Google Restaurant Searches - Big Changes

[DaveO]

This is breaking news:

Google has just changed the way one sees results when searching for a restaurant (or a hotel, or a nightclub, etc).   Instead of the Carousel of up to 20 visual choices that has been available for the past year there are now only 3 very visable results with pictures and attention grabbing info...and then a lot of organic results:

Here is a story with the before (as of yesterday) and today results:

I've been working on local search "stuff" for a long time.  One thing I know is that there are high volumes of searches for restaurants by location (dc, georgetown, U Street, Alexandria, Bethesda, Laurel etc.) and by type  (seafood, Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese, American, etc.)

The overall volumes of searches of these types are relatively high volume.  The switch to this new view makes those top 3 results very valuable IMHO, and experience.

One thing about the web and about google.  It always changes.

[RWBooneJr]

Google has just changed the way one sees results when searching for a restaurant (or a hotel, or a nightclub, etc).

They actually started rolling this out last week. It's very much a "screw the little guy" move, because the new "3-pack" is much larger than the former Carousel, crowding out listings that aren't in the top three (the 3-pack appears after these). It bumps a lot of results to the second page.

[DaveO]

They actually started rolling this out last week. It's very much a "screw the little guy" move, because the new "3-pack" is much larger than the former Carousel, crowding out listings that aren't in the top three (the 3-pack appears after these). It bumps a lot of results to the second page.

Rich, this is one of the few things I know pretty well  (equate it to boring trivia about phone companies and phone bills-  )  

First off, I'm still seeing 10 organic results beneath the pac.  10 results is the default and has been standard for a long time.  that hasn't changed.  The page Real Estate of the top 3 is pretty extensive...but there are 10 results beneath them.

Its not necessarily just the "big guys" who can win...though money and resources will play into it over time.  History, ingenuity, consistent work, etc. can definitely help one "win" at this.   The reasons some businesses currently have "top rankings" has nothing to do with $$, but usually many other factors.  In fact some of the local "big money" restaurants are weak at this.

Meanwhile in the hotel side..where it also changed...the top listings are simultaneously pictures..but auto tied into the Internet Travel Agent sites.  (of which google automatically makes some money on top of the plethora of ads.

On the hotel side I looked up hotels in Ocean City and one of the 3 had opted out of the ITA world.  Very interesting.   (so many hotels hate that ITA "criminology").

Back to the restaurant side versus the hotel side...I view the restaurant side as relatively thin with google ads versus the hotel listings.  I wonder if google opted for just 3 pictured highlighted businesses to spur advertising????  (nah...google would never do that!!!!)      there are about 1 million restaurants in the US and relatively few of them advertise on google.   that is my first thought.

[DaveO]

This past week Google made a dramatic change with regard to the default view for restaurants, hotels, entertainment sites, etc.   Here is a link to the story from one of the leading journals for the search engine optimization industry:  (ie the people who geek on google, etc.)

Now if you use google to search for restaurants by location or type the new default on mobile or a pc looks like the pic below:

There is room for google ads.   Then there are pics of restaurants in the category or location in which you are interested.

But alas:  Some "trivial little information" is lacking:

No link to the site

No address

No phone number

No map

Incomplete hours

Google only gives 3 restaurants top billing.  You can go to a "map view" and get a larger, longer list.  But for each restaurant shown is accompanied by the same scarce information.

Now you can click on one of those pics...and google gives you "its version of information in its format".  Of course if you click on one place, you won't get any information on other places.

From a restaurant perspective, it will cut down on google generated visits to your site.  If there are 25 restaurants to possibly choose from the searcher initially only sees 3.

In the above example if you aren't one of the 3 in bethesda shown, there is a strong competitive urge to either advertise or to get to be one of the 3--or both.

If you are a customer or potential diner, obviously the brilliant google engineers have determined that trivial items such as:

a link to the restaurant site

a phone number

an address

a map

full hours

and other itty bitty pieces of information aren't that important.

Overall for virtually all local businesses the number 1 source of web traffic to their site is google.   Moving forward, Google wants restaurants to pay up.

On a side note interestingly, if one uses a European version of google such as google.co.uk and searches for restaurants in any British city by example the presentation is vastly different.  Many restaurants to choose from;  full contact information easily available, and if you are looking at all that info on one restaurant a list of others in the area, or of that menu type (or both) are fully available to be seen.   and yes...in Europe google gives the phone number, address, a link, etc.

[DonRocks]

If you Google "Restaurants Near DC" (without quotes), the three that come up are Old Ebbitt Grill, Clyde's Of Georgetown, and Oyamel Cocina Mexicana, along with the Zagat links for them (recall that Google now owns Zagat).

[Pat]

If you Google "Restaurants Near DC" (without quotes), the three that come up are Old Ebbitt Grill, Clyde's Of Georgetown, and Oyamel Cocina Mexicana, along with the Zagat links for them (recall that Google now owns Zagat).

For the same search, Yahoo brings up these top 5:  Founding Farmers, Rasika, Old Ebbitt, Zaytinya, and Matchbox Chinatown.  Each listing has the address and phone number, plus a note as to whether the restaurant is open now or not.

ETA:  There's also a map showing all five.

[Mark Slater]

Google regularly pesters the restaurant where I work with robo-calls about updating our "Google listing". We always hang up.

[saf]

Google regularly pesters the restaurant where I work with robo-calls about updating our "Google listing". We always hang up.

Oddly, they do the same to the church where I sometimes answer the phone. And yes, I always hang up too.

[deangold]

Google regularly pesters the restaurant where I work with robo-calls about updating our "Google listing". We always hang up.

And if you do answer, they give you to a high pressure sales person who makes the Yelp folk seem like patsys.

[bookluvingbabe]

Oddly, they do the same to the church where I sometimes answer the phone. And yes, I always hang up too.

We get those at work--I've always assumed it was a scam and hung up on them.

[Pool Boy]

Google regularly pesters the restaurant where I work with robo-calls about updating our "Google listing". We always hang up.

Googel robocalls EVERY business to do the same thing. It hits every industry.

[DaveO]

Google regularly pesters the restaurant where I work with robo-calls about updating our "Google listing". We always hang up.

Oddly, they do the same to the church where I sometimes answer the phone. And yes, I always hang up too.

And if you do answer, they give you to a high pressure sales person who makes the Yelp folk seem like patsys.

We get those at work--I've always assumed it was a scam and hung up on them.

Googel robocalls EVERY business to do the same thing. It hits every industry.

I know this stuff pretty well.   In all or most cases its probably NOT Google but some business claiming to be a "google partner" or possibly a google adselling partner.

Of course google quietly or thru advertising and marketing actively supports this.   They want advertising income.....from everyone  (even churches)

For the same search, Yahoo brings up these top 5:  Founding Farmers, Rasika, Old Ebbitt, Zaytinya, and Matchbox Chinatown.  Each listing has the address and phone number, plus a note as to whether the restaurant is open now or not.

ETA:  There's also a map showing all five.

So.  If you were generally searching for restaurants which view would be most helpful?   Here at DR.com, yelp, yahoo, google, bing, a directory???   Which is the most helpful and informative?

--> YIKES

[lion]

DuckDuckGo is a good alternative to Google. 

[DaveO]

DuckDuckGo is a good alternative to Google. 

As a consumer I like the presentation on a pc.  I like the breadth and variety of choices with the carousel view across the width.  A lot of choices.   If I click on a restaurant I get a map showing me where it is relative to the area.

The one thing I don't like is that if I click on the site wanting a link to the restaurant site I don't get it.  I get the yelp review.  I want the restaurant website.  Not yelp's variation.  Why should I want yelp's interpretation better than google's.  I want to hear from the restaurateur.

I can get the restaurant website by clicking on a link inside yelp.    If I want to review general website info on the restaurant, I'd like the restaurant site plus a variety of other sites to pick and choose from.

On a mobile that carousel presentation doesn't work.  Its horizontal on a screen that is oriented toward vertical.  I'd rather the pics of restaurants go up and down rather than across.

Still from a consumer side I'd agree duckduckgo is currently preferable to google.  More choice, more info.

As a business operator I wouldn't like it. It puts me at the mercy of yelp.  I definitely don't want that.

Interestingly duckduckgo doesn't capture consumer info such as location or at least not well.   From a privacy aspect -->.  from a convenience factor--> not good.

From a business perspective, it would take massive sea change after sea change for duckduckgo to be a big force.  If I were a business person I wouldn't spend much time considering its consequences to my marketing and efforts at visibility

[Pool Boy]

Curious how many other 'regional' food/dining related sites there are out there like DR is for the greater DC metro to get the real skinny on places when planning out of town dining.

[RWBooneJr]

Curious how many other 'regional' food/dining related sites there are out there like DR is for the greater DC metro to get the real skinny on places when planning out of town dining.

Mouthfuls in New York and LTHForum in Chicago are the two big ones. PHXFoodNerds in Phoenix is another. There have got to be more -- Chowhound's uncurated, everything in one thread approach makes it largely useless and Egullet's dining forums have mostly died out.

[Pool Boy]

Yeah I remember egullet. CHowhound is vaguely useful at times, but agree that it is difficult to search for timely useful info.  Thanks for the other links.

[JPW]

Mouthfuls in New York and LTHForum in Chicago are the two big ones. PHXFoodNerds in Phoenix is another. There have got to be more -- Chowhound's uncurated, everything in one thread approach makes it largely useless and Egullet's dining forums have mostly died out.

I thought that LTHForum had died? Did someone resurrect it?

[RWBooneJr]

I thought that LTHForum had died? Did someone resurrect it?

It was put up for sale in 2011 and bought by three members. It was updated in 2013, but I don't think it was ever offline. The forum is still fairly active.