Pigeon update (July 24, 2014) — tied local algorithm to core web-ranking signals; credited with shrinking the local results from 7-pack to 3-pack
Summary
Claim: Google's Pigeon update on July 24, 2014 tied the local-search algorithm to core web-ranking signals, improved proximity/distance handling, and is widely credited with helping shrink the local results from a 7-pack to today's 3-pack.
Source: Search Engine Land coverage July 2014; subsequent industry pattern observation.
Confidence: Verified (the update + that the 3-pack is now standard). Industry-consensus on Pigeon's causal role in the 3-pack shrink — Google itself said little officially.
Why this matters for Candid: Local became brutally competitive after Pigeon — only three businesses get prime "near me" visibility. This is the structural reason GBP optimisation matters so much: there is no fourth slot. Cross-link Rule: For Ontario service-business clients in 2026, the Google Business Profile is still the primary local-lead surface — lock it down before anything else.
Related entries
Referenced by (3)
- reference Research brief: How businesses got found on the web — a then→now timeline (Google-focused, SMB lens, June 2026) relates-to
- reference The recurring pattern: every major Google shift changed what got surfaced; early adapters captured the new surface, laggards lost the old one — and the pattern is repeating now with AI answers depends-on
- rule Rule: For Ontario service-business clients in 2026, the Google Business Profile is still the primary local-lead surface — lock it down before anything else depends-on