One of the people I respect in Local Search these days and I'd say the one that's done the most dissecting of the new Google Local "Possum" update, is Joy Hawkins.
She shares her findings after evaluating dozens of listings that had major ranking shifts.
(Some up, some down.)
She also explains that much of what we are seeing is not listing penalties but just Google filtering out results for various reasons, which she explains.
Additionally, Joy says that with this new update it's more important than ever to use a tool that let's you pretend you are searching from the query city.
Quote:
Everything you need to know about Google's 'Possum' algorithm update
All the evidence seems to indicate this particular update only impacted ranking in the 3-pack and Local Finder (AKA the local results or Google Maps results). There is talk of another update that happened right after, which impacted organic results.
I believe the main purpose of the update was to diversify the local results and also prevent spam from ranking as well.
Based on the dozens of ranking reports I’ve analyzed, I would say this is the biggest update we have seen in Local since Pigeon in 2014. One of the main things that updated was Google’s filter that applies to the local results.
What do you think about Joy's Search Engine Land post?
Are you seeing similar results?
Have any other theories?
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