Over the past few days it has been confirmed that Google has made some pretty significant changes to the way the local search results are determined. This algorithm update has no official name from Google, however, it has gotten the nickname of the ‘Pigeon’ update from major search engine news site, searchengineland. Whatever you want to call it, it is really stirring up the local search industry in many ways.
One of the things that Google has confirmed the change will be doing is improving their distance and location raking parameters. Basically this means that they will be factoring your exact location into their search results to a greater level than ever before.
In addition, they also said they made updates to local search features such as the knowledge graph. They also changed the way synonyms and misspellings are going to be used when determining the search results.
There is no word yet as to what percentage of search queries are going to be impacted. They also haven’t commented on whether spam or SEO manipulation were addressed in this update at all.
Many SEO companies and individual business owners, however, have noticed some pretty significant changes. As always, some businesses benefitted and others have suffered. One thing that is being reported is that the update has helped local directory sites like Yelp have gotten quite a boost.
Have you noticed any major changes to any of your site rankings? If so, make sure to comment below with what you have seen and whether you have any insight into the factors that have gone into the algorithm update.
