Possum update (2016): the unconfirmed local search change

What was reported#

Google never confirmed this update, and never named it. Possum is “the name we in the local search community decided to give” a large local algorithm change, in the words of local search consultant Joy Hawkins, writing in Search Engine Land on 21 September 2016. She credited Phil Rozek with the name, because many business owners believed their Google My Business listings were gone when they had only been filtered: they were “playing possum.”

Hawkins reported that the evidence pointed to changes in the local 3-pack and Local Finder rather than organic results. Her reported observations, which Google did not confirm, included:

• Businesses just outside a city’s physical limits ranking better for searches naming that city.
• Listings filtered when they shared an address with another business in the same category.
• Results depending more on the searcher’s physical location.
• Results varying more between small variations of the same search.

When it rolled out#

There is no Google date. Hawkins dated the change to 1 September 2016, and that is the date used here. No end date exists, and Hawkins reported continuing fluctuation weeks later, suggesting to her that Google was still testing signals.

What is known about its impact#

Nothing from Google. With no confirmation, there are no Google figures on how many searches or businesses were affected. Hawkins called it, based on the ranking reports she analyzed, the biggest local update since the 2014 Pigeon update. That is one practitioner’s judgment, not a measurement.

What site owners should do#

Google’s current local ranking guidance applies, whatever Possum was. Google says local results are based mainly on three factors:

• Relevance: how well a Business Profile matches the search. Provide complete, detailed business information.
• Distance: how far the business is from the searcher, or from the location Google infers.
• Prominence: how well-known the business is, including links to its website and the number of reviews and ratings.

Google also says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. If a listing disappears, check whether it shares an address and category with another listing before assuming a penalty.

How to check whether it affected you#

This is historical. Search Console keeps 16 months of data and never covered Business Profile rankings, so use archived rank tracking or Google My Business insights from August and September 2016, if you kept them. The Google Algorithm Updates timeline lists the confirmed updates around it.

Related updates#

• The Pigeon update was the previous major local search change.
• The Venice update was an earlier Google change to local results.