New design for Googles Local Search results. No more "7 Pack"

[Andre-S]

Hello MOZ-People,
since yesterday I see (here in germany) for many keywords, that the local results in Google (the so called "7 Pack") is just a "3 Pack". AND, and this leads to my question, for keywords that suggest Google that you want to rent a vacation home, I see the possibility to enter the dates for arrival and departure (see the pic). But for now, it seems that changeing the dates has no impact on the results.

Has anyone a clue, what Google has in mind with these dates? Is the an official Google response I have missed?

Thank you for your answers.

Best regards
André

9pIG7CV

[Yeeply.com]

Hello Marco,

I guess what you have seen is the SERP snippet of Google Hotels (https://www.google.com/hotelfinder).

Take a look at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3Fjnp7fdZM

I hope my answer was helpful

Luis

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Andre!

I wish I knew more about Local SEO in Germany, but your screenshot looks like the new-ish 3-Pack that Google rolled out in the US last winter to replace their Carousel results. See coverage of this here:

http://searchengineland.com/google-axes-carousel-new-local-3-pack-208710

For hotels, restaurants and other hospitality/entertainment searches, Google had rolled out the Carousel in the summer of 2013, but this has been replaced by these results. Naming conventions have been kind of scattered. You'll hear terms like 3-pack, snack pack, local stack, hamburger pack. I think it's just easiest to call it a 3-pack. I'm not sure when these 3-packs rolled out in Germany, but this is likely what you are seeing. The upshot is that it has just become harder than ever to compete when Google is only awarding pack status to only 3 businesses!