Google Local Pack Defaults To Showing 4 Stars For Some Queries

Jan 24, 2019 - 8:02 am 1 by
Filed Under Google Maps

Gray Google Star

If you do a search for [top soil] where I am and in some other locations, Google will show you a local pack but the local pack will be filtered to only show results with 4.0+ ratings or higher. If I do another search, like [barber shops] I do not get the 4+ rating filter in my location.

Here is a screen shot:

click for full size

Lewis Peters posted about this on Twitter asking if this is a new test. I am not sure - I know Google filtered local packs like this in the past. So I am not sure if that was a test or if this has been query dependent for some time now. Do you know?

Forum discussion at Twitter.

Update: This is not new, it has been around for several months where some queries trigger the star filter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: January 23, 2026

Jan 23, 2026 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Search Double Heated, Personal Intelligence in AI Mode, ChatGPT Ads & Apple Siri Updates Coming

Jan 23, 2026 - 8:01 am
Google

Google Search Gains Personal Intelligence In AI Mode

Jan 23, 2026 - 7:51 am
Google

Google Falls Back To Featured Snippets When AI Overviews Don't Generate

Jan 23, 2026 - 7:41 am
Google Ads

Google Ads PMax Asset Group Editing Bug

Jan 23, 2026 - 7:31 am
Google Maps

Gemini Local Results Insights Into How Google Interprets Your Business

Jan 23, 2026 - 7:21 am
 
Previous Story: Is Google Penguin Dead Or Alive