What is Google Local Carousel

Google’s Local Carousel, released in June 2013, is a feature that has been causing some major shifts in the way users are interacting with search engine result pages (SERPs), and it is a powerful indicator of what the future of Google is going to look like.

If you’re wondering what the Carousel is, it’s the black bar that sits above organic and even paid search listings for queries with local intent. Visually, it’s quite dominant on the page, and pushes traditional natural results almost below the fold for a typical screen resolution. It gives users the ability to view things like average review, star rating, number of reviews and apply various filters to find the property they are most interested in.

One of the more interesting features of the Carousel is how it behaves when a user clicks a listing. When clicked, the whole SERP updates with the name of the property as the query. All ads, natural results, and any Knowledge Graph information are updated as well.

Below is an example of how a user might interact with the Local Carousel and Knowledge Graph when looking for a hotel. Notice how the page updates when clicking a hotel, and we are able to see Hotel Price Ads directly in the knowledge graph section.

How it Works

The Carousel uses local data from maps, Google+, data aggregators and its understanding of objects and entities to display local results. This replaces the previous local listing pack in SERPs. By showing the results horizontally, they are able to show significantly more listings than before. Some of the categories we are seeing the Carousel show up for are restaurants, entertainment venues, tourism, hospitality, nightlife and points of interest.

For ranking in the Carousel, a recent study determined that google reviews, quantity and average rating, we’re the most significant factors. However, Google appear to be using more nuances like location and perceived intent of the user to determine the results as well.

Let’s dissect where the data on the carousel for a hotel result:

• Photos – The thumbnail photo pulls from the Google+  page. If there is no Google+ profile image to pull, it will pull from another verified review site. If it is not able to find a suitable picture, a map of where the business is located will display.
• Reviews – It is important to know that these reviews are strictly from Google. Currently, Google is not taking into account review data from other sites like TripAdvisor, Yelp, etc.
• Hotel Name – The name and address are pulled from Google+ Local or Google Places.
• Hotel Star Rating – The hotel star rating is likely pulled from a trusted review system or a local data provider.

The end result is the ability to compare business listings side-by-side with other valuable data points like ratings, reviews, and images.

Impact on HPAs

At Koddi, what we’re really interested in is how the Local Carousel will affect HPAs and meta search. The move to the Local Carousel is a clear indicator that Google will continue to provide information to users and answers many of their questions without sending them to other websites when possible. While this could have a negative impact on site-side activity,  it will increase the importance of a strong HPA and meta search strategy.

Pushing HPAs In Front of More Users

The interaction between the Local Carousel and the Knowledge Graph will put HPAs in front of more users. It is a huge missed opportunity to not have HPAs running for the Local Universal search type since it puts the next step in the conversion journey directly in front of the user. So, as the carousel evolves, be sure to monitor your Local Universal search type in Koddi. Over time, you might need to make some adjustments search type multipliers as traffic and user engagement changes.

Make sure you don’t forget about ranking in the Carousel. If your listings never display, you’ll miss out on getting HPAs in front of high volume non-brand searches. Meta search teams should make sure that their properties have Google Places and Google+ Local pages setup and optimized. Along with that, develop strategies to improve your Google reviews. This will make sure that you are able to fully capitalize on the Local / Universal search type for HPAs.

The Future

We expect Google to continue to enhance the Local Carousel, adding new features and eventually allowing Hotel Price Ads to be displayed directly within the Carousel. This could dramatically increase the eligible impressions for your ads.

One thing we’re certain of is that the marriage of Knowledge Graph, Google+, and Meta Search data means an exciting future for the meta search world. No matter what changes come to the Local Carousel and other Google products, Koddi is poised to give marketers the tools they need to maximize their marketing dollars in a rapidly changing space.

+Trent