HELP! Google Local dropped!

[CalicoKitty2000]

I noticed that my Google Local page does not show in any search results anymore.  Looking at Moz Local, it appears that I had 250 views on August 30th and 0 after that.  It just dropped overnight.  I looked at Google My Business and I noticed that I had a duplicate listing (no idea where it came from).  It wasn't verified though.  I deleted that.  I also noticed that my address has been changed to Drive instead Dr.  I was very careful in making it the same everywhere, but it changed without me changing it.  Perhaps someone so kindly "suggested an edit" and I didn't see that happen.

Anyone have any ideas.  My organic search ranking is still strong.  #3 for most search terms.  And we have a very strong Google Local reviews.  I mean, it even shows business that have been permanently closed over me!!!  And we have photos, great reviews, and regularly post to Google+.

I seriously need some help.  I am a small business owner that does all of my own SEO because I can't afford a good SEO.

[fatetmpwcosl]

Google drops the top trend site from their SERP. My blog also affected by it.

[MiriamEllis]

Cross posting just to be sure CalicoKitty sees ... I think the filter may have changed. Check out: https://a-moz.groupbuyseo.org/community/q/community-discussion-did-your-google-listing-suddenly-disappear#reply_350579

[CalicoKitty2000]

The official address of the restaurant, store, and marina is 505 Glen Cheek Dr. However, if you plug 500 Glen Cheek Dr into a GPS or Google Maps, it takes you to about the same place. The dropped pin actually looks like it is in the water a little.  I don't think anyone else is officially using this address. Although, some of the other charters do what we do.  Eventually, they could end up changing just because they notice that we did.

I have the same feeling you do... I feel like I should wait.  Plus, if I made an address change, it would be a ton of work.  And I would never be able to truly change all of the citations.

[MiriamEllis]

Hey Again CalicoKitty

I started a discussion thread on the new filter here: https://a-moz.groupbuyseo.org/community/q/community-discussion-did-your-google-listing-suddenly-disappear

This issue is important enough to bring to the community's attention, I think, as so many businesses are being affected. You might want to keep an eye on that, and contribute anything else you notice. I'm hoping our community will pitch in with what they are seeing, too!

[MiriamEllis]

Hey CalicoKitty!

I totally get how bizarre and stressful this is. Can you provide a bit more detail regarding what the 505 vs. the 500 address is in relationship to your business? I would be inclined to actually sit tight on this for a couple of weeks to see if the behavior stops. It strikes me as totally untenable that Google would show only 1 doctor at a large medical practice, etc. Please, do explain to me about the 2 addresses you have and whether any other business is sharing the alternate address.

[CalicoKitty2000]

Ugh!!!  It really is that.  I did a lot of searches and each time a different fishing charter comes up for 505 Glen Cheek Dr.  This is so aggravating.  Our marina has the most hard core competitors... actually the best fishing charters there are in the area. Plus, there is a party boat at that address and since they are so large, they can afford a good SEO. The other marinas don't have as much competitiveness, so Google really isn't showing "the best" results to their searchers.  How do we get this feedback to Google?  This is clearly a BAD idea!  There are so many businesses that share a building or strip... this really is unfair to any business that shares an address. This is our family business and how we feed our family and our captain's families. These changes really stress me out.  

[CalicoKitty2000]

Miriam,

It really looks like Google is only picking ONE person from each address to display.  This makes me wonder if I should take the painstaking task of changing my address slightly.  For instance, people can still find me if they type in 500 Glen Cheek Drive versus 505 Glen Cheek Drive.  Since we don't receive mail at the marine (our office is at home), then I only need it for driving directions.  Of course, I can only change the ones I created. There are no doubt a ton of citations that I didn't create with my address on them.  So then that might be worse because then Google will see 2 addresses. What do you think?

Thank you,

Amber

[CalicoKitty2000]

1.  Yes, my address is Cape Canaveral, but we are located at Port Canaveral.  So, that does get confusing.  And even more, there are multiple private charter boat companies, including a larger head boat, a restaurant, marina, and marina store all at the same address.

2. YES, I read the entire article!! Thank you!  I saw examples of EXACTLY what is happening to me!  Thank you for that link.

3. I did look in the console and my web master tools to see if any actions had been taken against me.  I didn't see anything.  And when I called GMB, he said my account was not suspended.  He just kept giving me the "you need to optimize your site" speech.  He kept iterating for me to refrain from editing and to only add photos and review responses.  I think Moz local edited my listing in July and I edited it after I saw the drop.

4. I don't know how to see my edit history.  But, he told me it was edited in July and again in Sept and kept telling me that was way too frequent.  Conversely, in the video he sent me, Google says to "keep your information up to date".

5. I will post in that forum and see what happens.  Good idea, thank you!

---

Okay... I did what you said and zoomed in and back out.  I did find myself, so that is good news. Now, I just need to figure out how to reach the top again.  I also noticed on my phone that if I click the filter at the top for "top rated" then I pop back up to the top.  I haven't seen these options before, so maybe they are new. It does seem like there is A LOT of flux going on here.

Thank you for all of your help and keeping up with me!

[MiriamEllis]

Newsflash on this. Thanks to the good folks over at the Local Search Forum, we have insight on this, Calico. Look up 'fishing charters cape canaveral' and then click on the map. In Google Maps, zoom in on the results and you'll see your listing reappear in the local finder. I was able to find you doing this.

Joy Hawkins is offering these thoughts:

1. I believe Google is A/B testing at the moment which explains the crazy fluctuation we're still seeing daily on trackers like Algoroo

2. I believe the criteria for the local search results filter has changed and is now filtering businesses in the same category in the same building. I have a client in NYC who is popping in and out of the 3-pack and every time he disappears, the guy in his building who offers the same service appears and vice versa.

I'm a member at that forum and am going to link to our example of your business here, to add to the examples Local SEOs are looking at to try to establish a pattern. This is not a solution, yet, but we are at least on the right track now. Highly recommend you read the whole thread over there and look at the examples of other businesses experiencing this. Hang in there!

[MiriamEllis]

****Heads-up CalicoKtity - feel free to skip this response and look at my next one. I've figured out what happened to your listing!

Ah, okay, thank you for clarifying that. Some more questions/observations. Please note, I'm just reeling these off as I look:

1. From what I can see, your business is outside of the official boundaries of Cape Canaveral. Here's how Google outlines Cape Canaveral:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cape+Canaveral,+FL+32920/@28.3882309,-80.6241774,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x88e0a5ab39504c9b:0xbb0bb0f57a55d19e!8m2!3d28.3922182!4d-80.6077132

vs. your location which appears to be associated with Port Canaveral:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sea+Leveler+Sport+Fishing+Charters/@28.4086071,-80.6143363,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xb376f8aa9ed43c09!8m2!3d28.4086071!4d-80.6143363

Is your official USPS address Cape or Port Canaveral? I am asking, because I see that the website and the GMB listing both list you as being in Cape Canaveral, but for whatever reason, your map marker is outside of Google's designation of that city's borders. Can you let us know what the scenario is with the address, please?

2. As I mentioned earlier, there was a local pack shakeup, and some spam seems to have reemerged in some packs. So, it could be that this is impacting you. Did you read the articles I had shared?

3. Hmm, yeah, I'm concerned about what you're experiencing, looking at what is ranking. Your competitors for the search 'fishing charter cape canaveral' are all located along that strip of shoreline that I guess is Port Canaveral, so if this is the cluster/centroid Google associates with this search, you SHOULD be ranking amongst these competitors. Have you received any notifications from Google, have you seen anything notifications in Google Search Console, or anything like that? I'm guessing not, but just checking. You are definitely absent from the local finder results, as far as I can see, and I believe there is genuine cause for concern about this.

4. The advice you got from the Google rep sounds totally useless to me. There reps sometimes give really poor answers Please, look at your edit history in your Google My Business dashboard (https://support.google.com/business/answer/3480441?hl=en) to see if you see any edits there. Let me know exactly what you see.

5. As the Google rep was so unhelpful, I highly recommend post in Google's Forum (https://www.en.advertisercommunity.com/t5/Google-My-Business/ct-p/GMB#) in hopes that a TC will be able to take an internal look at what happened. I understand, your business is on the line here, so I'm making this suggestion that you plead for help there.

Feel free to keep coming back here with what you learn. This is pretty mysterious and I know how important it is to your business to figure out what happened.

[CalicoKitty2000]

When I search for my business name, it shows the Google my Business knowledge panel on the right hand side.  It has my name in big letters.  Under that, it has my reviews.  Then under that it says in gray letters "Fishing Charter in Port Canaveral, Florida"

[MiriamEllis]

Hi There,

Can you please clarify what you mean by this:

On my knowledge panel, it says "Fishing Charter in Port Canaveral, Florida"

Are you saying you created a Google My Business listing with that as the business title, instead of your legal business name?

[CalicoKitty2000]

Hi Miriam,

Thank you for taking a look.  My issue is not resolved.    I used to appear in the top 3 for nearly every search term.  So for instance, on my knowledge panel, it says "Fishing Charter in Port Canaveral, Florida".  But, if I type that in a search bar, my business is not listed in any of the map results.  (But I still rank #3 on the organic search results).  I have more reviews than most everyone else.  And a 4.9 rating.  And there are business that are closed down showing.  And businesses that seem to have never claimed their listing showing.  I'm just not understanding why I am not.

I called Google My Business and they were not really any help at all.  He kept telling me that I made a recent edit and that makes popularity go down.  I told him that I dropped out of the results and had edited after the drop.  There was another unverified business listing there.  It was listed as an AdWords account.  So, we got rid of that.

Another thing... if I look at the Google Maps analytics, I am still getting views.  I'm just not sure how I am still getting views when I can't even find myself on maps using a variety of search terms.  Is there any way to see what search terms are used for maps?

[MiriamEllis]

Hey There!

Sorry to hear about this. First, I do want to be sure to mention that there has been a shakeup in the packs in the past week. Please see:

http://www.localsearchforum.com/google-local-important/42891-lot-movement-3-pack-local-finder.html

and

http://searchengineland.com/google-filtering-business-local-search-results-258044

I'm looking up 'Sea Leveler Cape Canaveral' in Google right now, and do see a Knowledge Panel for your business, so that's good news, and see this GMB listing:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sea+Leveler+Sport+Fishing+Charters/@28.4086071,-80.6143363,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xb376f8aa9ed43c09!8m2!3d28.4086071!4d-80.6143363

So, I see no signs that your listing has actually be suspended. Please let me know, did you see your issue resolve? Are you able to see the above listing okay?

[CalicoKitty2000]

My website is www.sealeveler.com and the name is Sea Leveler Sport Fishing Charters. I have been getting these recorded calls saying my business is not verified from "Google" for a long time now. I always just hung up. I know it wasn't Google because they say they don't do automated calls. But, I guess somehow there was a duplicate listing for some time now. I have no idea how it got there.

[melaniedsg]

Hi Calico,

You might need to provide some additional information on the website and business you're referring to and what country you are operating in, so people can take a deeper look.

Thanks,

Ben