Google Reviews From Around The Web Feature Gone
-
Hey All My Favorite Local Community Members!
I think we might start having questions come up about this, so I thought I'd do a quick post. Google has just confirmed that they have removed the 'Reviews from Around the Web' feature that has so long been a part of their local SERPs display. Mike Blumenthal confirms that this is official, here:
http://localu.org/blog/google-more-reviews-links-removed-from-knowledge-panel/
Apparently, you can still see your reviews from around the web in your Google My Business dashboard, but they are gone from knowledge panels, etc. This may not be a feature greatly missed by many, as the business owner had so little control over what was displayed in this section.
So ... upshot is: if you've just noticed that this feature is gone, it's official - it's gone.
-
That is very interesting William, I personally loved Yelp's idea hated the execution. They are now borderline black mailers IMO. I hope others will respond so we can see some actual data.
Nice post Miriam!
-
Just that one significant change in my client pool, but it's also the only client that had a large discrepancy between Google reviews and Yelp. My other clients have consistent averages, and it seems like there would only be a noticeable spike if there was a discrepancy.
-
That's really interesting regarding your client, William. Too early to say if there's a connection there, but it would be cool if you could find other similar examples in your client pool. Now, common sense would say that if Google is downgrading the visibility of third party reviews, this could indicated that they are placing less trust in them, and perhaps, relying more on a Google-centric representation of user sentiment, but there is nothing to confirm this, at this point. Third party reviews have long been considered an important ranking factor, so it would surprise me to see their value totally vanish in that regard. And, of course, review diversity is important for more than just rankings. I think it will be some time before we understand the shakedown from this small but significant move on Google's part.
I'd be glad to hear any theories about this from the community!
-
Any word on if Google is using those reviews less in the local ranking algorithm?
I have a client who has an average 4 stars on most sites, but had a much lower score on Yelp. Last night, he spiked in maps for some big keywords, almost like Yelp wasn't being considered anymore.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Incorrect Image is Displaying on Google My Business Knowledge Graph - Need Urgent Solution??
Incorrect Image is Displaying on Google My Business for our company. We have updated new image on google business But still, Google is fetching and showing old image on the google my business knowledge panel. What will be the right fix for this? Our site URL : www.yolobus.in
Local Listings | | AnkitS.19900 -
Two Google My Business accounts for two companies at same address
I have a client (flat roofing) with two registered businesses both of which are based from the same address, upon trying to create a new GMB account for the second business, it was immediately suspended by Google. So somewhat unsurprisingly one address one business, but is there a way around this?
Local Listings | | Donsimong0 -
Tracking Phone Numbers in Google My Business Listings and Beyond
Hey all, Wanted to run something by you. I am getting pressed to use tracking phone numbers for all of our GMB pages for over 100 locations across the country. Has anyone done this for their own listings or for their clients? Because I will have to do it for GMB, this means I will be sending these same phone numbers out to the other major directories and data sources around the web. The phone numbers do contain the local area code for each city and do directly connect our customers to their specific location without any kind of redirecting. How is Google looking at this? I have read before it is a no-no but have also read it is not a big deal. Any thoughts would be much appreciated! -Ben
Local Listings | | Davey_Tree0 -
Can you use Google Posts to make updates about emergency closures?
A client of mine asked about the new Google Posts feature that can be used via GMB. The question is can you use Google posts to give updates to visitors about emergency closures?
Local Listings | | BigChad20 -
Can't get past the 15th page of Google SERPs
I've been doing Local SEO for 9 years and have never had an issue that frustrated me as much as this one. I have a client who I can't get past the 15th page of Google's SERPS for their #1 KW. Here are the details: The domain is 4 months old In that 4 month span the site has gone from a DA 1 to a DA 24 Spam score is a 0. I know this doesn't mean a ton but I can tell you from closely reviewing their AHrefs report, there's no influx of spammy links or anything like that. The design is a custom wordpress design The content is 100% unique and professionally written content The backlink profile (in my opinion) is full of high DA and PA sites from authority sites with high trust flow ... in my opinion their backlinks are superior to all but maybe a handful of competitors. I was not expecting 1st page results by now but I would have expected top 50 results a the very least. But to not crack the top 15 tells me there's some major issue here. I really need some insight as to what could be holding me back here ... I don't want to share the domain publicly but but I will PM you it if you're interested in taking a crack at it. I will seriously pay someone a small fortune if they can help me figure this out.
Local Listings | | BrianJGomez0 -
Why does my business does not appear on Google Maps ?
I recently created a Google + Profile for a client (I'm from Canada), even created a profile for Google Maps, received the code and my business is now verified. It's been nearly three weeks and the business still does not show or is even marked on Google Maps. I reviewed my profile to make sure I did not forget anything. I even contacted Google maps to suggest a change, nothing seems to work. Can anyone help me ? Thank you !
Local Listings | | marketingmedia.ca0 -
Google Places for Business was removed after 6 months
Hello Everyone, After 6 Months, Google has removed us from Google Places for Business and Maps. We did everything properly and we where serving on the 3rd position. Now it seems that the listing is back in Pending? 1. Does anybody have any suggestions how to proceed or how to handle this?
Local Listings | | EVERWORLD.ENTERTAIMENT
2. Can we use places listings again using the same Address?
3. How long will it take to process again?
4. We also heard that some one might of complained?? Your help is much needed. Thanks0 -
Google+ Local and a Google+ Company Page
I have an established G+ company page but also want a G+ Local listing in order to appear on Google maps. The company does have a physical address, phone number etc. to qualify for a G+ Local listing. No current local listing exists to claim. Should I: a) Switch the currrent G+ company page to be a G+ Local page; or b) Create a new G+ Local page and keep the G+ company page; or c) Ignore G+ Local and create the listing through Google Places Thanks
Local Listings | | bjalc20110