In a rather surprising move Google seems to have pushed down the placement of local results in local intent search queries below the fold – causing you to have to scroll through a series of ads before you can view the local listings or local map. Normally you would have the map appear on the top right side and it would stay fixed as you scroll through the search results. Oh how things have changed now.
As news of this spreads across the webmaster community it seems people are seeing varying results. For some the local listings pack is down below the fold as in the screenshot above, while for others it’s prominently displayed in first place. It’s clear Google is doing some testing here specifically for local results. What’s your take on this change? How will it affect your local SEO efforts?