Google may have also pushed out a local search and map algorithm and ranking update over the past week or so. There has been some recent chatter and the Bright Local RankFlux tool has been off the charts for the past few weeks.

In fact, that tool has been showing major ranking fluctuations for about four weeks, since about November 10th or so. So much so, I’ve even asked BrightLocal if the tool is working properly , which I did not hear back on yet but there have been some bugs with the tool in the past month, which they said they are working to resolve.

This is what the tool is showing:

In any event, there is chatter about a local ranking update in the Local Search Forums that are more recent, as of a week or so. Here is some of that chatter:

And some on Twitter:

It might be related to the core update that ended on November 30th? Google did say that core updates may impact some local rankings – maybe?

Have you seen local changes in your rankings in the past week or so?

Forum discussion at Local Search Forums.

Update from BrightLocal:

Update 2: Google confirmed this update weeks later!