Say goodbye to the 3-pack Well, Google has done it again. At SMX Advanced this week, Google announced that they’re making a big change to their local search 3-pack – the box of local search results that comes up when you search for a local business. In the near future, the top result in the local 3-pack will now be a paid ad, matching the trend in other changes Google has made to the search results. More and more, Google is prioritizing delivering paid results over organic results. In many cases, such as any local search conducted on mobile, there are currently no organic results above the fold. With Google’s increased focus on delivering advertising instead of organic search, the local 3-pack was a place where local businesses could really shine. However, the 3-pack will soon be a 2-pack, with the first result being taken up by […]