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There has been a lot of local SEOs talking about the big shake up in the local results over the past week. It might be related to a Google local search algorithm update (Google has not confirmed it yet) or might be some spam fighting efforts. But I am seeing both complaints about there now being too much local spam and also folks saying Google has cleaned up a lot of spam.
There are two threads at the Local Search Forums about the fluctuations and I spotted a number of posts on social, some I can share and some I cannot share (because they are not public) here).
Frank Watson shared this on Facebook joking "What has Google done to the Local Packs? This is a bit lucky for these guys." Look at all those EZ Short Sales listings:
Phil Rozek in the Local Forums said:
1. The moving industry is full of spammers and (overall) legit companies that also do some spamming, as you know.2. Because of the huge number of people moving from specific states to other states, in many ways it's a good time to be a mover, and an opportune time for a spammer to spam. There are always ants at the picnic.
The other comments about how the local results have drastically changed in the past week or so.
And this tweet:
Anyone else seeing MAJOR anti-spam moves by Google Maps rankings?
— Joe Youngblood (@YoungbloodJoe) December 14, 2021
Spam/fake listings are dropping in rankings all over.
Is Google doing some local spam efforts work or is something else going on? Did you notice any spam in your local searches recently?
Forum discussion at Local Search Forums.
