I just noticed one of my client sites are listed as is Google's SERP as ...

Web Site Title
123 Acme Road
Acme, XX 12345
(xxx) xxx-xxxx - Map & info
Site description. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Sed dictum, nulla et ultricies accumsan, lectus libero laoreet turpis.

And it's the same listing base on several different search terms (not ranked #1).

Is this something recent, never noticed this before. This business' listing was just added to Google Local on 8/24.

And it's the same listing base on several different search terms (not ranked #1).Is there any consistency to your search queries? Do they all have a location element, for example?

(I'm not seeing anything like this based on a couple quick searches....)

I just did the same searches again, but the results are back to normal.

The searches I ran did contain location terms.

You might've been privy to some testing of new SERP displays. If you see it again, might be a good idea to do a screen shot so the rest of us can see what you saw. :)

Is there any consistency to your search queries? Do they all have a location element, for example?

(I'm not seeing anything like this based on a couple quick searches....)

I saw it last night as well...

Definitely location element involved:

State + Keyword

Does anyone know what is the criteria or at least what is the theory right now on the criteria for Google Local ranking. For example, Boston, Massachusetts sushi restaurant, what makes one place come up over another?

Does anyone know what is the criteria or at least what is the theory right now on the criteria for Google Local ranking. For example, Boston, Massachusetts sushi restaurant, what makes one place come up over another?
We've been talking about this on my blog and in other forums for a few weeks/months now. Very little is known, but the Local SERPs are clearly different from the main SERPs when the same exact query is searched.

My gut instinct is that some sites do a better job of tying themselves to a location -- and these sites are likely, you would think, to rank better in the Local SERPs.

Very interesting, what is the URL to your blog, I would like to read the thread

Well, starting to see it again today. Unfortunately, no image capture/editing software on this machine. Just do a search on "san francisco hotel" and you should see a listing for the "Omni Hotel San Francisco" hotel on first page (no relation to me).