Google now supports local business queries in the two search result units it rolled out in the European Economic Area this month. The company logged the change on September 18 and updated its Search Central pages for the aggregator unit and the supplier unit the same day.

Both pages now list local businesses alongside hotels, flights, long distance trains or buses, and products. The shift matters for local SEO and directory businesses: EEA local results can now include a unit for directories and a companion unit for the businesses themselves.

A one-line changelog

Google's changelog entry is brief: "The aggregator unit and supplier unit now support local business queries."

The mechanics of the two units haven't changed. The aggregator unit shows listings from approved vertical search services, a group Google says includes directories, comparison shopping services, and metasearch engines. The top-ranked provider's results are expanded by default, and only one aggregator unit displays at a time. The supplier unit appears alongside it and shows the businesses themselves.

A separate Google Actions Center page defines local searches as those involving dining, services such as beauty salons, and things to do such as attractions.

Earlier this month the picture was different. When Search Engine Journal covered the rollout on September 8, Google's supplier page named brick-and-mortar businesses and plumbers as examples but didn't list local queries as supported. Now it does.

How directories and local businesses can appear

Directories and other aggregators need approval as a vertical search service before they can appear in the units. Google now routes local applicants to the same interest form it uses for hotel, flight, and ground transportation queries.

For local queries, applicants must also supply a point of interest feed. The feed carries fields such as business name, address, phone number, category, images, and ratings.

The Actions Center page says data sent through the feed is used only to fill the partner's own unit. It won't be used for Google's services or competitors' units. The same page says the aggregator unit "replaces existing units" on the results page for local searches. It doesn't name those units, and neither Search Central page mentions the local pack or Business Profiles.

Local businesses themselves don't have to send anything. The supplier page says direct providers must serve users in the EEA and don't need to provide data beyond what Google can crawl, though feeds can enhance their results. The supplier unit only appears when an aggregator unit does.

Why this matters

For local queries where these units appear, EEA results now have an aggregator side and a supplier side. Approved directories and other vertical search services can compete for placement once they supply the feed. Local businesses can appear in the supplier unit next to them without sending Google extra data.

There are open questions. Google's pages don't say how often the units show for local queries or which aggregators have been approved. For marketers tracking performance, rank tracking and Search Console data from EEA countries may now reflect a different search experience than the same queries get elsewhere.

The DMA clock is ticking

Google built the redesign to comply with the EU's Digital Markets Act. A deadline in the European Commission's Search decision is approaching: the Commission's July 23 press release gave Google 60 days to comply with its decisions. As of September 18, Search Engine Journal found no Commission statement on whether the Search redesign satisfies the order.

The same release noted that Google risks periodic penalty payments if it doesn't comply.

Source: Search Engine Journal (https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-adds-local-businesses-to-eea-search-result-units/589955/) / Source: developers.google.com (https://developers.google.com/search/updates)