Google’s Pigeon Algorithm Update: Did Your Local Listing Rise or Fall?

As we reported back on July 30^th, Google has once again made a change to their algorithm. To make the update feel more exciting, the change has been given the nickname of everyone’s favorite fowl, the mighty Pigeon. This isn’t exactly an aberration as Google’s official pigeonrank page shows photos of pigeons using computers.

This isn’t, as some Google updates have been, a change to push off spam. This is, instead geared towards maximizing the relevancy of local search results. How will it do that? The changes will show more extensively over time, however, there are suspected alterations that will be noticed immediately. The first is an improvement in location and distance ranking parameters on local maps listings.

A posting from Search Engine Forum, which was authored by Barry Schwartz, contributor to SearchengineLand, showed how a local search for “ice cream” had changed significantly in just one week. It also reminded everyone with the use of a red arrow that sometime in late July, Google added a scroll down bar for a longer list of local listings. It appears that this user simply searched for “ice cream” without a geographical indicator, relying on Google location services to figure out where the search originated from.

As the photos show, the results are entirely different. The top sponsored listing went from what could have been a regional campaign for Dairy Queen Restaurants to another national brand, Blue Bunny. However, the change at the top of the organic postings went from an ice cream shop in Suffern, NY to one in Ridgewood, NJ. The distance between the two businesses is 10.7 miles. While a number of factors may have gone into the change in distance from one side to another, the fact of the matter is that the users in that highly populated area are being redirected by 22 minutes compared what this search engine was telling them earlier in the same week.

Another issue that Pigeon appears to have solved is the Yelp controversy. An allegation was made  that Google was gaming local results to push yelp’s listings further down the page has seemingly been corrected(if it was ever needing correction) with the pigeon update. Here is a screen shot provided by SearchEngineLand that appears to show Google organic listings with Google local page results before a search query that included the word yelp in the search for a San Francisco Restaurant called, “Gary Danko.”

Below is how the results have changed, with the Yelp listing showing up first in the organic results. The Google maps listing is now in fourth place.

The change to this restaurant listing is part of a larger update. There will be more directory listings showing up on organic search. It appears than instead of the usual Google maps listing followed by the company website and expected results, it’s possible that more directory pages will take part in the first page of results. These directories, which often include the basic information about a business, can also include reviews. The onus is more than ever on businesses to keep a watchful eye on their online reputation management. If your business has a lot of favorable online reviews, this directory boost is great news. For others, this could be an update to keep an eye on if it bolsters negative online feedback.

In the end, the pigeon update does what seems like a good thing: customers and potential customers will be more easily guided to your business. In theory, the results will be more pertinent and geographically relevant to those looking for the right store to buy their next vehicle. This raises the question, how does your Google maps page look? When the customer finds you, what kind of website and digital presence will they discover? This update is another wakeup call that businesses are greeting clients 24 hours a day. The impression that they see online can easily make or break their desire to get in contact with your dealership. Are you ready for your customer-driven daily digital audit?