How come this one google places listing is the only one to show up google maps?

[activechase]

Hi there,

I found a really weird thing about google places.

I'm working on a google places listing optimization for a locksmith company in Houston, TX.

When I was searching google maps for "locksmith houston" only one listing came up.

However, when searching for "locksmith near houston" 880 results came up.

This changes from time to time, but most of the time this one competitor is the only listing that shows up which is really really weird.

Anybody has an idea what this competitor did to get rid of the other 879 results and show up alone on google maps??

[WhiteboardCreations]

Gidon,

It may seem odd, but you are searching for 2 completely different terms, "locksmith houston" and "locksmith near houston" aren't the same. Therefore, Google will only show relevant results for what is entered and the "near" to Google could be all of the surrounding cities, towns, villages, etc where there is a locksmith. However, I just did a search for several key phrases and "houston tx locksmith" is showing a TON of results, but "houston locksmith" is only showing the same one you are seeing.

I don't think it's a matter of the competitor getting rid of any results as they do not have that power. I think it's a matter of how they optimized both their website and their G+ page combined with the poor optimization of the other locksmith websites and G+ pages.

Perform some more keyword research to see who is showing for what keywords both in the natural SERPs and the Google Maps listings. Then go after the ones which suite your/your client's goals.

Hope this was helpful! - Patrick

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Gidon,

What you are seeing is likely part of the recently documented phenomenon of the Hummingbird update. Since that time, a ton of broad searches like this are, for some reason, returning a single one box result instead of the more typical 3 or 7-pack type of local result. You'll actually see this locksmith coming up as the only result in Google's main search engine as well as the Maps display you did the screenshot of. There isn't anything you can do about this, so far as I know, because it appears that Google's algo is currently turning up these odd results for numerous terms, but you can read more about the issue here:

http://blumenthals.com/blog/2013/09/28/hummingbird-local-knowledge-graph-shitty-search-results/

and

http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/google-local-important/10000-attack-bad-google-local-one-boxes.html

I recommend you read both posts and all their attendant comments. I'm afraid businesses finding themselves affected by results like this can't do much beyond hanging in there until Google does another tweak to remedy this problematic lack of diversity in the SERPs, but at least you will see from reading the above posts that you are not alone. I hope Google pays attention to this promptly. It's not a good user experience.

[MikeGeorge]

I agree with Miriam. There is a company in Phoenix that calls themselves "Phoenix SEO" in the maps- even though that's not the name of the company. When you search for Phoenix SEO, one company dominates the search. Very odd. But it will surely be worked out.