> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.nearmedia.co/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Local Pack Intent Gap, Slowing Search Spend, Review Star Chasm - URL: https://www.nearmedia.co/local-pack-intent-gap-slowing-search-review-chasm/ - Published: 2023-04-14T19:04:05.000Z - Updated: 2023-04-14T19:11:43.000Z - Author: Greg Sterling - Tags: News ### Google Throttling Local Packs? What's happening with the Local Pack? Last year, [Moz](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-local-pack-decrease-34319.html?ref=nearmedia.co) and [LocalSEOGuide](https://www.localseoguide.com/are-local-packs-dropping-from-google-serps/?ref=nearmedia.co) noticed a drop Local Pack frequency, from 40% and 42% of SERPs to 24% and 36% respectively. Moz [reports](https://moz.com/mozcast?ref=nearmedia.co) they're showing up even less frequently now. A related Q1 [study](https://getstat.com/blog/top-5-serp-features-2023/?ref=nearmedia.co) by STAT (Moz) looks at the most common SERP features and their share of voice. Local Packs appear now for \~20% of queries, but are the most visible feature when they do. Local Packs "showed up on 18.24% of mobile SERPs compared to 16.28% of desktop SERPs." They're far less common than other features like related searches, PAAs and videos. Yet local-intent queries are more frequent than Pack appearances. Over the years, Google has given us different local search numbers. In 2011, the company said [20% of desktop](https://searchengineland.com/study-43-percent-of-total-google-search-queries-have-local-intent-135428?ref=nearmedia.co) queries carried local intent. In 2017, it [was](https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/local-search-mobile-search-micro-moments/?ref=nearmedia.co) "nearly one-third of all mobile searches are related to location." But Google has also said, 40% of mobile traffic is local (Marissa Mayer 2011). And in 2018, Google [unofficially said](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-46-of-searches-have-local-intent-26529.html?ref=nearmedia.co) "46% of searches have a local intent." This leads us to declare a "Pack intent gap." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/03/80/0380d96d-ef7e-450e-96b3-2963e18aaab5/content/images/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-14-at-10.17.26-AM.png) Source: Moz-STAT (Q1 2023) **Our take:** - Local results and Local Packs aren't 100% synonymous. You *can* have localized results without Packs. That's happening more often now. - Yet, in a recent SEO project Near Media performed for a multi-location service company, we saw Local Packs in \~73% of results. - Google appears to be slowly throttling Packs [for antitrust reasons](https://www.nearmedia.co/what-might-google-local-pack-look-like-if-there-were-no-self-preferencing/) ("self-preferencing"). It's also experimenting with [Local Directory Carousels](https://twitter.com/mblumenthal/status/1646860674813788160?ref=nearmedia.co). ### Ad Spend: Search & Social Slow After a couple of pandemic-fueled years of record growth, digital ad spending came back down to earth in 2022\. That's according to the new internet ad revenue [report](https://www.iab.com/insights/internet-advertising-revenue-report-full-year-2022/?ref=nearmedia.co) from the IAB and PwC. Last year, online spending still increased a respectable 10.8% to $209.7 billion. Paid search, the largest single category of online spending, grew more slowly at 7.8%. Display and video advertising both outpaced it, though from smaller bases. Social media ad spending was just under $60 billion and grew at 3.6% – the smallest increase in a decade. This is partly due to Apple's privacy controls. Speaking of which, mobile ad revenue outpaced total spending growth, at 14.1%. Overall, mobile captured 73.5% of total spending (up 2.2%). In traditional media, TV grew 2%, out-of-home 14.6% and cinema-based advertising 56.3%. Digital ad spending first overtook TV in roughly 2016; now it's more than 2X larger. On a related note, the IAB report says that "Consumers are now spending more time with creator content than with studio-produced video content," which is significant. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/03/80/0380d96d-ef7e-450e-96b3-2963e18aaab5/content/images/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-14-at-9.24.03-AM.png) Source: IAB-PwC internet ad revenue report **Our take:** - The top 10 ad platforms captured 76.8% of all online ad revenue ($161.1 billion). However that share is down slightly (1.8%) from last year. - Paid search was $84.4 billion in 2022\. Most of that money is Google's but growth is flattening, partly because of rising CPCs. - Newer ad formats may continue to propel ad revenues but we've entered a period of lower growth for search, social and mobile. ### Trust Chasm between 3 - 4 Stars Despite [increasing consumer skepticism](https://www.nearmedia.co/consumer-trust-in-reviews/), online reviews are arguably more important than ever. They're almost universally consulted (98%) and remain a powerful influence on consumer decision making. We know from many surveys that consumers now want to see 4+ star ratings before considering a product or service. Businesses and brands understand this, which is why there's so much review fakery happening. A new review [survey](https://gofishdigital.com/blog/3-star-reviews-result-in-70-decrease-in-trust-data-study/?ref=nearmedia.co) from Go Fish Digital has a couple of interesting findings. It shows how consumer interest/trust falls off a cliff between three and four stars. While 96% of consumers would hypothetically trust businesses with 4+ stars, that number drops to 29% for businesses in the 3+ star range. From a business-owner perspective, the prospect pool drops by 70% if you don't have 4+ stars, hence the impulse to cheat. Another interesting finding: reviews are most used for items priced between $50 and $1K. Millennials and Gen Z are much more likely to consult reviews than older folks. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/03/80/0380d96d-ef7e-450e-96b3-2963e18aaab5/content/images/2023/04/Screen-Shot-2023-04-14-at-11.38.41-AM.png) Source: Go Fish Digital **Our take:** - With the exception of BrightLocal, most review surveys are point-in-time studies. Understanding trends over time is increasingly important. - We know many people address review distrust by using multiple sites to check directional review agreement (e.g., Google + Yelp + Tripadvisor). - We also need to find out whether and what other sources people use to supplement reviews – TikTok, other social, expert reviews? ## Short Takes - **Google** testing [Local Directory Carousel](https://twitter.com/mblumenthal/status/1646860674813788160?ref=nearmedia.co) in US. - **Google** [now showing car carousel](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-car-carousel-on-mobile-search-35212.html?ref=nearmedia.co) in mobile search results. - **Yelp** unveils "[most loved brands](https://blog.yelp.com/news/yelp-announces-the-50-most-loved-brands-in-the-us/?ref=nearmedia.co)" list. - **Amazon** is late to the generative AI party, [but jumping in](https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/13/with-bedrock-amazon-enters-the-generative-ai-race/?ref=nearmedia.co). - **Amazon**: "the best place for [advertisers](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/amazon-ceo-andy-jassy-2022-letter-to-shareholders?ref=nearmedia.co) to build their brands." - **AutoGPT** is the [next stage in AI](https://ai.plainenglish.io/autogpt-the-next-big-step-in-ai-based-on-gpt-3-5-and-gpt-4-almost-agi-2be8b75d69c8?ref=nearmedia.co) and a step toward [AGI](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial%5Fgeneral%5Fintelligence?ref=nearmedia.co). - **Substack** CEO [not ready](https://www.theverge.com/23681875/substack-notes-twitter-elon-musk-content-moderation-free-speech?ref=nearmedia.co) for Notes content moderation challenge. - **Twitter** [letting users buy and sell stocks](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/13/twitter-to-let-users-access-stocks-crypto-via-etoro-in-finance-push.html?ref=nearmedia.co), hopes to become super app. - **Twitter Blue** subscribers [can now use 10K characters](https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/13/twitter-introduces-10000-character-long-tweets-for-blue-subscribers/?ref=nearmedia.co). - Following NPR, **PBS** has [also stopped tweeting](https://www.axios.com/2023/04/12/pbs-twitter-government-funded-label?ref=nearmedia.co). - **ChatGPT** [able to predict stock movements](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/12/chatgpt-may-be-able-to-predict-stock-movements-finance-professor-says.html??ref=nearmedia.co) by analyzing headlines. - Inflation, interest rates dampen US **retail spending** [in March](https://www.census.gov/retail/marts/www/marts%5Fcurrent.pdf?ref=nearmedia.co). - MSFT [integrates](https://www.androidpolice.com/microsoft-bing-chat-on-swiftkey/??ref=nearmedia.co) **BingGPT** into Swiftkey Android keyboard. Listen to our [latest podcast](https://www.nearmedia.co/memo/). [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/03/80/0380d96d-ef7e-450e-96b3-2963e18aaab5/content/images/2021/02/near_memo_banner.png)](https://nearmedia.co/memo?ref=nearmedia.co) How can we make this better? Email [us](mailto:gsterling@nearmedia.co) with suggestions and recommendations.