Local Memo: Google Paying Attention to GBP Popular Times
Share
Local Memo: Google Paying Attention to GBP Popular Times
In this week’s update, we discuss Google paying attention to popular times; Apple Maps is finally available on desktop; and AI-powered search makes a resurgence.
Google Paying Attention to GBP Popular Times
The News
Last month, Claudia Tomina at ReputationArm published a blog post that, among other things, provided compelling evidence that popular times could be a GBP ranking factor. While that theory needs more vetting, we can now assume with some certainty that Google is at least paying attention to it.
Our team spotted a new short wait nearby feature this week. It appears primarily for food and beverage-related mobile searches.
The feature appears as a carousel with up to a dozen knowledge cards from businesses that typically have low or no wait times at the time of the search.
Surprisingly, live busyness signals don’t seem to influence this feature, despite many businesses appearing as “Busier than usual.” This new feature could have potentially driven new traffic to those businesses.
Users who select a knowledge card from the feature will see the business’s full GBP profile. However, if a user selects see more, a new search launches for “restaurants nearby with short wait times near x” regardless of the previous search query.
Why This Matters
This provides evidence that Google is paying attention to popular times and provides businesses with an additional opportunity to be discovered when it matters most — when customer traffic is low.
Though we’ve only seen this feature appear for food and beverage searches so far, we could see it rolling out wider to other businesses where busyness might be a deciding factor, like salons, gyms, car washes, and grocery stores.
Apple Maps Finally Available on Desktop
The News
If you haven’t seen how your business appears in search on Apple Maps, now is your chance. Last week, Apple made available to the public a beta version of Apple Maps that users could access directly from their browser at beta.maps.apple.com.
Per Apple: “Now, users can get driving and walking directions; find great places and useful information including photos, hours, ratings, and reviews; take actions like ordering food directly from the Maps place card; and browse curated Guides to discover places to eat, shop, and explore in cities around the world. Additional features, including Look Around, will be available in the coming months.”
Why This Matters
Because Apple Maps has been purely app-based up to this point, we’ve never known how much of the local search market Apple Maps actually claims vs. Google.
Just two days in, Andrew Shotland at Localogy reported Apple’s beta Maps saw nearly a quarter million visitors — an impressive number, considering there’s been no obvious demand for it.
Courtesy of Apple
If you haven’t already, make sure your Apple listing has been delegated (Apple confirmed this is a ranking factor) and you are utilizing features like Apple Showcases to highlight any offer or events you are currently offering.
AI-Powered Search Makes a Resurgence
The News
Both OpenAI and Bing are testing new AI-powered search experiences.
OpenAI announced the launch of SearchGPT, an AI-powered search engine designed to provide real-time information from the internet. Unlike traditional search engines that return a list of links, SearchGPT organizes and summarizes findings, offering concise descriptions followed by attribution links.
Currently in a prototype phase, SearchGPT is powered by the GPT-4 family of models and will initially be accessible to only 10,000 test users. According to OpenAI spokesperson Kayla Wood, the company is collaborating with third-party partners and using direct content feeds to generate search results, with the long-term goal of integrating these features into ChatGPT.
Courtesy of OpenAI
Meanwhile, Microsoft has introduced Bing generative search, which is similar to Google’s AI-organized search results.
This new experience combines Bing’s traditional search results with large language models (LLMs) to understand queries, review millions of sources, and generate AI-organized search results that better fulfill user intent.
An example for the query “what is a spaghetti western?” shows an AI summary and a table of contents for navigation, with traditional search results still prominently featured on the right side. Microsoft claims this approach maintains the number of website clicks and supports a healthy web ecosystem, even increasing clickable links.
Courtesy of Bing
Why This Matters
While we’re not convinced that SearchGPT, Bing generative search, or any other new AI search engines vying to be the next big thing will dent Google’s search engine market dominance, these moves could prompt Google to accelerate plans to integrate more generative AI into search results.
Subscribe to Local Memo!
Signup to receive Local memo updates and the latest on localized marketing, delivered weekly to your inbox.
