Google My Business Products Now Show on Desktop

The Google My Business product catalog (currently in Beta) is now showing up on Desktop as well as mobile.

Google Launches a New Version of the Google My Business Help Forum

The Google My Business forum now has a new home.  The new version of the forum is integrated with the help center and has a much more mobile-friendly feel.

March Core Algorithm Update

This algorithm update had some pretty big impacts on both organic and local results.  It was focused around quality and authority and had a lot of connections to the Medic update in August of 2018.

Google Launches Site Manager Role Functionality

For several large chains, we are now seeing a new option in the Knowledge Panel that says “Manage this Listing”.  These are showing up on listings that are already verified through Google My Business but this new functionality will let someone claim the listing and be given the Site Manager role.

Google Updates the GMB Guidelines

Over the weekend, Google added a couple sentences to the GMB guidelines under the “Business description guidelines” clarifying that irrelevant content is not allowed to be posted.

Instagram Rolls Out In-App Local Business Profile Pages

Instagram rolls out in-app local business profile pages (address, hours, contact, website) with ability to claim and update profile.

Google My Business Updates Guidelines on Content Related to Terrorism

Google My Business has just recently updated their guidelines to add more context around content that they don’t allow.

Yelp Adds License Verification

Yelp is now offering the option to verify your license and display it more prominently.

Google Adds “Get in Line” Call-to-Action for Restaurants

Some restaurant local panels now display “Get in Line” call to action that can be used by users to get on a waiting list. The CTA seems to be available across all devices.

Google Confirms they are Consolidating to Canonicals in Search Console

On April 10, 2019 Google will be unifying data from January 2018 so that all data shows on the canonical URL.  For those of us in Local Search, this means we can’t use UTM parameters in Google My Business to segment traffic in Search Console.

Social Icons are Back on Local Knowledge Panels

We’re seeing social media icons in Local Knowledge Panels for tons of small businesses.  It’s been a long time since we’ve seen these consistently on a large number of local businesses.

“Profile” photos in Google My Business are now called “Logo”

What you previously uploaded as a “profile” photo in the Google My Business dashboard has been re-named to “Logo”.

Spammers Add Future Opening Dates to Remove GMB Listings

Google has fixed this issue that was making it possible for spammers to completely remove verified listings by adding an opening date in the future.

Massive Drops in Search Console for Sites Using UTM Codes in GMB

Something has changed where Search Console is not reporting on the UTM codes for impressions (they are still reporting for clicks) which is causing a huge drop in impressions for anyone utilizing UTM codes in Google My Business.

Over 3 Million Fake 4-Star Reviews Posted

I believe this is the largest fake review attack we have seen yet. Due to the massive amount of businesses it impacted, it deserves a spot on our timeline.

You Can Now Include Hashtags in Google Reviews

Google made it so that hashtags are clickable in the Google Maps app when they’re in reviews.

Google Changes Communications Managers to Site Managers

Google is renaming the roll of Communications Managers to Site Managers.  This user type will be able to create & manage Google Posts, update business hours/address/phone number, and manage business attributes on the listing.

Google Adds “See Other Locations” on Mobile

Previously this only showed up on the Google Maps app (near the bottom of the listing) but Google is expanding this to show up right below the address field on mobile browsers as well.

Google Automatically Removes Addresses from Service Area Business Listings

If you run a service area business that had the address hidden, Google automatically deleted it from the Google My Business dashboard.  They also removed the option to target a radius around your business address.

Add a Listing With a Future Opening Date

Google announced that they’re allowing businesses to add listings for locations that are not open yet.

Google Ads Automates Location Extensions

Previously a business owner had the option of connecting Google My Business with Google Ads.  According to this email, this process is going to be automatic as of October 22, 2018 which means a business has to opt out in order to keep their Google My Business listings from showing as Location Extensions on their ads.

Google Rolling Out More Graphic-Heavy Local Finder Results

Google seems to be rolling out the image-heavy Local Finder results to more industries.

Google Announces They are Shutting Down Google Plus

The inevitable has finally occurred.  Google announced yesterday, “We are shutting down Google+ for consumers.”

Local Services Ads Add a Same-Day Service Option

As pointed out by Tom Waddington, some listings now allow you to add “Same-Day service” as an option in the Local Services Ads dashboard.

Google Posts Move to the Bottom of the Knowledge Panel

Mike Blumenthal and Ben Fisher alerted me that they are noticing Google Posts are now showing up at the bottom of the Knowledge Panel.

Google Posts Now Support 1500 Characters

Google Posts content went from 300 to a max of 1,500 characters.

Google My Business Review Replies are Editable from the Knowledge Panel

It’s now even easier to reply to reviews on Google My Business.  You can now reply directly from the Knowledge Panel.

Local Services Ad Unit Now Shows Prices

Google is now showing typical prices in the area for many common home services within the Local Service ad unit.

Product Posts Now Show in the Knowledge Panel

Google has added a “browse some featured items sold here” icon for businesses that are using product posts.

Google Now Displays Pending Edits in Knowledge Panels

For quite some time Google has showed pending edits to a listing on the Google Maps app on mobile. Tom Waddington noticed yesterday that Google is now showing this on desktop as well.

BBB Makes Big Change to Review Display

The BBB made a big change in the way that customer reviews were displayed on their profiles.  The review stars that display are now a reflection of the customer reviews instead of the previous composite score .

Facebook is Rolling Out Recommendations to Replace Reviews

Now, when you recommend a restaurant or local business to a friend, Facebook will encourage you to write a more robust version of that recommendation by requiring a minimum character count and letting you add photos. That will then be added as a review to that establishment’s Facebook page.

Core Algorithm Update

There was a big algorithm update on July 31-August 1 that is still rolling out.  We’re seeing some huge changes in both organic and local rankings.

Google Local Services Adds Highlights & Photos

Google Local Services added options in the dashboard to add highlights to your ads along with photos.

Google Adds “Businesses Like Yours are Posting”

Google is slowly adding in a section in the Google My Business dashboard that shows you some example posts from your competitors that are utilizing Google Posts.

[Bug] Insights Download Issue

There were many reports of locations missing in Google My Business Insights when people download insights in bulk. The issue was corrected July 26th for the regular dashboard but is still broken in the Agency dashboard.

Facebook Expands Options For Flagging Reviews

Facebook now has a new interface for flagging reviews.  Instead of just being able to report the review, you can now specify why it should be removed.

[Bug] Google Posts Getting Rejected

There was a bug at the end of June that rejected Google Posts that weren’t violating any guidelines.  This has been corrected now.

Google Launches Performance Cards in GMB Dashboard

Google adds a performance card to the homepage of the GMB dashboard that shows how many view, searches, and actions your business has received in the last 28 days (compared to the previous period).

Google Clears Out Tracking Numbers in GMB

I heard lots of reports that Google switched out call tracking numbers on Google My Business listings.  So far, adding them back seems to have worked.

Google Launches Attribute for Watching Sports

If you allow customers to watch sports at your business, Google has released a “good for watching sports” attribute.  In the Google My Business dashboard, some categories now have a “sports” attribute that they can select.  This shows as a icon on their About tab on mobile and Google says that the attribute will also be featured on the Overview tab (mobile only) for the month of the World Cup.  So far, I’m only seeing this for restaurants but it likely is available to a few other categories as well.

Google Now Emails You Confirmation For Flagging Reviews

When you flag a review inside the GMB dashboard, Google now emails you to confirm that they received your report.

[Bug] GMB Edits Aren’t Working

There is a bug currently that is keeping edits in the Google My Business dashboard from publishing.  Although you see something updated in the dashboard, the live version of your listing is still wrong.

Google told me the bug should be fixed by June 4th.

Google Removes Anonymous Reviews

If you noticed your review count drop recently, it’s likely due to Google no longer counting anonymous reviews.  This was an intended change and the reviews will not be coming back.

Google My Business Launches Offer Posts

These have been in Beta for a while but as of today I’m seeing Offer posts on all my listings in Google My Business.

Google Posts Now Accept Videos

You can now add a video to Google Posts.  Google says in their help center:  We accept the following file formats for video: AVI, MP4, MOV, FLV, WMV, MPG, M4V, MKV, M2TS, and MTS. The maximum size for videos is 100 MB.

Google Announces Users Will Need to Pay for Maps API

This change is coming June 11th.  Google says “Beginning June 11, you’ll need a valid API key and a Google Cloud Platform billing account to access our core products. Once you enable billing, you will gain access to your $200 of free monthly usage to use for our Maps, Routes, and Places products. As your business grows or usage spikes, our plan will scale with you.”.  What does this mean for businesses?  If they are using a plugin on their website to generate a map of their location, this will likely stop working on June 11th.  If they are simply embedding a map straight from Google, this shouldn’t be impacted.

[Bug] Google Reviews Go Missing from Profiles

This bug is now resolved but lasted for several days where reviews that a user left were not visible on their profile.

Google Adds to Guidelines for Restricted Content

Google has updated the guidelines for restricted content such as alcohol, gambling & guns and added the following items:

> Content cannot feature calls to action.

> Clarified this applies to products and services that are subject to local legal regulations

> Clarified that images of menus are fine.

> Clarified that images where alcoholic beverages are present but not the main focus are also fine..

Review gating is now against the google my business guidelines

Google has updated the review guidelines to clarify that review-gating is not allowed.  They added the following to their guidelines:

“Don’t discourage or prohibit negative reviews or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers.”

Google My Business Adds Services Field

This is similar to the menu feature that was launched in February but now applies to businesses that offer services.  You can add the name of your service, description, and how much it costs.  It’s not available for all categories and is still rolling out so you will probably see it in some accounts and not others.

Google My Business Adds the Business Description Field

Google has now rolled out the business description feature for Google My Business.

Google Launches Product Posts

This new type of Google Post is designed to highlight your products and has its own tab on mobile.

Google Launches Location Groups to the New GMB Dashboard

With this feature you can create a location group that groups together a bunch of locations that you can share easily.  This is a much easier alternative to business accounts.

Google Starts Removing Inactive G+ Local Pages

Google has started sending out emails to businesses that have not been active on Google Plus that state the pages will be removed if the business does not post something to the page within 30 days.  This is another step in the divorce of Google Plus and Google My Business.

Changes to the Heatmap in GMB Insights

This update will better allow you to track which areas customers request all forms of directions from, at various zoom levels (post code, city, country). Direction requests from some post codes may appear as blank due to user privacy consideration but are included at the city level.

Core Algorithm Update

There was an algorithm update that we’re just calling the “March 9th algorithm update” that impacted both organic and local ranking.

Google Introduces a Women-Led Attribute You Can Add To Your GMB Listing

Google has added a “Women-Led” attribute to GMB in honor of #InternationalWomensDay

Google Adds in Top Questions from Customers for GMB Messaging

We noticed Google now has quick common questions from customers in the Messaging feature in Google My Business.  I’m waiting for feedback from Google on how this feature works.

Google Adds Mall Directories to Shopping Malls Local Knowledge Panels.

On mobile devices, Google is now showing a directory tab on the Knowledge Panel for shopping malls that lists the stores inside the mall.

Add an Opening Date in Google My Business

Google starts prompting businesses to add the date their business opened via the Google My Business dashboard in search.

Driving Direction Requests by Zip Code in Google My Business

It’s now possible to see where your users got driving direction requests from all the way down to the zip code level.  Previously it showed the name of the city.

Yelp Allows you to Add Users to Manage Your Business Account

You can now add other users to your listing without sharing your owner login.  

Videos Come to Google My Business

The option to upload videos to a Google My Business listing showed up in the Google My Business dashboard.