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72 comments…

1. #1 Eric "eRock" Christopher wrote on October 13, 2011 :

   Linda,

   Thanks for sharing your insights! From my computer in Phoenix, I am seeing the same results. Queen Anne is highly ranked organically, but no pin. When I change my location to Seattle, the map looks nearly identical to your image. This is for the term “seattle chiropractor”. However, when I switch to just “chiropractor” using a Seattle location, Queen Anne ranks at B. If you want the screenshot, let me know. Also, I find it interesting that Angie’s List is listed as the A spot for “Indianapolis Plumber”. Would this be the most relevant, useful result for somebody with a water leak? Their categories look a little spammy to me. What do you think? Looks a little grey to me, but kudos for creativity….

2. #2 Linda Buquet wrote on October 13, 2011 :

   Yes when you just search for “chiropractor” without using city but with a Seattle location, Queen Anne ranks at B. The problem only happens if you search for city kw or kw city.

   Yes Angies list should not be A. Should not even be in blended at all. Pus it’s an 800# if I remember right.

   Attaboy and I have been trying to dissect the SERPS for “Indianapolis Plumber” for awhile now. At one point one of the top listings was a fake Place page for a Dish Network dealer and there were a couple of other really bad results too.

3. #3 Jim Jaggers wrote on October 13, 2011 :

   Why do you think the PLOA is affecting Core Keywords more than other Keywords. Is it just that those keywords are more popular?

4. #4 Imprezzio wrote on October 14, 2011 :

   Linda – I think this explains stuff I’ve been seeing too. We have a client in Philadelphia and this is pretty much exactly what happened. Great article!

5. #5 Matthew Hunt wrote on October 14, 2011 :

   Linda,

   nice insights here.

   I find this interesting “they show up on page 1 blended, is they moved their map marker to city center.”

   Do you have other examples of where people have moved their map marker to gain access in the proximity filter radius?

   Might have to test that out a little.
   Matthew Hunt recently posted..Google Places Help

6. #6 Russ wrote on October 14, 2011 :

   I really think the city center proximity filter that Google has been using and any updated changes is just plain short sightedness. It clearly demonstrates that Google doesn’t understand small local businesses.

   This seriously effects service companies that do business all over the area in which their business is located. It had the most adverse effect on service companies that depend on business from all over the area but may not have an address near the city center.

   I don’t know of any roofers, plumbers, electricians, or any other service type company who has a city center address in a large metro area.

7. #7 Linda Buquet wrote on October 14, 2011 :

   @Matt it’s a little known black hat trick. There are companies that do it for TONS of clients. But I don’t think most knew about the proximity radius per se. They all just move the marker right on city center because they know it helps.

   But it’s a loophole that may not be around for long. A post just came up about it in the GP forum. Search for a recent post about an insurance agent and you’ll find another example.

   Now that I’m a Top Contributor I escalated it to Google and a G employee told me they are going to do something about it. It really isn’t fair to the honest businesses and it’s not good for the user experience either.

8. #8 Linda Buquet wrote on October 14, 2011 :

   @Joy, thanks so much for stopping by to confirm. Always good know hear I’m not the only one seeing these things.

9. #9 Matthew Hunt wrote on October 14, 2011 :

   that’s why community edits and crowdsourcing doesn’t always work. look how Mike B closed Google Places listing and then being able to easily move map markers is another example how allowing community edits to shift info so easily. needs to be an approval system or some kind of note that one is a google reference and one is a community change – then add in some kind of social voting… but show both. it’s silly that a map marker change can improve rankings with the proximity filter algo.
   Matthew Hunt recently posted..Google Places Help

10. #10 Laura Behney wrote on October 14, 2011 :

    Linda, thanks for the great article and for the mention of AttaBoy. This frustration has been going on since April 11th of this year (the 2nd Panda update).

    Indianapolis is no small market and we have numerous, legitimate plumbing companies located in Indy that SHOULD be ranking higher when searching for “Indianapolis Plumber”. (They rank high organically and HAD been on Page 1 prior to April 11th.) We have many national franchise companies with local offices and a few of us that are still locally-owned companies. All with owner-verified Places Listings that are detailed and complete.

    But right now, on page 1 is Angie’s List (like you mentioned), a handyman service, a company who’s website goes to a dental office in California, a sewer cleaning company and an actual plumbing company whose website is TOTAL spam. Yes, all listed on page 1 are centrally located in Indianapolis. Actually, a couple of them are fake addresses.

    Also, for about two weeks, “Indianapolis Plumber” search has consistently returned the old 7-pack format. Before April 11th, we consistently had the “Blended” Listings (well, since it went into place last fall). After April 11th, it was hit or miss with the format. Now, it’s 7-pack all the time.

    I am in the middle of doing massive research for other “like” markets for the search term “city + plumbers” and will share with you once finished. I have noticed a number of similarities to Indianapolis. Is Plumber the new Locksmith?

    Thanks again!

11. #11 Linda Buquet wrote on October 14, 2011 :

    Thanks Laura.

    “Is Plumber the new Locksmith?” I’ve wondered that myself. Sure see lots of problem reports in the forum for plumbers and I know some are very aggressive marketers so if G is getting lots of spam and fake listings for that market there could be something going on.

12. #12 Nonoy wrote on October 14, 2011 :

    Thanks for this info. My traffic dropped from 1,500 visitors for a month until today. It has only 400. Now I know why.

13. #13 Nonoy wrote on October 14, 2011 :

    Oh by the way, does this Google change affect sites in the Philippines?
    Nonoy recently posted..Sunday Night at Starbucks

14. #14 Dana DiTomaso wrote on October 17, 2011 :

    Hi Linda – great post. I’m seeing the same results up here in Edmonton, but only for very popular phrases, like “dentist”. I’m working with a client right now in a more niche market and their map is still well spread out, but I’m keeping an eye on it!
    Dana DiTomaso recently posted..Mobile Marketing – Resources to Get Started

15. #15 Kevin wrote on October 17, 2011 :

    I have seen this trend in my local area too.

    I have a dentist ranking #1 for several keywords even though he was outside the core downtown area. When the expanded places results we were still okay for a few months. Then one day the map zoomed in tight. Funny thing is, if you click on the map and zoom out one click he is back to #1. Google just got tighter on major metro’s.

    Seems like this might lead more hyper-local search activity from Google users. Not much anyone can do – except move their company.

16. #16 Neil Ferree wrote on October 18, 2011 :

    I’ve read where Google will “auto” update a GP listing w/out the business owner consent? Curious Laura what’s you take on this and how are you planning to advise your clients on this new dynamic?
    Neil Ferree recently posted..WordPress RSS Feeds

17. #17 Linda Buquet wrote on October 18, 2011 :

    Hi Neil,

    That’s Linda, not Laura

    I did an in-depth post about it about that issue. It’s the top one right now and here’s the link.
    http://marketing-blog.catalystemarketing.com/google-places-business-listing-consent.html

18. #18 Dr Gil wrote on October 18, 2011 :

    Hi Linda,

    Very interesting blog post. I was talking with a Google sales person today – he was trying to sell me PPC advertising. I mentioned some strange things I had seen recently regarding our site rankings for dentistry in Bellevue, WA, but he didn’t have any idea about them. Then I saw your blog post on Axandra Search Engine Facts. WOW, just what I have been seeing recently, “Proximity Lockout”. We used to rank “numero uno” for Bellevue Dentist and Dentist Bellevue – we are on the east side of Bellevue – now we don’t rank with a pin. Why because all the pins are on the west side of I-405 (downtown Bellevue)!! Geeezzz what a deal. I explained this to Mr G and he thought maybe I should buy some PPC to be competitive with those terms. We are still number one for organic search, but behind all those letters from A-G. Is this a way for the big G to derive more Ad revenue?! I hope it isn’t that sinister – I have been watching too many detective movies I guess.

    However, I also noticed another interesting thing. It makes a difference where you place the city name. Try it and see if it is true for some of your clients. If you place the city name first, you will rank differently than if you place it last. In the various search combinations that I tried this relationship was the same. Possibly chance, but it didn’t appear to be.
    Dr Gil recently posted..Cynthia Pauley DDS Nominated for Best in Western Washington

19. #19 Linda Buquet wrote on October 18, 2011 :

    Hey Gill,

    Good to hear from you again. But sorry it’s under these circumstances.

    Yes searching City keyword vs keyword city often yields different results.

    Something else to try that may make you feel better. Try this and report back please.

    From what I’ve seen the proximity lockout just happens when you have a city modifier. If someone searches for city Dentist, it goes toward the center of town.

    However the majority of people search without city. So they will just search for Dentist. Then G is more likely to serve up the Dentists closest to the area they are searching from. So search from your office on the East side for just the word Dentist and see if you rank. If you don’t it could be your ISP is elsewhere. Try on the left in Google changing your location to your practice Zip code. Then just search for Dentist. That would simulate a pt searching from your side of town and there’s a good chance you rank.

    I don’t have hardly any clients using Adwords Express in fact right now I only have one. He’s in a fairly small town. When I checked his impressions here’s how they broke down. So that gives you an idea you how many more pts search for Dentist without city. In round numbers it was something like:

    Dentist 2,000
    City Dentist 1000
    Dentist City 500

20. #20 Alan wrote on October 18, 2011 :

    What the heck man the GP algo was already too centroid focused and now you’re saying it’s even more so? This is ridiculous. There are so many things wrong with Google Places, they need to either put some effort into it or quit forcing it to be part of the results and let regular organic listings be shown.

21. #21 Tanveer wrote on October 18, 2011 :

    Hi!
    I’m affected of the same algo change. I’ve registered a reconsideration but in vain.
    Can u plz have a look at my site to see whats wrong?? http://tvchaska.net
    Tanveer recently posted..Watch Australia vs South Africa 1st ODI | Live Scores | Preview | 19 Oct. 2011

22. #22 Wedding Horses wrote on October 19, 2011 :

    IP addresses have been used to tailor search results to favour local businesses for over a Year now. Thought that was common knowledge!

23. #23 Linda Buquet wrote on October 19, 2011 :

    Hi Wedding Horses,

    Yes that’s common knowledge but not what we are referring to. Problem is even if your IP is on the far west side of town, G in some cases is only showing businesses very tight around city center if you search for ctiy keyword.

24. #24 Linda Buquet wrote on October 19, 2011 :

    @Tanveer sorry I can’t read your site as I don’t speak your language. But I think you are talking about something different. Maybe you are just talking normal organic ranking? Because you said you’ve done a reconsideration request but that has to do with web sites. Plus from what I can tell of your site it does not look like a LOCAL business site. So don’t think your issues are related to what we are talking about in this case.

25. #25 Dallas Kelso wrote on October 25, 2011 :

    Thanks for the share in this post. I have found the same thing happening in Sydney Australia for some industries. I have also seen some random things happen like a hotel appearing in a totally none related industry, but the proximity theory seems to be pretty much on the money from my investigations. Its the city center and up to 2km around the city center that dominate the 7 box at this stage (for the blended results). For none blended places listings, we still manage to have #1 SERPS and a Places listing below.

26. #26 Linda Buquet wrote on October 25, 2011 :

    Thanks for confirming what you are seeing across the pond Dallas!

27. #27 Peter Ng wrote on October 26, 2011 :

    Great post. Big thanks to Dallas for pointing me here. Realised same thing for my clients in Sydney, Australia. Used to be #2 for blended results. Now they’ve dropped out of Places, though still #2 for non blended places listing, as they are much further from the city centre. Hopefully this is just Google testing and tweaking their algorithm, and we’ll eventually see them coming to their senses!
    Peter Ng recently posted..How To Claim Your Google Places Listing

28. #28 Whole Lotta Changes Goin On – New Google Places Layout, Dashboard and More - Google Places Optimization Blog wrote on October 29, 2011 :

    [...] Also if you missed it, be sure to read about the big ALGO change I recently discovered. More and more people are reporting a drop in rankings due to this. Google Places Algorithm Change – New Proximity Filter Can Cause Major Ranking Drop [...]

29. #29 Mike Blumenthal wrote on October 29, 2011 :

    Linda
    the change is map area is not new. Google has been doing this off and on, in different markets, with different terms for a long time. Since at least April it has become more obvious and perhaps more aggressive. See Andrew’s post referencing my tweet from the early summer.
    Mike Blumenthal recently posted..Samantha (The Serial Bogus Google Reviewer) Strikes Again

30. #30 Linda Buquet wrote on October 29, 2011 :

    Thanks Mike, for pointing that out you noticed the map getting tighter. It seemed to me too like different cities have been hit with it at different times and then more recently seemed to escalate and get a little more aggressive.

    But again the main point I was trying to make is that for several months and still now in many cities, the blended results are ONLY controlled by organic ranking – there was/is not a proximity factor. Anyone within the city limits could rank if their organic SEO was strong enough. But for cities hit with the proximity lockout it even if you rank #1 organically and even if you are near city center but outside the radius, you can lose your blended ranking and your pin and reviews.

31. #31 Phil Rozek wrote on October 29, 2011 :

    Hi Linda,

    Thanks for the great post, as always.

    Couldn’t agree more about how the dial-happy Google engineer just made a very big mistake. To the extent that this algo change (1) sticks and (2) applies to local markets everywhere, it seems to counteract Google’s half-hearted efforts to fight Map spam. It is/will be making honest business owners desperate.

    Sure, it’s been the case for a *long* time that the #1 business in a given competitive local market is damn close to the city centroid, but at least other businesses typically can get into the top-7 if they try. But if the slightly farther are suddenly banished from the top-7, Google forces them to do *something* to avoid losing real-life clients. Many business owners will be confused (it’s not like Google warned anyone) and will scramble to do something—and that something may not comport with Google’s “quality guidelines.”

    If Google is on a war against Map spam, it just shot itself (and many an honest business owner) in the foot with a LAWS rocket.

    (Just my two cents, anyway.)
    Phil Rozek recently posted..New Google Places Layouts w/ Gray Map Pins: Face-lift or Botox Shot?

32. #32 Dr Gil wrote on October 30, 2011 :

    Linda,

    Thanks for the breakdown of terms dentist, city dentist and dentist city. I don’t know how many people search longer tail dentist and chiropractor terms, but I have read that long tail search are becoming more popular. One way to get some of your “city ranking” back is to split the “city dentist” term, such as “city tooth implant dentist” and “dentist tooth implants city”–those types of phrases still give us the “A” pin on the map. Hopefully the big G doesn’t mess with that one too.

33. #33 dave wrote on November 1, 2011 :

    what i find strange is that in most of the large cities google is going back to the original 7 pack and not the blended results.

    dave

34. #34 Linda Buquet wrote on November 1, 2011 :

    @Dave, yes I’m seeing more packs too.

    Have you noticed a lot of the 7 packs don’t seem to be following the old Places algo? Seems to me that algo has changed too, but I have not had time to investigate yet.

35. #35 Andrea wrote on November 3, 2011 :

    Hi Linda,

    thank you for your article, it just confirms my theory. I could see this effect in Berlin, Germany too.
    Today I found the new size of the Google map in the Search results and I consider if the changed radius is related this fact?
    However, the change is really not very helpful for small businesses that can’t effort the rentals in the center of a city.

36. #36 Fay Kelley wrote on November 6, 2011 :

    Hi, I was shocked when I came to my web page today that is always ahead of Trulia, and my own broker Coldwell Banker, to find it the first line on page 5 of Google. Same with Yahoo. Because I don’t design or optimize web sites as a profession I have no idea what you are all talking about but it was good to know that I’m not the only one with a problem! Cheers ~ Fay in Sedona

37. #37 Chris Halliday wrote on November 7, 2011 :

    Hi Linda, You have put words to my frustration of the past 12 months or so! I’ve always ranked high in GP (or Maps for the vets) and have had to take a back seat to less established and, frankly, less regarded chiropractors in my market of Chicago who happened to be clustered in the downtown core. Question for you: are you aware of a date or time when Google will a) change the proximity part of the algo for the rest of us and/or b) put the kibosh on the little Black Hat remedy you aluded to? Is there any point, in other words, of changing my map point to the city center, though it’s clearly not my location?
    Thanks.

38. #38 Linda Buquet wrote on November 7, 2011 :

    Hi Chris, I sure wouldn’t do it. For may reasons..

    Trust me when I say, you never know what you’ve got until it’s gone! Is it really worth possibly losing your Place page and all your other rankings for MONTHS? I don’t think so.

    Getting suspended is no fun. I’ve had companies call me that have been tied up in suspension for months. Sometimes they almost cry.

    Plus I’d be ticked if I were a patient and picked you partly due to location and you weren’t there.

    Just supplement with Adwords and hopefully the algo will change soon.

39. #39 Important Google Places SEO Group Research re GEO Modifiers, Search Behavior and Rank Tracking - Google Places Optimization Blog wrote on November 8, 2011 :

    [...] been helping some clients affected by the new part of the blended algo I dubbed the “Proximity Lockout Algo” and more and more people on the forum and in comments to that post are reporting [...]

40. #40 Dr Gil wrote on November 8, 2011 :

    Linda,

    As you know, I can relate to Dr Halliday. Not all the tight city center businesses will be inferior to a business that is an “outlier” but even if one or two are in that tight central batch of pins it will be frustrating. Since my last post, I did try just searching “dentist” as you mentioned, but I didn’t get very good results. I tried searching with general area and/or major street names with the word dentist–what happens there is all the dentist that have the location of street name in their URL come up on top. So I have been trying to optimize with my city name but with procedures placed before or after the word “dentist” and I get some reasonably good rankings. Depending upon the procedure, I get ranked anywhere from #1 through #6 and sometimes I see two rankings if I have a “pretty URL” with that procedure in the URL. For example, let’s say you search “dentistry implants ‘city’ dentist”, you should see a high position for your main website URL, http://www.dentistoffice.com URL and another one for http://www.dentistoffice.com/dentistry-tooth-implants-city. If people really are searching with long-tail search entries then it seems this should mitigate some of the losses of the new Google Proximity Lockout. What are your thoughts on this approach?
    Dr Gil recently posted..USA TOP DENTISTS SELECTS TWO BELLEVUE COSMETIC DENTISTS

41. #41 Linda Buquet wrote on November 8, 2011 :

    Gil I don’t think many pts search that way. Plus the proximity lockout only affects city dentist and dentist city. Have not looked at your listing for awhile and you have several issues that are hurting you besides the proximity lockout and your site isn’t working in your favor as much as it could/should. I have some major local SEO techniques that would help you a lot. Shoot me an email to set up time for a call if you want to discuss.

    See my post today for some interesting Dental KW stats.
    Linda Buquet recently posted..Important Google Places SEO Group Research re GEO Modifiers, Search Behavior and Rank Tracking

42. #42 Jeff wrote on November 9, 2011 :

    Hi Linda,

    Good observation on the Google Places “proximity lockout “. I have worked with Dr. Gil in the past and I believe he is exactly right, Google is using extortion tactics to create more ad revenue. Like you said “When you’re looking for Seattle Chiropractor’s, you don’t just want Downtown Chiropractors, you want a wide range of quality Chiropractors serving the area.” If we wanted only a “Downtown / City Center” company, we’d look up the service by zip-code.

    I noticed this in early October as well and had hopped that it was a error in their Algo, hoping it would change back to the proper rankings. Now any of our customers who do not have a “City Center” location may end up ranking lower than companies who haven’t even claimed their Places page or have good content. That is a shame, all in the name of the almighty dollar to generate more “Adwords Revenue”. I really hope this bites them in the butt, users may start taking another look at Bing and Yahoo once they realize they find better / more accurate results on Bing and Yahoo.

    That’s just my 2 cents. Thanks again for sharing your info.

    Jeff
    Jeff recently posted..Seattle SEO Increases Website Traffic By 500%

43. #43 Linda Buquet wrote on November 9, 2011 :

    Thanks for sharing your 2 cents Jeff!
    Linda Buquet recently posted..Important Google Places SEO Group Research re GEO Modifiers, Search Behavior and Rank Tracking

44. #44 Linda Buquet wrote on November 9, 2011 :

    Hey guys, in our local SEO mastermind call today, in emails and calls, lots have been asking me questions about the proximity algo. One of the biggest Qs that comes up is why do I think it mainly just affects CORE keywords. Is it just about competition???

    I just wrote a long winded answer to that question over on another blog, so thought I’d copy it here too for everyone’s benefit. I wrote:

    =======================================

    Here’s my theory based on my niche, Dentistry.

    Let’s say there are 100 actual Dental offices in a city. Due to bad scrapes, dupes, Place pages for indiv Drs., black hatters and fake Places there are likely 400 Place pages in that city.

    All the dupes, Dentists no longer in business and even all the unclaimed dupes, they are all going to have the main cat Dentist. Plus all the web sites even little one-pagers are going to have the KW Dentist.

    So when G goes to find a selection of Dentists there are tons right there to choose from. And so wrongly IMHO the algo tightens up because there are SO many to choose from right there in the center of town.

    However for the KW teeth whitening or cosmetic dentist, that takes a claimed Place page and someone that optimized for that KW.

    My guess is out of those 100 actual practices and 400 total Places there are probably only abour 50 that are claimed and maybe 30 that are optimized with a some categories. And not all of those are going to have teeth whitening or cos. So to find a good cross section the radius must expand.

    Here’s a fairly dramatic example.

    Search Chesapeake Dentist. See how the A,B,C s are in a tight cluster? See TONS of red dots? Those are all the other Dentists that didn’t rank on page one either.

    Now search Chesapeake Cosmetic Dentist. See how few dots there are now and how much further the map zooms out, including Dentists in a wider radius?

    Some would say that’s more just about longer tail and less competitive KWs and that’s true. But I think it’s also that fact that the core keyword is the default category so every Place page is going to have that cat whether claimed or optimized.

    Not trying to write a book, but just kinda thinking out loud and trying to figure it myself too.

    Think of it this way. Only 7 or 10 spots on page one. Let’s say there’s a Place page for a Dentist downtown that was in practice for 20 years. He’s retired and the practice is now closed. But G scraped and created a Place page 3 years ago and it has TONS of citations and other trust points because it was so well established. The old, now retired Dr. never claimed it. So the only cat is the default. He’s going to take a spot on page one, that should go to your well optimized client on the edge of town because, he has lots of trust, authority and the default cat Dentist. However for cosmetic dentist that Dr. and other’s that aren’t claimed aren’t going to rank and clog up page one because they only have the default cat.

    Does that make sense? When I try to explain it verbally people get it and agree, but not sure I’m explaining it well in writing. And I’m tired.
    Linda Buquet recently posted..Important Google Places SEO Group Research re GEO Modifiers, Search Behavior and Rank Tracking

45. #45 Imprezzio wrote on November 10, 2011 :

    I wanted to chime in and complain about how much spam I am seeing because of this. Take a look at this:
    http://maps.google.com/maps/place?o&cid=4999033403321864194

    Just do a maps search on that address. It is NOWHERE near the centroid. I’m seeing a ton of this – SEO companies just move the map markers to the center of the city.

    It’s so frustrating because it’s been like this for weeks and no one seems to be getting in trouble or penalized for it. I am a huge advocate for following the guidelines so I get really annoyed when I see people who don’t and seem to be “benefiting” from it.

46. #46 Linda Buquet wrote on November 10, 2011 :

    Yep there is one huge black hat SEO company that has thousands of clients and they use that trick all the time.

    I’ve reported it and Google is looking for a way to stop it or penalize for it, so hopefully they figure it out soon, because it’s not fair to honest businesses that DON’T break the rules. It’s also not good for the user either. Plus it’s bad for Google because when they find out the business is wrong on the map they probably think it’s just a bad Google result and the map is wrong.

47. #47 Google Places – Cracking the Proximity Lockout Algo | | CrunchWebDesignCrunchWebDesign wrote on November 11, 2011 :

    [...] recently Linda Buquet posted on this phenomenon now known as the “Proximity Lockout Algo” and even goes on to conclude that there is likely no way to get ranked in blended results for [...]

48. #48 Chicago chiropractor wrote on November 13, 2011 :

    Any word on a fix for this problem from G? The algorithm is inherently unfair, particularly in large markets like mine. The Chicago area is huge and the 7-pack displays only a tiny segment of the center of the city. Nobody from the north or southsides will travel to the downcore core for business. Let’s hope we can start a movement to start some movement!
    Chicago chiropractor recently posted..Hello world!

49. #49 Linda Buquet wrote on November 15, 2011 :

    Nope not yet. I’ve been testing some stuff and brainstorming with other leading pros trying to crack it.

50. #50 Amazing Google Places Software – Local Rank Tracking, Competitive Analysis, Citation Finder, Prospecting – Places Scout - Google Places Optimization Blog wrote on November 18, 2011 :

    [...] 11/17 UPDATE: MAJOR NEW SOFTWARE UPDATE COMING ON MONDAY Based on my recommendations Mark has furiously been programming some MAJOR new features. One of the most important is the ability to run ranking reports for KEYWORD ONLY without a city modifier, emulating the location of the consumers around that business area. So in addition to getting ranking reports that include “city dentist” and “dentist city” you can also find out how your client ranks for “dentist” within that geo region. This is HUGE! See the following posts for all the reason this is so important. Geo Modifier Keyword Research and also really important see Proximity Lockout Algo [...]

51. #51 Joseph wrote on November 21, 2011 :

    Sheesh, I just noticed this for my business in Utah! I have a window cleaning company that services a specific area outside of where I live and now I’m screwed! Are there any petitions to google going around?!
    Joseph recently posted..4 Tips for Cleaning Your Own Windows

52. #52 Linda Buquet wrote on November 21, 2011 :

    Hi Joseph, sorry you are having this problem.

    Sorry but I don’t think a petition would do any good. Google is a for profit company and they do what they think is best for advertisers and searchers – not necessarily for small businesses who get Place pages for free.

    But this limited area search radius isn’t really in the best interest of searchers so hopefully their research will show them that and they’ll change it.

53. #53 Traffic Masters wrote on December 14, 2011 :

    Great post Linda. I started noticing a drop in Places rankings a couple of months ago for Brisbane, Australia and after looking into it further, sure enough the perimeter had tightened for the main keywords. Of course some of our clients took a hit which is especially frustrating when you come to the realisation that there’s only so much you can do – you’re at the mercy of Google.

54. #54 Steven Dalgleish wrote on December 18, 2011 :

    Hi

    This Algo proximity change has just turned up in Scotland as well – my company had Google map position A over our top 4 keywords for the Edinburgh area- Bathroom fitters, Bathroom installers, Kitchen fitters, Kitchen installers ( also with “Edinburgh” attached to keywords)- The company address is in the small town of Musselburgh (the address is approx 200 metres from the Edinburgh city boundary) – We are now totally off google places with a lot of smaller and non specialist “Edinburgh” companies taking up places they never had before – This has had a devastating impact on business enquiries via our website- Is there anything we can do about it ?

55. #55 harry wrote on December 19, 2011 :

    YOU SAVED ME… thanks for pointing out this!!!

56. #56 Top 10 SEO Blog Posts from 2011 | Happy New Year SEOs from Ranking Signals wrote on December 31, 2011 :

    [...] Linda Buquet’s “Google Places Algorithm Change” [...]

57. #57 Best of 2011 in Local SEO and Local SEM | OptiLocal wrote on January 2, 2012 :

    [...] Google Places Algorithm Change – New Proximity Lockout Algo Can Cause Major Ranking Drop (Linda Buquet, Catalyst eMarketing) [...]

58. #58 Best Google Places Troubleshooting Posts (2011 - Early 2012) | LocalVisibilitySystem.com wrote on January 23, 2012 :

    [...] Sudden Drop-off in Rankings If you’ve had a decent—or very good ranking—vanish all of a sudden, this post from Linda [...]

59. #59 Google Places – Cracking the Proximity Lockout Algo | | Your BlogYour Blog wrote on February 5, 2012 :

    [...] recently Linda Buquet posted on this phenomenon now known as the “Proximity Lockout Algo” and even goes on to conclude that there is likely no way to get ranked in blended results for [...]

60. #60 Many Google Places Search Results Are Showing an Increased Radius For Search Results | Understanding Google Maps & Local Search wrote on February 8, 2012 :

    [...] Buquet documented the reduced search area in her October post  Google Places Algorithm Change – New Proximity Lockout Algo Can Cause Major Ranking Drop. The reduced radius been noted by Andrew Shotland in June of 2011. The reduced radius appeared to [...]

61. #61 Google Places Proximity Lockout Loosens Grip on Local Listings – Many Businesses Get their Ranking Back - Google Places Optimization and Local SEO Blog wrote on February 8, 2012 :

    [...] in October I coined the phrase Proximity Lockout and blogged a change in how Google blended listings worked. In a nutshell, a new proximity radius was added in most cities that meant you would not rank in [...]

62. #62 Linda Buquet wrote on February 8, 2012 :

    YEA! Google Places Proximity Lockout is GONE! (I think, fingers crossed.)

    See new post. Google Places Proximity Lockout Loosens Grip on Local Listings – Many Businesses Get their Ranking Back

63. #63 Imprezzio wrote on February 8, 2012 :

    I noticed the same thing!! So many clients who really deserve to rank, finally are! I really hope it stays!!!
    Imprezzio recently posted..Online Ad Spending to Exceed Print for First Time Ever in 2012

64. #64 Russ Hayes wrote on February 8, 2012 :

    I hope so! All these changes really should teach up that optimizing our sites for all the geo locations we want to rank for is important. With merged listings we can still own a city name in the organic results despite Google Places.

    I hope they did actually change the proximity radius though. Thanks for the update Linda!

65. #65 webmaster wrote on February 17, 2012 :

    hi,

    we’ve been ranked organically at 1 or 2 google.com for rome tours since 2009.

    google places listed us for the first time yesterday morning (#1 for rome tours when searched for organically). of course, rome tours is on that our google places profile as a keyword set.

    guess what? now, when an organic search is made for rome tours, our homepage is not in the top 150. scandalous? scam? pending correction next re-rank? online bookings have crashed as a result.

    google do not permit any website to rank at position 1-3 page one for keywords when same website ranks top or near top in google places. why? it’ll look biased, favouring that website.

    but what if that website is just great at seo and marketing?
    answer: google don’t have an answer, they sandbox the website for keywords which also push it’s google places listing to the top. why? because google are pushing google places listings ahead of organic rank.

    solution? ERASE GOOGLE PLACES LISTING

66. #66 Laura Behney wrote on February 17, 2012 :

    @webmaster
    “google do not permit any website to rank at position 1-3 page one for keywords when same website ranks top or near top in google places. why? it’ll look biased, favouring that website.”

    Ever since the prox lockout went away last week, our website, which has typically ranked ORGANICALLY very high (top 3), isn’t ranked at all, but our Places page is back to the number 1 spot (like it was pre-Panda 2 update).

    Linda, are you seeing this change since last week anywhere else?

67. #67 Linda Buquet wrote on February 18, 2012 :

    @webmaster said:

    “google do not permit any website to rank at position 1-3 page one for keywords when same website ranks top or near top in google places. why? it’ll look biased, favouring that website.

    but what if that website is just great at seo and marketing? answer: google don’t have an answer, they sandbox the website for keywords which also push it’s google places listing to the top. why? because google are pushing google places listings ahead of organic rank.”

    There are 2 algos that show up for different keywords. With one algo you could rank page 1 in Places AND organic separately.

    In the other algo your site and Place page merge together into a single listing.

    @Laura, yes the prox lockout was dropped or at least the radius widened in lots of markets.

68. #68 Joseph wrote on February 18, 2012 :

    I don’t think the proximity algo has been lifted in my area yet …
    Joseph recently posted..4 Tips for Cleaning Your Own Windows

69. #69 Andy Roberts wrote on March 5, 2012 :

    I’m having a few issues with one of my clients who have dropped and this may be the answer, thanks for sharing your information

70. #70 anonymous wrote on March 17, 2012 :

    I don’t know how google run things – but I can tell you how Bing does it. There are human editors who are able to over-write algorithm results manually and arbitrarily based on their assignments. Thos assignments generally include all major fields of business in all major cities. And editor may be assigned to look after 40-50 industries in a region and rank them on their own assessment.

71. #71 Not a human wrote on April 2, 2012 :

    The entire concept of Google local is BRILLIANT, and proximity based on your current location is indeed 100% justified. However what Google has really messed up on here is the proximity someone actually is to the center of the city. In small towns, this is a non-issue, but the larger the city, the more devastating the effect of this can be. Someone living just outside of a major city can search for a dentist, and book an appointment to the closest one to them they see. This may actually be 20 miles from where they live, and there could in fact be 10 dentists that are closer to them than the one they made their appointment at.

    If Google made more of an effort on getting the individual’s exact location details FIRST (90% of all Google users are not aware they can “Change Location” for their searches) then this would solve the problem.

    Another issue is that of which local business should be included in the first place. If I am looking for a dentist, or butcher, then YES, I am most likely looking for a company that is close to me, because I do want to travel there and buy something in their shop or get my teeth done by them. If you are looking for translation services, or for an advertising agency, the “local business” results (and absurd results that come with them) should not be applied. There are literally hundreds of thousands of companies that have now falsified addresses in an attempt to get their company’s results to appear as part of Google Places results. This is an immediate response to this absurd “closest to the city center” algo change.

    My suggestion? Do NOT tie in the local business results to the organic search (not yet, not until you can work out a way to ensure the users KNOW they are to enter their exact location FIRST) and be FAR more careful when selecting the types of businesses that SHOULD appear in these results.

    – By the way, I have listed my name as “Not a human” because I am trying to be more like Google is acting these days. What they have done with this algo is extremely unfair to any business that is either:

    A) Not based in the center of a major city
    B) Not willing to falsify information to have a chance at positioning ahead of those lucky few who ARE based at the center of a major city

    And by being ‘not fair’ to the businesses, what I mean is being “not fair” to the web user, who is missing MUCH better, appropriate results for their search phrase just because Google hasn’t got the user location sussed like Facebook does, and have not put enough thought into this algo change before applying it.

    Writing this post reminds me an awful lot of a post that I wrote on a Yahoo forum many years ago (I know, I’m showing my age) telling them about putting things I didn’t ask for on the home-page.

72. #72 Leci wrote on April 18, 2012 :

    My site used to be on the third “C” on Google Places. Now, it was lost on Google Places listing but still on the 1st page though. Any advice from experts here? How can I get my site back to Google Places?

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