Vicinity, the new Google update, increases the weight of the Proximity factor and decreases the impact of keywords in business names in local intent search.
Keep reading to learn more!
What is the new Vicinity update?
Vicinity means an area near or around a specific place. The update received this name because Google wants to increase the weight of the proximity factor in local search results.
Google takes into account 3 main factors when ranking a location:
- Relevance: how well the business's characteristics match what the consumer is looking for.
- Online reputation: this refers to the level of trust and popularity of a business (number of reviews, rating, interaction, etc.).
- Proximity: the distance of the establishment from the consumer's location.
Although proximity is an important signal for local search results, some establishments still managed to rank in the top results even when located far from the consumer's location.
Through the Vicinity update, Google wants to change that, which will naturally make local search results more relevant to the user —in terms of proximity.
Map shrinking
Mike Blumenthal, co-founder of Local University, shared on Last Week in Local that the new Google map has had its radius shrunk.
Notice how the map's radius used to be much larger and is now more restricted—covering a much smaller area.
Image before the change (source):
Image after the change (source)
With this change in Google's "perspective," companies closer to the consumer's search radius may see their reach increase, as competition with companies further away has decreased.
Conversely, companies that previously ranked highly for locations far from their headquarters will see their reach decline.
Impact of keyword usage in company names
A study by the Sterling Sky revealed that Google has indeed begun to devalue the impact of keywords in company names.
Research data showed that companies that use keywords (inappropriately) in their name saw a drop in search rankings.
This appears to indicate that Google has begun penalizing companies that adopt this practice to improve their ranking in local search results.
According to Sterling Sky's studies, below are screenshots from a company where one of the keywords describing their service is part of the company's actual name.
The pins indicate the location from which the user is searching. The numbers inside the pins indicate the company's ranking position.
They used to rank very far from where they are located, and that doesn't happen anymore.
Conclusion
The way Google's algorithm determines local search results, which we discussed at the beginning, hasn't changed. Continue to keep your business information complete and up-to-date.
The most important thing is to be relevant to your customer and organically build a strong online reputation. Keep soliciting new reviews on the platform and responding to all of them.
Google will continue to update its local search algorithm, leaving businesses with no choice but to adapt to the changing landscape. We'll be keeping a close eye on the latest news!