Google+ Local City Centroid Bias

[ChaseCameron]

It's well-known that Google has a bias towards businesses located closest to the center of the city being searched in.  How can you tell where exactly Google considers to be the center of the city?

I think that the way is to just search the city name on Google Maps and the marker will appear at where they consider the center of the city to be but just wanted to double check on that first.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Chase,

Very good question, and Linda has done a great job of explaining that the city centroid is no longer a heavily-weighted factor. You will get more information by performing the type of search she recommends. However, if you would still like to see where the centroid is, just search for the city in Google Maps and look where Google puts the pin. That is typically the centroid.

[LindaBuquet]

Actually centroid bias is only a factor with the OLD pack algo which seldom shows up any more.

With the new blended algo, which has been around for a couple years now, centroid isn't a strong factor. It's more about organic ranking factors now.

I have clients that rank #1 that are farthest from city center, have the fewest backlinks, less citations and reviews than others in their market. I even got one Dentist a double #1. He's #1 in organic plus A in blended. He's so far from centroid, he's literally almost the next state over. In fact 1/2 of his patients come from the other state. It's all about the on-site "Local" SEO!
To answer your question about how can you tell city center - a better question might be how far does the search radius extend. It varies by city, but is easy to see.

Do a search on Google - not maps (because the results are different and most consumers search on Google and being listed on page 1 there is what counts.)

Search for "City key phrase". Look at the map right on Google search. You'll see the cluster of where the most prominent listings are and you'll see where the map cuts off. If you or your client is located beyond the area shown on the map, they likely aren't going to rank on page one.

A great example of the lack or centroid bias is "Seattle Chiropractor".  Do a Google search and look at map on that page, then click map link to see in better detail on the big map. Most listings are near centroid. But #1 is WAY north of town and the E listing is way way up there.

Hope that helps.