Starting on July 21, 2022, the Local Rank Tracker switched to tracking Google Maps instead of the Google Local Finder.
The "Local Finder" report has caused confusion over the years. Many users did not understand what the Local Finder is, but it had been our primary method of reporting local rankings.
In testing, the Whitespark team determined that Google uses the same local algorithm for ranking and displaying local businesses in both Maps and the Local Finder. With the same geocoordinate location settings and map zoom, results between the two are equivalent.
Some users who were tracking large geographical locations like entire cities and regions may see a slight result shift between the reports -- this is normal. Users who are tracking more specific locations like postal codes or individual GPS co-ordinates are less likely to see fluctuation in rankings between the two reports.
All Google Local Finder reports remain available and will continue to remain available for the future by selecting "Google Local Finder" in the Local Rank Tracker report selection dropdown, however no new reports will be added going forward. Local business reporting will be delivered going forward with Google Maps.
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