story? A classic.
The Crap Pack results are miserable. Lets simply be blunt about it.
Hah - yes, I remember that story! Now, I do feel I remember local folks we both know (Mike, Linda, etc.) pointing out the limitations of these packs when they first came out, but as to that making it out to the media at large, I guess I didn't notice. Could be that people are feeling the effort to call out isn't worth it. I would like Google to hear us on this, but I'm not optimistic. Maybe others aren't optimistic either and so aren't bothering to raise objections in a large way?
This whole article is about the food industry but keep in mind that Zagat also covered hotels & accommodation. "Melbourne hotel" returns a snack pack as well. In the case of accommodation, the motivation is clear. There's a date/scheduler included and you can book a room directly on the snack pack or in the snack pack result itself. And what do you see?
Ads - Book a room
Yes, you can, for a fee, book accommodation directly on a snack pack result.
So maybe food is secondary. You asked your ole buddy Dave what's the motivation? Maybe it's the accommodation ads? Maybe it's to have restaurant bookings embedded this way?
An interesting one is if I search for "nyc hotel" I see ONE listing with "Visit website" instead of a price.
https://3.1m.yt/9IKVVxdu8.jpg
Thoughts?
Hey WME!
You're right - the focus here was on a restaurant, but snack packs show for all kinds of hospitality and entertainment categories. I have been considering whether snack packs for restaurants might be a pre-cursor to formats offering delivery services (see: https://www.cnet.com/news/google-food-straight-to-y...), a bit similar to the things you've described in the hotel industry. And Google seems to be keeping a close eye on the restaurant arena, given their shutdown of all of those OrderAhead listings (https://searchengineland.com/google-shuts-down-orderahead-local-restaurant-listings-hijackings-221198?mc_cid=861d05d0e9&mc_eid=bd8382fda4).
Pretty interesting!
Thanks for taking the time to comment!
WME: We spoke to the fact that the hotel and restaurant verticals are different in at least one very significant way. The hotel vertical is very heavily monetized via Google and via Internet travel agencies and booking operations. Google has a "pac" of booking choices. It makes money off of that.
Still its interesting. Search for hotel "any city" such as Melbourne, Au and the crap pack comes up with only 3 hotels. No address. No map. Not a link to the site. There may be an opportunity to book with a price showing.....or "alternatively" there are hotels opting out of the "booking deals via google. They have no price, but they have a link: Visit the website.
My my. That is interesting. Some of the big hotel chains have opted out. I bet they are battling the severe monetization of bookings via the Internet travel agents and Google. Much to be discovered there.
One place where a sizable number of hotels have backed out of the "booking situation" is Ocean City Maryland. Its primarily a summer resort city in the US. Interesting that such a significant number of hotels don't want to pay booking fees.
I'd bet there is significant rumbling in the hotel industry. Booking fees alone are huge. Google, besides taking advertising money off of adwords is also taking booking fees. That is a battle with some very big players and its a more mature industry in working with the web than is the restaurant world.
But still if I'm looking at hotels in Melbourne Australia, I'd like to know where the hotel is located within the city. If I'm going to Melbourne its not to sit in my hotel room the entire stay. I'd like to know which hotels are closer and more convenient to the places I'm going to visit.
The above is elementary type of information. The Crap Pack deliberately doesn't give it. Its simply not helpful for base information.......
.....but it does help google make money.
Very insightful, you have clearly done some serious research here. Thanks.