Local businesses and reviews are now getting prominent billing in Google’s search results, supplanting even the highest organic search engine results. From the Official Google Blog: Find and compare local businesses
From now on, you’ll see this every time you search for a place, business, or other local information. In addition to providing the basic contact information and map locations for several choices at the top of the page, we also show ratings and provide one-click access to reviews on the search results page so that you can make more informed decisions about where you want to go.
Here’s a couple clips of searches from my city.
A search for “real estate agent portland oregon”
More? Here’s a search for “realtor portland oregon – Google Search”
Who do you think will be getting the first phone call, if I was a consumer trying to find an agent?
This is even more reason for Realtors and brokers to ensure that their companies are listed in Google Local Business Center (for more, see Google’s Gunning for Real Estate Professionals).
So far, I haven’t seen any ratings on real estate listings. But they may be coming, so keep your eyes peeled.
