A few weeks ago, we reported on a possible Google local search ranking update, which turned out to not be an update but a bug. That bug seems to be fixed or be fixed now. But the rankings are beginning to return for these local service area businesses.
The bug seems to start and be fixed on Friday, September 23rd afternoon.
The Local SEO Jason Brown wrote in the Local Search Forum:’
On Google news, one of my clients got its rankings back. They are back in the map pack, but not in the same number one spot as before. He also said later, “My other client is back ranking against him too.” It looks like the fix is being rolled out now. “
He also showed the chart which shows how all rankings are returned:
Joy Hawkins also posted about it on Twitter.
If you are seeing massive Google organic search traffic changes in your analytics or your SEO tools from yesterday noon through this morning, you should disregard it. And also make an annotation in your analytics noting that organic search reporting should be ignored for that whole period. If you look at it, it can really cause you some serious stress and it is unwarranted.