Pigeon : What You Need to Know About Google’s Local Search Algorithm

In July 2014 Google rolled out a update to their local search algorithm dubbed Pigeon. There are some important takeaways from the update that you need to know.

1. Both the maps and regular search listings are impacted by Pigeon.
2. Reviews get more weight. Don’t wait to claim and optimize your business profile pages.
   1. Yelp is getting more visibility after arguing Google listed google reviews ratings higher than Yelp-ratings when a keyword search with the word yelp was performed.
   2. Popular review sites like UrbanSpoon, TripAdisor, OpenTable and others are also getting greater attention.
3. Google will be able to better search within neighborhoods in a city and across neighborhoods depending on where you are located.

There is a good bit of crossover for what determines a ranking between Pigeon and traditional web rankings. Third party review sites are being treated as authorities and getting more visibility. This makes having business pages across these sites claimed and optimized for your location. Keep at those review campaigns as well.