Why are 0-review GBPs dominating the map pack?

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Usman.

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I have been analyzing some Local research results this week and the map pack is acting completely different, Because I am seeing the established profiles with solid reviews stuck down to the 4th and 5th position,

While a medium level google buisness profile is sitting at the top..

Is Google giving some kind of temporary "honeymoon period" to test the new profiles CTR or its filters completely ignoring the trust signals? What are you guys seeing
 
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I think Google is weighing relevance and proximity a lot more these days, so reviews alone don't seem to guarantee top spots anymore. I've noticed newer profiles sometimes jump up quickly, but whether they stay there is a different story.
 
To be honest i dont seem to understand Google myself, it makes me feel like everything is about luck but i think Google seems to be putting more weight on relevance, user behavior, and query intent than just review count or profile age. Sometimes newer or mid-level profiles can jump ahead if they’re matching what users are searching for better, even if only temporarily.
 
Market Shifter said:
I think Google is weighing relevance and proximity a lot more these days, so reviews alone don't seem to guarantee top spots anymore. I've noticed newer profiles sometimes jump up quickly, but whether they stay there is a different story.
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ads studio said:
To be honest i dont seem to understand Google myself, it makes me feel like everything is about luck but i think Google seems to be putting more weight on relevance, user behavior, and query intent than just review count or profile age. Sometimes newer or mid-level profiles can jump ahead if they’re matching what users are searching for better, even if only temporarily.
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india said:
Its not always review as review can be manipulated easily. I guess Google will give less weightage to review.
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Okay, This makes a lot of sense that means instead of reviews google is prioritizing the relevance rather then reviews which are easy to manipulate. It really feel like google throwing fresh profiles at top to check user behaviour, I have one more question, Does you guys see any profile ranking without any reviews?
 
It happen when niche got Google map page with less or no reviews on certain niche determine the popularity of the niche,most popular niche gmb pages got reviews to choose the best delivery page.
 
Can you give few example queries?
 
Usman. said:
I have been analyzing some Local research results this week and the map pack is acting completely different, Because I am seeing the established profiles with solid reviews stuck down to the 4th and 5th position,

While a medium level google buisness profile is sitting at the top..

Is Google giving some kind of temporary "honeymoon period" to test the new profiles CTR or its filters completely ignoring the trust signals? What are you guys seeing
Click to expand...
such cases I have seen where the profile with vry less reviews pops up all the time. Keyword stuffing in the gbp name can certainly help, but make sure the category is in close proximity first.
 
Usman. said:
I have been analyzing some Local research results this week and the map pack is acting completely different, Because I am seeing the established profiles with solid reviews stuck down to the 4th and 5th position,

While a medium level google buisness profile is sitting at the top..

Is Google giving some kind of temporary "honeymoon period" to test the new profiles CTR or its filters completely ignoring the trust signals? What are you guys seeing
Click to expand...
poor reviews get displayed high because of the matching category and location of the searches. do you verify the keyword from a number of places or just a single location? This can make a big difference indeed.
 
seen the same, a lot of it is proximity and category match, if the searcher is close and the primary category lines up, reviews matter less than people think. the new profiles jumping up does look like google testing them, and the ones that stick are usually the ones getting real engagement in that window, clicks from the map, direction requests, calls. single location rank checks will lie to you too, use a geo grid before deciding anything. for listings already sitting 4 to 6, slow geo matched clicks can help, its what the ctr service by jake lam does (disclosure, im connected to it), but it wont do much if the listing isnt already close to the pack for that area.
 
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