Possum is not an official Google update. Google never confirmed it.
On 1st Sep 2016, the local SEO community reported a major shake-up in local pack and Google Maps rankings.
The best write-up is Joy Hawkins' analysis for Search Engine Land.
The name came from local SEO consultant Phil Rozek. Many owners thought their listings had vanished when they had only been filtered, so the listings were "playing possum".
What changed is known only from that community coverage, not from Google. It recorded filtering of businesses sharing an address or category, plus a stronger role for how close the searcher is.
The shake-up affected local results (the local pack, Local Finder and Maps rankings) rather than organic listings. The most-reported change was a stronger filter.
Businesses sharing an address or a category with a competitor were hit. They were far more likely to be filtered out of the local results.
Where the searcher stood also seemed to matter more than before. Distance had a stronger pull on what the local pack showed.
The scale was measured after the fact. A study Joy Hawkins ran with BrightLocal, covered at Search Engine Land, tracked 14,242 keywords across 1,307 businesses.
It found 64% of local keywords saw some ranking change between 31st Aug and 7th Sep 2016. Organic results were largely untouched.
Because Google never confirmed the update, there is no official account of it and no official recovery advice. Everything on this page comes from the local SEO community's testing and coverage.
