14 Feb 2024
- 24 Mar 2017
- 3 Min read
Google featuring ‘best-of’ content in local search results
Google is rolling out ‘On these lists’ to Google My Business pages in the UK, suggesting there’s huge opportunity for quality content to earn more exposure — and clicks — on the SERPs.
‘On these lists’ reveals select ‘best-of’ content that the business features in. For example, Blackfriars Restaurant is mentioned in the Guardian’s Newcastle’s top 10 budget eats article.
Where the business appears in local search results, as Blackfriars Restaurant does for ‘sunday lunch newcastle’, associated best-of lists appear like accolades. The article title and favicon are not linked, but there may be potential for publishers to earn clicks here in the future.
Google debuted ‘On these lists’ in US local search results back in August 2016, but this is the first sign we’ve seen of them in the UK. They also rolled out ‘Critic reviews’ on Google My Business pages at this time, but we haven’t spotted any on UK results.
At the moment, ‘On these lists’ only appear to be showing for UK businesses via the Google Maps app. They are showing for US businesses via mobile browsers too, but not on desktop browsers.
How does Google select the featured content?
When we first sent screenshots to Search Engine Roundtable founder Barry Schwartz, he theorised that the Guardian had formed a partnership with Google. However, we have since discovered multiple publishers feature in ‘On these lists’, suggesting it’s algorithmic.
But it’s early days, and the algorithm is by no means flawless. Just two of the restaurants featured in this Guardian top 10 have the accolade on their Google My Business page. And it’s unclear whether Google can tell the difference between a restaurant that’s recommended in a best-of, and one that’s simply mentioned (perhaps even critiqued) in the body content.
What does this mean for my business?
Content featured in ‘On these lists’ has good potential to earn clicks, especially if Google makes it clickable from the local search results and not just Google My Business pages. There will also be more potential as ‘On these lists’ rolls out to more platforms.
Exposure is currently restricted to “reputable publishers”, but this has one main drawback: a lack of options. The Guardian budget eats article was published in 2010, and how reliable are seven-year-old restaurant reviews? The top 10 from 2015 features one restaurant that’s permanently closed down. So, just like it does with featured snippets, we expect Google to open up ‘On these lists’ spots to other publishers so they can serve the best possible content to users.
We don’t think Google will stop at restaurant reviews, either. One day, writing about the latest iPhone release might see you featured on Apple’s Google My Business page. Or maybe there will be a link to your fashion article from a related Google Shopping result.
‘On these lists’ is yet another example of Google giving valuable SERP exposure to quality content, and further proof that investing in quality content is a smart way to secure more search visibility.
Seen anything unusual happening with ‘On these lists’ or ‘Critic reviews’? Leave a comment below!
