Venice update (2012): what it changed and what it means now

What Google changed#

Google listed Venice in its search quality highlights for February 2012, a monthly roundup of launches. The entry, “Improvements to ranking for local search results. [launch codename ‘Venice’],” said the change “improves the triggering of Local Universal results by relying more on the ranking of our main search results as a signal.”

In practice, how well a local business’s site ranked in regular web results became more important to whether local results showed for a search. Venice was Google’s own launch codename, printed in its post, so the name came from Google rather than the industry.

When it rolled out#

Google gave no exact date. Its post of 27 February 2012 said “most of the updates rolled out earlier this month, and a handful are actually rolling out today and tomorrow.” This page uses 27 February 2012, the date Google reported the change; the actual launch day in February is approximate. Google stated no completion date.

What is known about its impact#

Google published no impact figure for Venice. It was one of 40 changes in that month’s post, and Google described each change as subtle, adding up over time. This page repeats no third-party estimates of its effect.

What site owners should do#

Google’s ranking systems guide does not list Venice as a system. Local ranking today is described in Google’s Business Profile help, which says: “Local results are mainly based on relevance, distance, and popularity,” and explains each factor, describing prominence as how well-known a business is:

• Complete your Business Profile with detailed, accurate information so Google can match it to relevant searches.
• Build prominence the way Google describes it, including links to your business and genuine reviews.
• Keep the business website strong in regular search too; Venice tied local triggering to main search ranking.

How to check whether it affected you#

This is historical. Search Console keeps 16 months of data, so February 2012 can only be checked in archived analytics, by comparing local-intent traffic before and after February 2012. The Google Algorithm Updates timeline lists every update with its dates.

Related updates#

• The Pigeon update was the next major local search change, in 2014.
• The Possum update was a later local ranking shift the industry reported in 2016.