Format For Local Business Results Changed

The format for Local Business Results in Google has changed. 10 businesses are now listed on page one in the local business results box. Prior to today, or at least until very recently, only 3 businesses were featured. You can see a screen shot from when I first noticed local business results in Google Australia. The screenshot below is what I’m seeing today. Google are obviously experimenting with local business results.

It might not seem like a big deal but a page one spot for a popular search query, in this case a search for accommodation, is valuable and now there are more slots available thus creating an opportunity.

On the other hand it’s putting even more choices on the first page which might not necessarily be a good thing for the searcher. More studies are being done into how people interact with the search pages including this excellent one by Gord Hotchkiss.