Continuing their trend of introducing new and innovative search results formats, Google announced the launch of the Local Search Carousel on June 18th 2013. It represents a dramatic visual departure from legacy search results pages, with a new type of result positioned at the top of the page....

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Carousel
July 2013

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Lead Contributors
Kenneth Domingo
SEO Specialist
Havas Media North America
kenneth.domingo@havasmedia.com
Winston Burton
VP, SEO
Havas Media North America
winston.burton@havasmedia.com
Ann Kane
SVP, Search Marketing Director
Havas Media North America
ann.kane@havasmedia.com
Alan Boughen
SVP, Global Search Director
Havas Media Group
alan.boughen@havasmg.com

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Following its tradition of innovation, on June 18, 2013, Google announced the launch
of the Local Search Carousel. It represents a dramatic visual departure from legacy
results pages, with a new type of result positioned at the top of the page. Google
will now render a horizontal “carousel” of tiled images above all other search results
on local searches for queries on categories like hotels, nightlife and restaurants. The
tiles include thumbnail images, ratings and reviews. When clicked, an appropriate
search query is issued, results are adjusted, and a Knowledge Panel opens up. Goo-
gle has promised more features and functions are to come.
In the new design, Google has pushed organic results below the fold. In the tests
Havas Media has run, PPC and HPA ads were rendering above the fold. While Goo-
gle’s intentions are presumably for the benefit of the user, in the immediate days
following deployment, the carousel’s functionality departs from traditional process
with adjusting results. Consumers may find the information retrieval process less
intuitive and more challenging.
The interactive carousel rollout is currently limited to English language in the US
only. Google has said they will add more features and languages over time.
Local Search Carousel Overview
The information on the cards at the top of the page is sourced from Google’s Local
Universal results. The listings feature information from the 30-point ratings system
for Google Places. When Google has prices & availability for the selected hotel, an
HPA ad will render in the Knowledge Panel.
How to Rank

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At first glance, the carousel comes off as a much more visually appealing delivery
of local search results, with thumbnail images as its most prominent element. For
hotel-related generic+geo searches i.e. Ocean City Maryland Hotels, Google will
show the carousel listings with paid search ads and sponsored ads directly below
the carousel listings.
The following pages show
a breakdown of multiple
scenarios with the
carousel-driven SERPs >>
User Experience

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>> Scenario 1: If the user clicks on the carousel
In theory, this is a more likely scenario since the visual appeal is intended to take
away click share from the organic listings. Once a carousel listing is clicked, a new
SERP is generated with the property brand name + city as the query.
Then the user can click on the hotel website (that is if no one is bidding on the
brand name + city query). This may motivate advertisers to start bidding on these
queries, increase paid search spend, and produce more revenue for Google.
Or, the user can click on the hotel rates in the knowledge graph. Generally, the links at
the forefront with rates are from OTAs, with the owner site link at the bottom. Again,
this is another instance of Google encouraging revenue-generating user behavior.
If the user clicks through
to the hotel site via pure
organic listing, it may be
labeled as a branded query
visit, instead of a generic
+geo query visit as it would
be pre-carousel click.

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>> Scenario 2: If the user does not click on the carousel
Two forms of paid Search ads render directly below and above the fold: sponsored
results and Hotel Finder. Clicking on Hotel Finder will expand the listings, but OTA
buttons with rates remain most prominent. In many cases the site owner link is
available but only at the bottom of the “More” dropdown:
Users can still scroll down and
click through to the site via pure
organic listing without clicking on
the carousel or paid units.
From a business perspective, the positioning and side-scroll functionality gives
exposure to more results. Factoring the Google Places requirement, it is good
news for hoteliers vying for premium local search visibility and ranking below the
fold of the traditional local search packs. It is potentially a game-changer for the
highly competitive generic+geo category as OTAs are currently not eligible.
As it is now a primary source for these listings, it forces marketers to manage
Google Places. To maintain strong organic coverage, an active presence within
Google Places will be needed to monitor and enhance listings. We also anticipate
increased user interaction with Google Places and potentially HPA.
More importantly, with this new layout organic search will likely lose click share
and competing for visibility will require usage of paid ads. The paid search list-
ings occupy premium space and organic results are further down the page regard-
less of whether or not the carousel is used. Furthermore, while these units are cur-
rently not under a paid model, Google may charge in the future as it has continued
efforts to better monetize the page. Driving traffic via pure organic listings would
become more challenging.
Benefits/ Tradeoffs

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In 2012 Google fundamentally over-hauled its delivery of shopping results. It an-
nounced a series of changes built around the Google Shopping platform to pro-
vide more innovative functionality and results customized to shopping. This move
to Product Listings Ads (PLAs) impacted both the way information was rendered
in search listings and as well as how marketers were charged.
The shift to PLAs signified a move to a paid inclusion model as marketers were
forced to pay-per-click similar to the sponsored PPC ads. Previously, Google in-
tegrated product information into the organic search results. Product listings had
been an organic result determined by the algorithm and not a paid auction. Mar-
keters were not charged per click and it was essentially an enhanced value of an
active SEO strategy.
As one of the categories included, hotel advertisers’ results are expected to be
impacted by this change to the local search ecosystem. At this point it’s difficult to
predict what user behaviors will result from the launch of the local search carousel
or how future innovations will further compound change. We will measure the im-
pact to revenue and ROI. Below is a list of possible impacts:
• Local organic search KPIs may decrease.
• Core organic search KPIs driven by [generic]+[geo] terms may decrease.
• Brand property name + City traffic and conversions may increase.
It’s important to note that the aforementioned decreases may not be true de-
creases, but merely re-routing of traffic. Additionally, the launch of the local search
carousel may not result in a considerable decline in overall organic KPIs, as in many
cases organic search performance is largely driven by branded queries.
Similarities to Google Shopping
What does this mean for Hotel Advertisers?

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Despite this major change in generic local searches, SEO best practices remain
the same:
• Use high-resolution images.
Although the user path through the carousel may be less than ideal, it’s still
important for advertisers to entice user click through by using high quality
and resolution images. This is one of the brand’s first opportunities to
engage the user, and should not be ignored.
• Continue optimizing and maintaining Google+ listings.
Ranking in local search packs correlate with placement in the carousel and
are still present in mobile SERPs. Advertisers should continue to maintain
accuracy of Google+ listings and encourage reviews to maintain and
improve local search visibility.
• Monitor search behavior via Analytics.
Advertisers and agency teams should closely monitor user behaviors from
generic+geo search queries in the coming weeks. Once these behaviors are
confirmed and analyzed, you will be able to adapt to an SEO strategy that
ensures optimal performance in light of the recent changes.
• Paid search can ramp up spending on search terms to capture more
traffic, revenue and conversions if organic search experiences a decline.
• Continue to monitor any changes in organic visibility and KPIs on the site
side. Analytics and SEO teams should be prepared to react accordingly.
Next Steps

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Resources
Google official announcement
https://plus.google.com/+google/posts/KpsbyvHUotN
The Beta test
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2267459/New-Google-Local-Listings-
Carousel-Showcases-7-Results-Above-the-Fold
Where do users click the most on the carousel?
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2278048/Google-Local-Carousel-
Results-Where-Do-Users-Click-Most

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