Google Changes in 2015

As we close out 2015, I thought I'd mention a few of Google's changes that affected Local Search.
Note: the dates are when I noticed the change, not necessarily the exact date of the roll-out.    

Dec. 1   Google drops Change Location search filter from search results
http://searchengineland.com/google-drops-change-location-search-filter-from-search-results-237247

Nov. 19   G+ stripped out GMB local search.
No Reviews or About on new G+ verses Classic

Aug. 6   Google's Local Search roll out "local 7-pack" trimmed to "local 3-pack" view. More info on changed to Map pack
http://www.thesempost.com/google-local-shakeup-3-pack-only-7-pack-removed-addresses-phone-numbers-gone/

http://www.link-assistant.com/news/google-local-3-pack-update.html


Google Algorithm Change History
https://moz.com/google-algorithm-change

Hope you had a good 2015, and here's to an even better 2016!

Google Authorship

Here are some useful links regarding Google Authorship

Google Announces the End of Author Photos in Search: What You Should Know
http://moz.com/blog/bye-bye-author-pics

How Optimizing My Ugly Google+ Pic Increased Free Traffic 35%
http://moz.com/blog/google-author-photos

Should I use my company logo as my social media avatar?
http://www.internetmarketingninjas.com/blog/social-media/logo-as-google-plus-profile-picture

YouTube - How to Create Custom Thumbnails + more

This video covers 4 New YouTube updates:
JamesWedmore.com

1. How to Create Custom Thumbnails
2. InVideo programming
3. Interactive Polls & Questions
4. New Analytics Feature: Estimated Minutes Watched

Google - more results per page

Google 10 > 100 results
If you need more than 10 results per page in a Google search, you can change Google's settings by going to Google.com/preferences, turning OFF "Google Instant predictions" then changing slider to 100 Results per page.

Google Places becomes Google+ for Local Search

These Google algorithm changes really shake up the Local Search playing field:

Google Places Is Over, Company Makes Google+ The Center Of Gravity For Local Search

Using Google+ Pages for Business Marketing

Top Google Result Gets 36.4% of Clicks [Study]