New Local Finder and Business Profile Test for Services Businesses

Tom Waddington Tom Waddington

Google is testing a new style of result in the local pack for certain services categories. This appears to be related to the business profile changes test for services businesses that I posted about last month. In addition to the changes when looking at a specific listing, I am now seeing a different style at times for the “local finder” on mobile when performing searches specific to some services categories.

This shows an example of the new style on the left compared to what is typically seen on the right:

The map is missing on the new style and there are two fields at the top: one for the service and one for the location. The physical address is not present on each listing from this view but ‘years in business’ is. You can also see a Booking icon is present from this view on the new style while it is not an option from this view on the old/current style.

While the order of the results is clearly different, I wouldn’t put too much focus on that at this point. This is likely due to how I was able to trigger both results on my phone to get these screenshots so it’s not an exact one-to-one comparison. I didn’t get to them the same way so that could explain the variation. It’s too early and there’s not enough data to say this anything more than a visual change test.

Which Business Categories are Impacted?

Quite a few and it’s not just categories that are also specific to Local Services Ads, although it does appear to cover all of those. In addition to numerous home services categories (HVAC, plumbing, pest control, roofing, etc.) and professional services (lawyers, real estate agents, financial planners, etc.), I’m also seeing this style for jewelry design and repair services, beauty & nail salons, gyms & fitness centers, dry cleaners, veterinarians & animal hospitals and more. 

How to Tell if You’re Able to See the New Style Test

Do a search on your phone for a services-type business (plumber, for example). Scroll down to the local 3-pack and tap ‘More businesses’ to view the expanded list of local results (often referred to as ‘the local finder’). At that point, you would either see the new style with the services field and location field at the top, or you would see the old/current style that shows the map.

Business Profile Changes Related to the Test

The business profiles themselves also look different if you get to them from this new style of local finder. I covered several of the differences in my article last month with some of the most notable being:

• The About section is gone. The information typically shown in that section is now on the overview except for the short name and social profiles, which are not present anywhere
• The Posts/Updates section is gone. No posts are shown if you get to it from the new local finder style
• The Products section is gone
• The appointment link is gone
• Reviews for some businesses may show a breakdown with specific ratings for Punctuality, Quality, and Responsiveness

And the most interesting change to me is the URL for this new style of local finder and business profile begins with google.com/localservices, which is what profiles for Local Services Ads begin with. So I think we’ll eventually see more Local Services Ads integration with this new style of local finder for some business categories.