Google de-emphasizes proximity in LSAs

Google tweaked some wording on its LSA Help page, indicating it’s emphasizing service area over business location when ranking ads.  

Why it matters: Google aims to display LSAs based on relevancy. 

What’s happening: In the section that explains how LSAs are ranked, on its Help page, it removed a line that said, “and your proximity to potential customers’ locations.”

• The change was spotted by an SEO analyst who tweeted a before-and-after screenshot — here. 

• Google’s Ginny Marvin responded, writing, “To clarify, LSA ranking has evolved over time as we have learned what works best for consumers and advertisers.”

• “We've seen that proximity of a business' location is often not a key indicator of relevancy. For example, the physical location of a home cleaning business matters less to potential customers than whether their home is located within the business' service area,” she added.

Of note: Marvin explained that location is still considered and that the Help Center article was updated earlier this year to “more accurately” reflect that service area is more relevant than business location.

• “I want to confirm that this was a Help Center update only, and not an indication of a recent or sudden change to ranking considerations.”

The bottom line: Considering the upped emphasis on service area, Search Engine Journal noted, “With the recent changes… businesses should update the service areas listed for their ads to reflect the regions they can realistically provide services.” 

• “You’ll want to match the service areas to what’s listed on your Google Business Profile.”

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