The Google 7 Pack, which was a 10 Pack until about a month ago, has undergone another change. There are no longer any phone numbers displayed next to the businesses listed there. There’s no telling if this is just a glitch that Google will soon correct, if it is a test to see what the reaction is, or if this is an actual change to the SERPs display.

Now, you must either click through to the business’ Local Business Listing (aka Place Page) or click on the “More results near…” link at the bottom of the 7 Pack to find a phone number for a business.

This may have something to do with the new Local Business Listing guidelines that state:

• Provide a phone number that connects to your individual business location as directly as possible. For example, you should provide an individual location phone number in place of a call center.
• Provide one URL that best identifies your individual business location.
• Do not provide phone numbers or URLs that redirect or ‘refer’ users to other landing pages or phone numbers other than those of the actual business.

and is, perhaps, part of the process to weed out numbers that do not meet those guidelines.

Some people have speculated that it may be part of a move to integrate call tracking through Google Voice into Google Maps. In my opinion, that would be an awesome improvement since call tracking is currently costly, complex and cumbersome for a small business to manage.

A cheap (better yet, free) call tracking solution is sorely needed to prove to SME’s the value of their online marketing, so, as a marketer, I would welcome this innovation. Google may think it will help it to prove its value, as well. Google Voice is still in it’s infancy and may not be ready for the challenge, but I can still hope, can’t I?