If you have done a local search over the past few days you may have noticed Google have moved their map into the top right of the listings.

This essentially means if you are bidding on the PPC listings for position 4 you now appear below the rectangular map and hence lower down the page.

Not only this but if you scroll below the fold the map stays static and rolls over the AdWords listings. You will also notice the local listings now also look very similar to the natural listings with the only main identification being the map marker, phone number and address.

Is this another step by Google to make the top 3 sponsored links more competitive and expensive? Is the map in the listings a step to draw the users eye across to the PPC ads?

Will this affect the CPC’s of the top 3 positions on local keywords? I guess we will have to wait and see the results.

There is a real buzz around local search marketing at the moment and Google Places is  definitely one of the products to keep an eye on.