"Just a couple of months ago, Google had ads on the local pack for less than 3% of tracked keywords; now it's up to about 22% of tracked keywords. This was data posted by Joy Hawkins on X she got from Places Scout. Joy wrote, "Just had Places Scout re-run the data to see how this looks in January so far (we're tracking across 1200 mobile ranking reports). The increase isn't slowing down yet.""
"Google seems to be showing more and more ads in the local pack, aka Local Pack Ads. Here is the chart - it is wild to see: What are local pack ads? Here is an example Joy posted, the sponsored listing at the top of the local pack in Google Search: Are you noticing more ads in the local pack? I mean, this seems like an extreme change. Forum discussion at X."
Ads in Google's Local Pack on mobile search have increased markedly, rising from under 3% to roughly 22% of tracked keywords over a few months. The tracked dataset spans 1,200 mobile ranking reports from early January. The increase shows a continuing upward trend and has not slowed. The Local Pack now sometimes displays a sponsored listing at the top labeled as an ad, which reduces visible organic local results and pushes unpaid listings lower. The growing ad presence in local search may materially affect visibility for local businesses and the strategies local SEOs use to compete.
Read at Search Engine Roundtable
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]