As reported by Yvonne Bell over at Search Engine Journal Google has been testing the prospect of branded icons on Google Maps.

Currently this testing has been limited to some search results in the US as well as in Australia.  The concept and thinking behind this is that people recognise brands by name and by their icons or logos, and the thought is that this will make it easier for searchers to locate the brand and company they are looking for more easily.

Also this is a ‘paid’ service so will have very little, if any, impact on Local SEO – but it would be a good idea for all SEO consultants out there to be aware of this, as it could be asked by clients.

The basic details on the costs would be a Cost per Impression basis – different to the normal pay per click method used by AdWords – companies will be charged every time their logo is displayed, regardless if a user clicks on it or not.  This could also mean ‘paying for nothing’ and conversion rates could be very low.

Personally, this is one feature of Google I would probably not recommend.