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The search results are not varying AT ALL now.

Thanks for you reply Miriam.

That SEJ piece emphasized what I already knew about local listings with a mention of pricing. The rest is just info about Google Hotel Finder.

Pricing is the only variable I can think of that would explain variances in date selection, but this ignores listings with no price. It seems most changes come from the different date range rather than date.

Searching for accommodation in a local region brings up a local listing block (e.g. http://puu.sh/irEoJ/635140594d.png). When clicking through to the block and changing dates, the order of the listings vary greatly. See attachments for 4 samples.

How is Google deciding to order these listing blocks?

I initially speculated they are pulling availability rates from Online Travel Agents like Expedia or Booking.com, but doubt this to be the case given a lot of those listings do not have Google Hotel Ads and smaller operators do not have their distribution system hooked up to Google Hotel.

tVX816P,8U6RbcP,N6xGEdx,YC4K344#0 tVX816P,8U6RbcP,N6xGEdx,YC4K344#1 tVX816P,8U6RbcP,N6xGEdx,YC4K344#2 tVX816P,8U6RbcP,N6xGEdx,YC4K344#3

Thanks for sharing Miriam.

No point solving this issue then. "In order to make sure we are showing the most accurate and current content about your business on Google, third party reviews will soon no longer be visible in Google My Business." My interpretation of that was "we're missing a lot of reviews for businesses like yours and have incorrectly associated another businesses' reviews with yours so we'll throw away this feature and focus on the Google monopoly."

This seems like a frustration for many who do SEO for local business. The Google Plus aggregation of reviews is vaguely created and out of our control. Or is it?

The most I can find about it is at: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3474120?hl=en&ref_topic=6109351

I have clients in the accommodation industry who are reviewed thoroughly on similar sites to one another. Some of these clients have 100+ "Reviews From Around the Web" where as others are stuck at one or two reviews. My thoughts are that the business name, address, and phone details would allow Google to link the review with the local listing. I'm not sure and doubt this is just the case because the low-review listings have consistent NAP details.

Have you been able to get reviews aggregating for a local business in their Google Plus?

This seems like a frustration for many who do SEO for local business. The Google Plus aggregation of reviews is vaguely created and out of our control. Or is it?

The most I can find about it is at: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3474120?hl=en&ref_topic=6109351

I have clients in the accommodation industry who are reviewed thoroughly on similar sites to one another. Some of these clients have 100+ "Reviews From Around the Web" where as others are stuck at one or two reviews. My thoughts are that the business name, address, and phone details would allow Google to link the review with the local listing. I'm not sure and doubt this is just the case because the low-review listings have consistent NAP details.

Have you been able to get reviews aggregating for a local business in their Google Plus?

Thanks for sharing Miriam.

No point solving this issue then. "In order to make sure we are showing the most accurate and current content about your business on Google, third party reviews will soon no longer be visible in Google My Business." My interpretation of that was "we're missing a lot of reviews for businesses like yours and have incorrectly associated another businesses' reviews with yours so we'll throw away this feature and focus on the Google monopoly."