Handsome Logic

Google’s local search and map listings have been getting a lot of attention from Search Engine Roundtable, Mike Blumenthal and Smaxor’s blog (as featured in my 11 Blackhat Blogs You Can’t Afford Not to Read). In addition to pointing out an gaping vulnerability, this coverage also shows the appeal and value of local search listings.

But it’s important to remember, especially in local search, that there is life beyond Google.

What makes Live.com’s maps tick?

Live.com’s map search results are powered by Microsoft Virtual Earth, which is the steroid-freak cousin of Microsoft MapPoint. MapPoint was a very popular solution for websites needing location-based search functionality with accompanying dynamic maps. As with many Microsoft products, the introduction of more robust, less expensive alternatives chewed away a significant amount of MapPoint’s market share.

The way MapPoint ranks search results is by their distance from the user-defined home location. In the event that the home location is not an address, MapPoint finds the center and measures from there.

Center of what?

Think of every person who goes to a search engine and types in “My City, ST pizza”. That’s not a complete address, is it?

Let’s take, for example, my old home of Clifton, NJ. In MapPoint, a pushpin is inserted in what MapPoint considers to be the center of Clifton and measurements are made from there.

See the little blue pushpin?

Keep in mind that measurements do not take into account navigation of streets and highways or topography. Six miles is six miles whether it’s over a freeway or across Mt. Everest.

Similarly, Microsoft Virtual Earth (which powers Live.com maps) uses the same method to identify the center of an area and measure outwards. Here is the center of Clifton, NJ according to Virtual Earth:

Maybe a little tough to see since the streets aren’t as clearly labeled in the first screenshot, but you can still tell that both maps have identified the same center for Clifton.

So the question that presents itself if this:

What is a pizzeria owner to do if they are not the closest to this point in the map?

Move the shop? Annex more of the bordering city? Bribes?

Nay.

If you look closely at that last image, you can clearly see that the marker for result #5 is actually closer to Virtual Earth’s center of Clifton than result #4.

Sure enough, when looking at the listings next to the map, the miles show the same phenomenon:

Looking at this screenshot, we can see that Chris’s Pizza (is that apostrophe in the right place?) is actually closer to “Clifton” than Mario’s Restaurant & Pizzeria.

What we can also see, is that Mario’s has 4 reviews associated with their listing. Chris’s’s’s has none. And that is how the leapfrog is done.

Within a certain distance range, which I’d imagine varies on the total area included in your search and the distances separating the results, reviews that Live.com has associated with your listing will not only bridge the distance gap, but allow you to overtake listings that (according to VE) are actually closer to the home point.

Which review sites feed into Live.com vary by the type of business, but if you’ve got 5 minutes and a computer, there’s nothing stopping you from finding which sites Live.com considers authoritative review sites for your business. Simply click on the reviews for other businesses that already appear for searches you’re interested in and see where these reviews are coming from.

Make damn sure that the address of your business is the same across all of these local sites. May be a problem for… say… property managers, if all of the units in your complex have unique street addresses.

From what I’ve seen, the number of steps listed in driving directions (you know, turns and stuff) do not play a part in ranking your listing. This of course goes right back to what I was saying about 6 miles being 6 miles across a map, regardless of terrain or street navigation.

Most of the leapfrogging I’ve witnessed has been over distances of less than a mile. However, I live in New Jersey where everything is built on top of everything else and a 5 minute drive to the highway means you live in the sticks.

I will tell you this, though:

Quantity and quality both matter. I’ve seen search results on Live.com where a business over a mile closer to the center of a search area was leapfrogged by a greater-distance competitor over half a star.

Yup. Both had the exact name number of reviews, but that half-star difference in the 5-star review system was enough to leapfrog a competitor that was over a mile closer.

Now that Microsoft is aggressively pushing their mobile maps, local search marketers need to get busy collecting compliments. Frankly if you haven’t been collecting them already, you’re going to be holding onto the poles in the local search marketing bus.

Coming Soon: Live.com’s Trusted Review Network