Google Updates Search Ranking Algorithm

Changes to Impact Local Businesses

Local businesses could see a significant impact in their Google search rankings as a part of a recent update to the tech giant's search ranking algorithm, and the changes could lead to a loss of organic traffic for some.

Google announced on Wednesday that it has made a number of changes to its search ranking algorithm, including the way it handles local search results. As a result of this change, businesses that primarily serve customers in a specific geographic area may experience a drop in their rankings, especially for generic and non-branded search queries.

Google said the changes are aimed at improving the quality and relevance of the search results for local searches. With the old algorithm, businesses that were located closest to the searcher were often given preference in the search rankings, even if they were less relevant to the search query.