Google 10 Pack Now a 7 Pack

[rmjvol]

Google seems to have switched from the 10 pack to a 7 pack. I can't find any searches right now that show the A-J local results. Maximum results next to a map is 7: A-G.

Great news if you're in the top 7. Kinda stinks if you were 8-10. Bigger font, less crowded. Maybe making room for the new Local Listing Ads?

[AnkitMaheshwari]

Noticed it today morning. Till yesterday it was A-J for a set of keywords I track, but now its A-G.

[anallawalla]

Same observation in Australia. Also noticed that greedy people with multiple listings in the onebox have been pruned to just one result.

[dertyfern]

Same in UK. Actually have more relevant (real) results here for the terms I follow.

[misterjinx]

Also in Italy :-)

[lexipixel]

This and the large font in the search box makes me think these changes are due more to the declining eyesight of the "over 40 crowd" than anything.

Personally, I like it.

[inbound]

The layout of the 7 pack is much more attractive to me than the 10 pack - but Google have still got a long way to go before they have decent local results in the UK (having said that, it's a problem for anyone trying to collect local data for the type of businesses that we track).

[2clean]

Yup, looks good if you're in the pack.

[Silvery]

It is more attractive, I'd say.

Easier to read, which is likely good for usability.

Also, it's probably engineered to better target the number of choices which users are more likely to want to have.

It does tend to increase the urgency surrounding the basis for choosing which businesses make it into the highly-desired seven positions. There's been less education on the part of Google regarding rankings of Google Maps slots compared with education provided around rankings in regular websearch results.

[bigcat1967]

Great - my site was #10 in the 10 pack - looks like I really have to optimize it for G maps