Yesterday, July 24th, 2014, Google pushed live what Search Engine Land is calling the “Pigeon” update. SEO sources are reporting that this update is specifically affecting the local search algorithm. This update has further intertwined organic and local indicators, algorithms and results, and it has the potential to affect the rankings of many small businesses.

Major directories such as Yelp, Zagat, Urbanspoon, TripAdvisor, and others are seeing increased page 1 rankings and influence in the search results
The update has only been released to US English results, but the percent of queries impacted has not been reported
Google said that this new algorithm improves their distance and location ranking parameters, and aims to provide a more useful and relevant experience for searchers seeking local results, although it may make it more difficult for individual businesses to rank in the search results
Like so many of Google’s updates, this is a first pass which will certainly have tweaks and updates as it goes along. In every algorithm update it typically takes a few weeks before we understand the full impact.