Google’s local search ranking algorithm was recently updated to strengthen its “openness” signal for non-browsing queries. Danny Sullivan, Google’s Search Link, said: “We’ve used ‘openness’ as part of our local ranking systems for some time, and it’s recently become a stronger signal for unrelated queries with navigation”.
what changed. Earlier this month a report showed that Google ranked businesses that are open more often in their local search rankings higher than businesses that are closed. “As of November 2023, Google appears to be looking at whether a business is currently open as a ranking factor for local package rankings,” Joy Hawkins wrote in her report.
Google has confirmed. A couple of weeks later, Google’s Danny Sullivan confirmed it saying“we’ve long used ‘openness’ as part of our local ranking systems, and recently it’s become a stronger signal for non-browsing queries.”
Navigation queries. Non-browsing queries are queries where you are looking for types of services versus specific brands. So a non-browsing query would be looking for a pharmacy, while a browsing query would be looking for CVS.
Don’t change your business hours. The report said: “If you are a business that is open 24 hours a day, this will benefit you in the evenings when your competitors disappear but you still rank.”
But Sullivan said, “That could change in a number of ways, as we continue to evaluate its utility, though.” He added: “I would not recommend that companies do this, given that the ranking signal may continue to adjust.”
Why we care If you notice changes to your Google Business Profile listings, this may be the reason. It’s also important to make sure your business hours reflect your true business hours because if you mess up your business hours, you never know if you could be hit with some kind of penalty in the future.
In short, Google now shows more businesses that are open at the current time of the search. It’s a good or bad thing for search engines is up for debate and probably very dependent on the query.
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