• Understanding Google Maps & Local Search , Wednesday, December 5, 2007 1:45 PM

An Anaheim, Calif. florist reports that recent changes to the rating and review info in her Google Local listings and ads have had a negative impact on traffic and CTRs.

Over the past week, she noticed that CitySearch reviews were all but stripped from her local listing, and that the number of reviews it took to get star ratings included in the OneBox had jumped from three to five. "The review stars and ratings had a HUGE positive impact on click-throughs and purchases," she wrote. "Traffic from the OneBox is down since the change."

She also suggests that Google has changed its policy of only running "local-targeted" AdWords ads against local search results and is starting to allow national ads in the mix. From a pricing standpoint, that kind of change can force smaller businesses out of the market.

Mike Blumenthal uses this post to illustrate just how important paid and organic local search has become for small businesses, and how small tweaks to the info that's displayed can greatly impact the bottom line. He also wonders if the CitySearch reviews have been pulled because of a souring of the IAC property's relationship with Google (or its new deal with MerchantCircle).

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