• About
    • History of Dallas SEO
    • SEO Expert Witness Services
  • Contact
  • Topics
    • Bing
    • Blogging
    • Branding
    • Domain Names
    • Google
    • Internet Marketing
    • Link Building
    • Local Search
    • Marketing
    • Public Relations
    • Reputation Management
    • Search Engine Marketing
    • Search Engine Optimization
    • Search Engines
    • Social Media
    • Tech
  • Advertise
  • Email Newsletter

Bill Hartzer

Bill Hartzer on Search, Marketing, Tech, and Domains.

SEMrush

Home » Local Search » How Google Places Listings are Different than Google Web Results

How Google Places Listings are Different than Google Web Results

Posted on May 6, 2011 Written by Bill Hartzer

When you perform a search at Google with a query that includes a city name, there is a good chance that Google will automatically pull some of the Google Places Listings into the search results.

Google is treating Google Places just like they have traditionally treated Google News, by automatically populating the search results with results from Google Places. We call that Google Universal Search. I like it, and it’s been around for a while now. Other Google services that you’ll see pulled into Google’s organic search results include videos and images. It makes for a better-looking, more pleasing, and ultimately a better search experience. So, a search for “Dallas Hotels” on Google will show a search result like this:

google dallas hotels

However, search marketers like myself need to be aware, though, that not all Google services are treated alike. They are not all treated equally. Case in point: Google does not pull the meta description tag from and use it in the Google Places listings when they appear in the Google search results. At least I could not find an example of them doing this. In the Google “web results”, their “normal” organic search results, Google will typically pull data from your meta description tag (unless you tell them not to do so).

When a Google Places listing shows up in the organic search results in Google, the listing does not pull your meta description tag like it does in the web results. Rather, Google Places listings in the organic search results pull content from the page, and ignores the meta description tag. That can be an issue from some sites, especially if the site has Flash. Google’s spiders (like most search engine spiders) ignore the Flash content and will crawl as if they don’t have Flash installed. So there is a chance, like in the attached screen capture below, that some of your non-flash content will show up in the Google organic search results.

From all of my research, it appears that there really is not anything consistent about how or when or which data Google pulls in the Google Places listings when they are displayed in the Google search results. I have seen sites’ Google Places listings show their DMOZ/ODP description, the meta description from the page, and even content from the page when a meta description tag is on the page. So Google Places listings in the organic search results could even have their meta description tag from the page ignored altogether. I have seen, though, a case where the Google Places listing in the organic search results is pulling the DMOZ/ODP description merely because there was no meta description tag on the actual page. Sure, Google could have pulled the content from the page, but chose not to in that case.

So, how is Google Places Listings different than Google’s Web Results? From what I can tell, it’s all over the place (no pun intended). In fact, the only real difference is that it’s inconsistent.

Filed Under: Local Search

SEMrush

About Bill Hartzer

Bill Hartzer is CEO of Hartzer Consulting, LLC, an SEO Consulting firm that includes services such as search engine optimization, technical SEO audits, domain name consulting, and online reputation management.

Recent Posts

  • dotDB is Not Shutting Down February 1, 2023
  • Someone Stole My Domain Name: Here’s What You Do January 4, 2023
  • Web Hosting Services Market to Grow to $254.86 Billion by 2029 December 13, 2022
  • This SEO Blog Post Was Written by ChatGPT December 8, 2022
  • Facebook Rolling Out Facebook Articles December 7, 2022
  • Doing SEO is Better Than… December 6, 2022
  • Tucows and GoDaddy Report Q3 2022 Results November 6, 2022
  • How to Measure App Events Sourced by Organic Search and SEO September 20, 2022
  • Google Allegedly Eavesdrops and Monitors the Brain 24 hours a Day to Control Humanity September 14, 2022
  • Why You Shouldn’t Hire SEOs Based on An Email September 13, 2022
  • Global SEO Market to Reach $122.11 Billion by 2028 September 9, 2022
  • Bluehost Launches New Commerce Solutions for WordPress September 8, 2022
  • Which CMS? How to Choose the Best CMS for Your Purposes August 29, 2022
  • Accidental SEO Manager: Interview with Ash Nallawalla August 15, 2022
  • Sometimes Google Isn’t Family Friendly August 1, 2022
  • Something’s Seriously Wrong with Facebook Notifications July 12, 2022
  • Facebook Internet Tracking Settlement June 24, 2022
  • RankSense Acquired by SEOClarity June 1, 2022
  • LinkedIn Links, Digital Marketing News, and SEO Questions Answered May 9, 2022
  • GoDaddy Ending Forwarding of Existing Shortened Links May 5, 2022

US Agency Awards Judge

DFWSEM logo

Bill Hartzer is a Brand Ambassador for:



Industry Friends

I Love SEO
WTFSEO
SEO By the Sea
Jeff Lenney
Jeff Gabriel
Phil Drinkwater
Dixon Jones
Brian Hartzer
Navah Hopkins

Connect With Bill Hartzer

Bill Hartzer on Twitter
Bill Hartzer on Instagram
Hartzer Consulting on Facebook
Bill Hartzer on Facebook
Bill Hartzer on YouTube

Categories

  • Advertising (19)
  • Bing Search Engine (6)
  • Blogging (42)
  • Branding (12)
  • Domain Names (210)
  • Google (236)
  • Internet Marketing (25)
  • Internet Usage (85)
  • Link Building (53)
  • Local Search (39)
  • Marketing (180)
  • Marketing Foo (30)
  • Pay Per Click (3)
  • Podcast (18)
  • Public Relations (8)
  • Reputation Management (9)
  • Search Engine Marketing (44)
  • Search Engine Marketing Events (48)
  • Search Engine Marketing Firms (19)
  • Search Engine Marketing Jobs (33)
  • Search Engine Optimization (164)
  • Search Engines (204)
  • Social Media (192)
  • Tech (7)
  • Web Analytics (17)
  • Webinars (1)

Note: All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners. All company, product and service names used in this website are for identification purposes only, and are mentioned only to help my readers. All other trademarks cited herein are the property of their respective owners. Use of these names, logos, and brands does not imply endorsement.




Hartzer Consulting



Website, Content, and Marketing by Hartzer Consulting, LLC.

Copyright © 2023 ·