Has anyone else noticed a change in local Google Places results? The traditional "7 pack" of results seems to have been replaced by a greatly reduced "3 Pack".
NYC and Boston were showing a 3-pack yesterday, but are back to a 7 pack today. However both are showing 3 organic listings above the 7 pack plus the usual paid listings today.Its all over the map in my area especially for different verticals. Auto related seems to be pretty consistent with a 7 pack though. I am also still seeing some places results getting broken up with an organic listing in between sometimes.
Joey, you are correct. Mike Blumenthal is THE expert when it comes to Google Places!A good source for local seo and google places information noticed the return of the 3 pack in the storage building industry. Is Google Reducing the Local Search Result Footprint? | Understanding Google Maps & Local Search
Dealers and marketers report significant variation in Google Places search results, with some seeing a shift from the traditional 7-pack to a 3-pack layout, while others continue experiencing 7-packs or even 10-packs depending on geography and industry vertical. The consensus suggests Google is experimenting with reducing local search result footprint, potentially benefiting smaller players in SEO ("SEO IS ALIVE AGAIN"), though auto-related results appear to remain more consistently in the 7-pack format. The thread references Mike Blumenthal as the authoritative source on these Google Places changes.