Comments on: Google Regional Search Suggests Local Queries for Generic Keywords

By: Richard Igoe's SEO Training

Richard Igoe's SEO Training — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 12:08:18 +0000

Thanks Great info! – I am in the UK and the “looking for local results” box does not seem to be widely used yet (July 09) – although since April the map results box appears for searches like “restaurant” and “flowers” (and are based on your IP address) – with the option of changing location .

I have recently started implementing a big search campaign for one of my clients and what has happened is they are ranking well for the local search terms but at the same time, the non-local search term which was previously ranking well – has slipped.

The client is worried that the lower ranking of the generic search term could be due to the increased focus on specific locations.
My view is that if anything the generic rankings should improve due to increased overall content which includes the generic non-local term.

Has anyone noticed anything similar?

By: Pi TASARIM

Pi TASARIM — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 12:10:50 +0000

Google has once again given more power to advertisers who stay on top of these changes and make the best of the opportunities they bring about.

Is Google shooting itself in the foot?

By: {Adult Industry Reference Removed}

{Adult Industry Reference Removed} — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 16:36:54 +0000

I agree regional searches are occurring more frequently. I don’t know if a wholesale exodus to regional searches will come in the near future. With the availability of shipping around the country most people are looking for deals that they can have shipped two them. Most people already know their local area or have friends that can suggest who to call locally. Great post. Thanks.

By: Local Directory

Local Directory — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 11:45:30 +0000

I can see Google geting even bigger on the Local directories or yellowpages market, But att work smart and can stiil keep it sace in the Local Business yellowpages marketing!

By: Angela

Angela — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:54:31 +0000

I’ve noticed the same, but have a different take on the implications. We work with primarily b2b companies, most in manufacturing sectors that do not market locally or even regionally, but nationally. Although they might have “competitors” in the same town, usually there are a number of distinguishing factors related to the size of equipment, expertise in a particular market, knowledge of specialty materials, that qualify them for jobs nationwide over companies that might be located in the same region as the customer. But, Internet searchers don’t always use long-tail searches to find those companies, using instead more general terms. Google’s increased focus on localization could cause search results to incorrectly prioritize companies that are located in the region of the search engine user/customer, that really aren’t the right fit. In an industry sector that has many players, that could ultimately waste a lot of the Internet users’ time and make b2b searches less useful.

By: creative web design sydney

creative web design sydney — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 03:24:20 +0000

Hi Dev, interesting article thanks, i’ll take some notes to apply to my websites. However what about sites that are supposed to be non-local like your blog, you don’t want to exclude any areas.

By: Brandon

Brandon — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:54:00 +0000

Local Search is going to dominate in long term. I think Searachwiki will be popular. I don’t know how much time it will take to be popular, but it will happen in future, that is for sure. And Searchwiki will make search more local in longer term.

By: Dev Basu

Dev Basu — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:00:30 +0000

@Amit – They definitely are and one of my predictions for ‘09 is that they will roll out local search to all of the international domains. Further, I predict that Google will get more ‘hyper-local’ as we already see it has in the States.

By: Amit Sarna

Amit Sarna — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 12:57:17 +0000

Hi Dev,
You got that one spot on. I noticed this a while back and listed my sites on local businesses at google.co.in and surprisingly have even recieved telephone calls from them verifying the data. GOOGLE is definitely orienting itsself to local / regional target businesses.

By: Scott Mahler

Scott Mahler — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:37:08 +0000

I feel kind of silly asking, but are you saying there is a another way of googling information other than the basic google.com search? I know that I’ve noticed certain areas pop up in a search, but they are often in different states. This would be extremely beneficial to me, as I own a website development company, and would love to target my region. Thanks for the information, I’ll have to research this futher.

By: We Can Now Guarantee #1 Rankings! - KoMarketing Associates

We Can Now Guarantee #1 Rankings! - KoMarketing Associates — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:16:40 +0000

[...] the ever more frequent localized results and personalization in Google, it turns out that keyword rankings aren’t as easy to [...]

By: Judd Exley

Judd Exley — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:00:27 +0000

Nice pickup mate. I’ve noticed that I don’t get that little box AT ALL if I’m signed into my Google account. Probably because they already ‘know’ where I am from that. But I have noticed a real shift in an effort to personalise results these days. SEO, in my opinion, is going to take on a real shift in the coming year, because Google is changing the game… again.

Ooo! I feel a blog post coming on.

By: Xurxo Vidal

Xurxo Vidal — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:56:02 +0000

Hey Dev – Awesome find! This really is a move in the right direction by Google for both SEO and PPC. I see it the same way you do. It’s a move that’s in line with building user confidence through greater relevancy.

On the paid search side, this discovery confirms what we’ve been seeing lately – Google is rewarding advertisers who are more relevant in tighter geographical areas. Adwords’ quality score is being calculated more in real time and by geographical performance, so advertisers who monitor and improve their campaigns’ geographical performance by targeting tighter areas (City or state level vs. nationwide in one campaign) will reap a better ROI.

Google has once again given more power to advertisers who stay on top of these changes and make the best of the opportunities they bring about.

Is Google shooting itself in the foot?

It would seem that way at first glance, but I think that this change will actually solidify their hold as the search engine of preference, meaning more long-term revenues as their search market share is expanded.

Already most people I know don’t bother with the yellow pages anymore – they use Google for their local searches now. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a much greater number of local businesses advertising on Google in the coming years.

By: Dev Basu

Dev Basu — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:09:38 +0000

@Gab – Yep, I can totally see Marches, Reach Local, and other such platforms profiting from this shift if it sticks in the long term.

By: Gab Goldenberg

Gab Goldenberg — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:49:39 +0000

Means more money for people managing PPC for large local portals, since the number of keywords to handle (and thus time investment) is going up. Nice find dude!