Google Experimenting With Local Business Cards In Search Results
It appears that Google is running a limited experiment when showing local search results. Some search results are seeing “business cards” appear for local search terms. The result shows a carousel with results from local businesses that match the search result. Google also allows the content to be shareable directly from carousel itself. This is an interesting move. Although it remains to be seen if the link to the individual business or its Google Maps entry is shared. According to SEL: “This was first spotted by Mike Blumenthal, but I have confirmed with Google that this is a real test. Local Business Cards are built on the same display functionality as Candidate Cards, launched a few weeks ago.” At this point the experiment is limited to a few search phrases. One interesting point mentioned: “It’s all custom content and not being drawn from Google My Business or any other feeds. It’s also noteworthy for the fact that it represents the first time that Google has introduced or allowed animation/GIFs on the search results page.” The content could be custom due to the nature of the experiment and we could safely assume that were to go public, then the content will likely be from Google Maps Businesses. There is no official confirmation from Google, but were it to be launched, it could be significant for local...
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