What Is Google’s Pigeon Update and How It Impacts You
Google is a very strange beast. Many business owners depend on Google to help them get traffic to their site. Then there are those that feel that the constant changes that Google imposes only serve to create headaches. However, one thing is certain: Google is a very powerful tool if utilized properly. Search results can be a tricky thing to master. It takes a lot of research and hard work to create a successful venture. But, with the new update, Google is hoping that they can work more closely with businesses and the process can be easier.
Google Pigeon was instated on July 24, 2014, affecting all U.S. English queries that show up in its results. Many are considering it to be the biggest update to Google local search results since Venice in 2012. The effects of the update, according to Google are to help local search results align closer to traditional web search rankings. This is both good and bad news, as businesses that deal in hospitality, transportation, law and fitness have been impacted positively, while smaller local business and real estate have been impacted negatively due to Google favoring directories.
Who Benefited?
Directories got a rather large boost in growth as did other certain queries. Hospitality received a 28% growth in Google Places, Food received 19% growth and Education received 13% growth. Other smaller queries have also been impacted positively such as: Medical, Law, Spa, Transportation, Shop and Fitness. Who Lost? Real estate and the general search term “Jobs” experienced the biggest loss from this new update with Jobs finding a 68% decline and Real Estate experiencing a 63% decline. This is impacting the real estate market in a big way and very few people are happy with this recent shift. However, the good news is that many people are finding that the Pigeon update has not quite settled, and that it is in a constant flux. This means that things may change drastically in the future and the results may even out more over time.
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