Timeline of Local SEO Changes in 2019
A List of the Major Updates We’ve Seen Impact Local Businesses Recently (Updated Weekly).
Hotels Get a New Attributes Layout in Google My Business
August 8, 2019
This new attributes interface for hotels gives the business a lot more options for adding…
READ MORE[Bug] Missing Store Codes in Google My Business
August 8, 2019
There is a bug that is causing all store codes to display as missing on…
READ MORE[Bug] Google My Business Insights Download
August 7, 2019When you try to download Google My Business Insights it shows you 7 days regardless…
READ MORE[Bug] Attributes Missing for Hotels
August 6, 2019
Google has been making a lot of changes to hotels this week in Google My…
READ MOREChange in Google My Business Listing Status
August 1, 2019
Google My Business listings now showing as verified or unverified instead of published or unpublished.
READ MOREGoogle My Business Messaging Feature Gets Quote Button on Desktop
July 24, 2019
If you have the Google My Business Messaging feature enabled, Google is now showing a…
READ MOREGoogle’s Q&A Feature Now Includes Answers from Posts & Products
July 17, 2019
Now when users ask a question on your listing, they are given answers that are…
READ MOREGoogle My Business Launches Place Topics
July 4, 2019
Google My Business just announced that they have launched place topics. On the Google Maps…
READ MORELocal Service Ads are Showing in the 3-Pack
July 3, 2019
Local Services ads are now showing in the 3-pack above the organic listings.
READ MOREGoogle Updates Review Filter
July 3, 2019
Many businesses are losing reviews on Google My Business. Google is aware of the issue…
READ MOREGoogle My Business Products Expands to Most Categories
June 27, 2019
Google My Business announces all categories of business (except a few verticals) can now use…
READ MORE[Bug] Adding Short Names in Google My Business Causes Listings to Vanish
June 26, 2019[resolved] Tons of users reported issues with listings just randomly disappearing after they added a…
READ MOREGoogle Depreciates Social Markup
June 25, 2019With Google deprecating the social profile markup, some businesses may be out of luck with being…
READ MORE[Bug] Issue With Responding to Q&A on Google My Business
June 21, 2019[resolved] When answering a question posted on a Google My Business listing, the response shows…
READ MOREShort Names in Google My Business Launch to All Users
June 21, 2019
Google launches short names to all users in Google My Business.
Google Now Shows Logo Images on Google Maps
June 20, 2019
Businesses now have a logo icon on their Knolwedge Panel on the Google Maps app.
READ MOREGoogle My Business Launches Welcome Offers
June 20, 2019
You can now create a welcome offer for users who follow your business on Google…
READ MOREHuge Uptick in Suspensions in Google My Business
June 18, 2019A lot of agencies and SMBs are reporting a much-higher number of suspensions than usual.
READ MOREFrance Now Requires Users to Leave Date of Visit in Review
June 14, 2019
In France, if you want to write a review on Google Maps, you must indicate…
READ MOREGoogle My Business Changes How They Deal With Practitioner Listings
June 10, 2019Google My Business support changed the process of how they handle retired or deceased practitioner…
READ MORE[Bug] Website URLs in Google Maps
June 8, 2019
Clicking on websites in Google Maps is resulting in a redirect notice.
READ MORENew Layout on Mobile for Branded Searches
June 6, 2019
When you do a branded search on mobile, Google has morphed the organic results into…
READ MOREReal-Time GMB Post Insights
June 6, 2019Insights on GMB Posts will be in near real time in Google My Business. Real-time…
READ MOREJune 2019 Core Algorithm Update
June 3, 2019Google is releasing a broad update to their core algorithm that impacted both local and…
READ MOREGoogle Fully Rolls Out Q & A Auto-Suggest Answers
June 3, 2019
In April, Google rolled out a cool Business Profile (aka Knowledge Panel) feature that auto-suggested answers…
READ MORE[Bug] Issues Adding Bulk Locations in Google My Business
May 31, 2019Users that are bulk uploading listings are getting an error that says “You’ve exceeded the limit…
READ MOREGoogle Starts Showing Local Results Again for Some Sex-Related Queries
May 30, 2019As of late May, 2019 it now appears that Google is again allowing some of…
READ MOREAds in the 3-Pack Now Showing a Black Label
May 24, 2019
Mobile results now show a black ad label including ads in the 3-pack.
READ MOREYou Can Now Order Online From Restaurants on Google My Business Using the Google Assistant
May 23, 2019
Users click on the “Order Online” button and then choose delivery or pick up. If…
READ MORENew GMB Dashboard
May 9, 2019
Google is showing a new version of the Google My Business dashboard that highlights a…
READ MOREGoogle Maps Now Highlights Photos of Restaurants’ Most Popular Dishes
May 2, 2019
The new feature seems to scan reviews of the restaurant to find commonly-mentioned dish names,…
READ MORE[Bug] GMB Insights Issue
April 26, 2019
There appear to be 2 issues impacting GMB Insights. The first is showing a huge…
READ MORE[Bug] POI Establishment Being Added as a Category in GMB
April 23, 2019
Tons of agencies are seeing this “category” added to their listing. It appears to be…
READ MORE[Bug] Google My Business Suspensions Are Causing Reviews to Vanish
April 17, 2019Many Google My Business listings that are suspended and then reinstated are missing all their…
READ MOREGoogle My Business Rolling Out Short Names
April 16, 2019Google has started the rollout of “Short Names”; the ability of a business to create…
READ MOREGoogle My Business Products Now Show on Desktop
April 4, 2019The Google My Business product catalog (currently in Beta) is now showing up on Desktop…
READ MOREGoogle My Business Adds Automatically Generated Posts Based on Reviews
March 29, 2019
More users are starting to see these posts showing up in the Google My Business…
READ MOREGoogle Launches a New Version of the Google My Business Help Forum
March 28, 2019The Google My Business forum now has a new home. The new version of the…
READ MORE[Bug] Verification Issues
March 27, 2019There’s a known issue that is preventing listings that were recently added to your Google…
March Core Algorithm Update
March 12, 2019This algorithm update had some pretty big impacts on both organic and local results. It…
READ MOREGoogle Removes Cities from Knowledge Panels for Service Area Businesses
March 5, 2019
Google has removed the data that would show up below the reviews in the Knowledge…
READ MOREGoogle Launches Site Manager Role Functionality
March 4, 2019
For several large chains, we are now seeing a new option in the Knowledge Panel…
READ MOREGoogle Maps Adds New Events Feature
March 4, 2019
This feature is only available to a small number of users and allows you to…
Google Updates the GMB Guidelines
March 4, 2019Over the weekend, Google added a couple sentences to the GMB guidelines under the “Business description guidelines” clarifying…
READ MORE[Bug] Issues Replying to Reviews
March 4, 2019
If you get an error message responding to reviews it could be due to this…
READ MOREInstagram Rolls Out In-App Local Business Profile Pages
March 3, 2019Instagram rolls out in-app local business profile pages (address, hours, contact, website) with ability to…
READ MOREGoogle Adds a New Way to Report Spam
February 27, 2019Marrissa Nordahl from Google just posted an announcement that there is a new way for users to…
READ MOREGoogle My Business Updates Guidelines on Content Related to Terrorism
February 24, 2019Google My Business has just recently updated their guidelines to add more context around content…
READ MORESearch Console Adds Products Section
February 22, 2019
Google Search Console has quietly added a new section to the enhancements section of the…
READ MOREYelp Adds License Verification
February 15, 2019
Yelp is now offering the option to verify your license and display it more prominently.
Google Starts Displaying Testimonials on GMB Websites
February 12, 2019If you’re using a Google My Business website, Google appears to now be displaying testimonials…
Google Adds "Get in Line" Call-to-Action for Restaurants
February 12, 2019
Some restaurant local panels now display “Get in Line” call to action that can be used by…
READ MOREGoogle Testing Google Posts in the Local Finder
February 8, 2019
Dave DiGregorio noticed that Google is pulling in snippets from previous posts into the Knowledge…
READ MOREGoogle Confirms they are Consolidating to Canonicals in Search Console
February 6, 2019On April 10, 2019 Google will be unifying data from January 2018 so that all…
READ MORE[Bug] Google My Business Messaging Doesn’t Work With Location Groups
February 4, 2019If you set up Messaging via the Google My Business app and your listing is…
Social Icons are Back on Local Knowledge Panels
January 28, 2019
We’re seeing social media icons in Local Knowledge Panels for tons of small businesses. It’s…
READ MORE[Bug] Google My Business Photos
January 25, 2019There is a known technical issue right now with Google My Business photos where users…
READ MORE"Profile" photos in Google My Business are now called "Logo"
January 24, 2019
What you previously uploaded as a “profile” photo in the Google My Business dashboard has…
[Bug] Google Wipes Service Menus From GMB Listings
January 17, 2019
Lots of people are reporting issues with Google removing the service menu from their GMB…
READ MORESpammers Add Future Opening Dates to Remove GMB Listings
January 16, 2019
Google has fixed this issue that was making it possible for spammers to completely remove…
READ MOREGMB Updates Guidelines Regarding Virtual Offices
January 15, 2019This update finally makes it explicitly clear that you must have your own staff to qualify for…
READ MOREMassive Drops in Search Console for Sites Using UTM Codes in GMB
January 14, 2019
Something has changed where Search Console is not reporting on the UTM codes for impressions…
READ MOREYelp Has a Huge Algorithm Update Wiping Out Tons of Reviews
December 19, 2018
It’s hard to put a date on this since it started in November and continued…
READ MOREOver 3 Million Fake 4-Star Reviews Posted
December 3, 2018I believe this is the largest fake review attack we have seen yet. Due to…
READ MOREGoogle Rolls out “Sold Here” to Local Search Results
December 1, 2018
Google is now showing “sold here:” in the local results for product searches.
READ MOREYou Can Now Include Hashtags in Google Reviews
November 27, 2018Google made it so that hashtags are clickable in the Google Maps app when they’re…
READ MOREGoogle Launches a New Sign Up Process for Service Area Businesses
November 20, 2018
When you go to add a new listing to Google My Business, the second step…
READ MOREGoogle Changes Communications Managers to Site Managers
November 14, 2018Google is renaming the roll of Communications Managers to Site Managers. This user type will…
Google My Business App Gets Updated
November 14, 2018
Google launched a new version of the GMB app that includes a customer tab showing…
READ MOREGoogle Adds “See Other Locations” on Mobile
November 12, 2018
Previously this only showed up on the Google Maps app (near the bottom of the…
Google Adds a Follow Button on Google Maps
November 2, 2018
Google has added follow buttons to Google My Business listings on the Google Maps app…
READ MOREGoogle Automatically Removes Addresses from Service Area Business Listings
October 31, 2018
If you run a service area business that had the address hidden, Google automatically deleted…
READ MORE[Bug] Images Are Missing in the Knowledge Panel
October 29, 2018
If you aren’t seeing images in the Knowledge Panel, it’s not just you.
READ MOREAdd a Listing With a Future Opening Date
October 24, 2018
Google announced that they’re allowing businesses to add listings for locations that are not open…
READ MOREReserve with Google Now Shows in the 3-Pack
October 22, 2018
There are now booking calls-to-action directly in the 3-pack for business listings that utilizing Reserve…
READ MOREGoogle Ads Automates Location Extensions
October 22, 2018Previously a business owner had the option of connecting Google My Business with Google Ads. …
READ MOREGoogle My Business Adds Products [Beta]
October 19, 2018
This feature is currently in Beta but allows business owners to add a digital catalog…
READ MOREGoogle Rolling Out More Graphic-Heavy Local Finder Results
October 18, 2018
Google seems to be rolling out the image-heavy Local Finder results to more industries.
READ MOREGoogle My Business Adds Branded Search Reporting to Insights
October 18, 2018
Google added a new metric in the local Insights report where you can see how…
Google Announces They are Shutting Down Google Plus
October 8, 2018The inevitable has finally occurred. Google announced yesterday, “We are shutting down Google+ for consumers.”
READ MOREGoogle My Business Launches a Migration Tool for the Agency Dashboard
October 5, 2018
Google My Business has just announced that they are launching a migration tool to help…
READ MORELocal Services Ads Add a Same-Day Service Option
September 28, 2018
As pointed out by Tom Waddington, some listings now allow you to add “Same-Day service”…
You can Now Manually Add the “Located In” Feature to a GMB Listing
September 28, 2018Previously this could only be done by contacting Google My Business support. Colan explains how…
READ MOREGoogle Posts Move to the Bottom of the Knowledge Panel
September 27, 2018Mike Blumenthal and Ben Fisher alerted me that they are noticing Google Posts are now…
READ MOREAdvanced Verification Launches in Canada
September 27, 2018Locksmiths in Canada are now required to pass Advanced Verification to run ads. This is…
Google Posts Now Support 1500 Characters
September 26, 2018
Google Posts content went from 300 to a max of 1,500 characters.
READ MOREAlgorithm Update
September 26, 2018This algorithm update seems to be tied to the Medic update in August.
READ MOREGoogle My Business Review Replies are Editable from the Knowledge Panel
September 14, 2018
It’s now even easier to reply to reviews on Google My Business. You can now…
READ MORESeptember 8-11 Algorithm Update
September 8, 2018
On September 8-11, Google started rolling out another pretty significant algorithm update. We’ve seen this…
READ MORELocal Services Ad Unit Now Shows Prices
August 23, 2018
Google is now showing typical prices in the area for many common home services within…
READ MOREGoogle Adds the Veteran Led Attribute
August 21, 2018
Google has rolled out the “veteran led” attribute for business listings in Google My Business.
Product Posts Now Show in the Knowledge Panel
August 20, 2018
Google has added a “browse some featured items sold here” icon for businesses that are…
READ MOREGMB Adds “Menu” and “Posts” Tab For Brand Searches on Mobile
August 16, 2018
Google is testing “Menu” and “Posts” Tabs directly in the local results on mobile for…
READ MOREGoogle Now Displays Pending Edits in Knowledge Panels
August 15, 2018
For quite some time Google has showed pending edits to a listing on the Google…
READ MOREChange to GMB Insights
August 13, 2018
Google just alerted us that they recently made a change to GMB Insights that allows…
READ MOREBBB Makes Big Change to Review Display
August 12, 2018
The BBB made a big change in the way that customer reviews were displayed on…
READ MOREGMB Testing "View previous posts on Google"
August 7, 2018
Google is testing out a “View previous posts on Google” at the bottom of the…
READ MOREFacebook is Rolling Out Recommendations to Replace Reviews
August 6, 2018Now, when you recommend a restaurant or local business to a friend, Facebook will encourage…
READ MOREVisible Email Addresses of Other Managers in Google My Business
August 2, 2018
Ben Fisher noticed on Twitter that you can now see the email address of other…
READ MORECore Algorithm Update
August 1, 2018There was a big algorithm update on July 31-August 1 that is still rolling out. …
READ MOREGoogle My Business Websites are Upgraded to HTTPS
July 30, 2018Existing and new GMB websites and custom Google domains that route to the GMB website…
Google Local Services Adds Highlights & Photos
July 27, 2018Google Local Services added options in the dashboard to add highlights to your ads along…
Google Now Shows Events on Search
July 26, 2018
Google has made it so that users in the USA searching for things like “events…
READ MOREGoogle Adds “Businesses Like Yours are Posting”
July 18, 2018
Google is slowly adding in a section in the Google My Business dashboard that shows…
READ MOREGoogle Now Notifies You When New Listings Go Live
July 17, 2018Provided you don’t have a bulk account or agency account, Google is now sending notifications…
READ MORE[Bug] Insights Download Issue
July 13, 2018There were many reports of locations missing in Google My Business Insights when people download…
Google Adds a “Call Button” to Google Posts
July 12, 2018
Google is now allowing you to add a “Call Now” button as the call-to-action on…
READ MOREFacebook Expands Options For Flagging Reviews
July 3, 2018
Facebook now has a new interface for flagging reviews. Instead of just being able to…
READ MOREGoogle My Business “Queries” Are Added to Insights
July 2, 2018
Google has started to roll out a feature inside Google My Business Insights that tells…
READ MORE[Bug] Google Posts Getting Rejected
June 26, 2018There was a bug at the end of June that rejected Google Posts that weren’t…
GMB Launches Subjective Attributes in Insights
June 26, 2018
Google My Business launched a subjective attributes report inside the Insights section of Google My…
READ MOREGoogle Launches Performance Cards in GMB Dashboard
June 25, 2018
Google adds a performance card to the homepage of the GMB dashboard that shows how…
READ MOREGoogle Allows Brands to Claim their Knowledge Panel
June 22, 2018
Google has made it possible for brands to claim their knowledge panel. I cannot help…
READ MOREGoogle Clears Out Tracking Numbers in GMB
June 22, 2018I heard lots of reports that Google switched out call tracking numbers on Google My…
READ MOREGoogle Adds Section About Confidential Information to the Google My Business Guidelines
June 21, 2018Google updates the Google My Business guidelines and clarifies that sharing confidential information is not…
READ MOREGoogle Launches Attribute for Watching Sports
June 14, 2018
If you allow customers to watch sports at your business, Google has released a “good…
READ MOREGoogle Stops Showing Local Results For Many Sex-Related Legal Queries
June 10, 2018
We don’t know the exact day in June that this happened but Google stopped showing…
READ MOREGoogle Now Emails You Confirmation For Flagging Reviews
June 6, 2018When you flag a review inside the GMB dashboard, Google now emails you to confirm…
Google My Business Launches a Dashboard for Agencies
June 5, 2018Google announced that they launched the new agency dashboard. Unfortunately, in order to set it…
READ MORE[Bug] GMB Edits Aren’t Working
May 29, 2018There is a bug currently that is keeping edits in the Google My Business dashboard…
Google Adds the Ability to Search for Keywords in Reviews
May 29, 2018
Google announced you can now search reviews on listings on the Google Maps app.
READ MOREGoogle Removes Anonymous Reviews
May 24, 2018If you noticed your review count drop recently, it’s likely due to Google no longer…
READ MOREGoogle Sues Marketing Companies Scamming & Updates Terms for 3rd Parties
May 23, 2018Well-Known scammers like Point Break Media & Beyond Menu are being targeted by Google as…
READ MOREGoogle My Business Launches Offer Posts
May 15, 2018
These have been in Beta for a while but as of today I’m seeing Offer…
Google Now Emails Customers Review Responses
May 11, 2018
Google is now sending notifications (via email) when a business owner responds to a Google…
READ MOREGoogle Posts Now Accept Videos
May 8, 2018You can now add a video to Google Posts. Google says in their help center: …
Google Adds a Clear Option for Attributes
May 3, 2018Google added a “clear” option to attributes. Rather than being forced to select ‘yes’ or ‘no’…
READ MOREGoogle Announces Users Will Need to Pay for Maps API
May 2, 2018This change is coming June 11th. Google says “Beginning June 11, you’ll need a valid…
READ MOREGoogle Announces They’re Launching a Google My Business Partners Program
May 1, 2018To be alerted about when it launches, sign up here.
READ MORE[Bug] Google Reviews Go Missing from Profiles
April 26, 2018This bug is now resolved but lasted for several days where reviews that a user…
READ MOREPosts Move to the Top of the Knowledge Panel on Mobile
April 23, 2018
As first noticed by Andy Simpson, Google Posts were given more visibility due to Google…
Google Adds to Guidelines for Restricted Content
April 17, 2018Google has updated the guidelines for restricted content such as alcohol, gambling & guns and…
Bug: Review Notification Emails Broken
April 13, 2018There is a bug with email notifications where clicking the “read review” button results in…
Review gating is now against the google my business guidelines
April 12, 2018Google has updated the review guidelines to clarify that review-gating is not allowed. They added the…
READ MOREGoogle Updates the Guidelines for Events
April 12, 2018
Google has added a section to the guidelines that clarifies the policies for events on Google Maps.
READ MOREGoogle My Business Adds Services Field
April 5, 2018
This is similar to the menu feature that was launched in February but now applies…
READ MOREBug: Delay in GMB Edits Being Published
April 4, 2018There is a bug that’s causing a delay in edits from Google My Business from…
Google My Business Adds the Business Description Field
March 27, 2018
Google has now rolled out the business description feature for Google My Business.
READ MOREGoogle Starts Sending Email Notifications for Q&A
March 26, 2018Google made an update to their notifications so that now businesses are notified via email…
READ MOREGoogle Launches Product Posts
March 25, 2018
This new type of Google Post is designed to highlight your products and has its…
Review Links Can No Longer Pre-Fill Five Stars
March 23, 2018This tactic that used to allow you to send a link to customers that would…
Google Launches Location Groups to the New GMB Dashboard
March 22, 2018
With this feature you can create a location group that groups together a bunch of…
READ MOREGoogle Launches Secondary Updates to the Classic GMB Dashboard
March 22, 2018
Google announced yesterday that they have now split the “updates” to your listing so that…
READ MOREGoogle Starts Removing Inactive G+ Local Pages
March 16, 2018Google has started sending out emails to businesses that have not been active on Google…
READ MOREBug: User Contributions Disappeared
March 15, 2018
All reviews and Questions and Answers from users disappeared. This is a known bug that…
Changes to the Heatmap in GMB Insights
March 14, 2018
This update will better allow you to track which areas customers request all forms of…
READ MOREAlgorithm Update
March 14, 2018On March 14, 2018 there was a big shift in the search results (both organic…
READ MORECore Algorithm Update
March 9, 2018There was an algorithm update that we’re just calling the “March 9th algorithm update” that…
READ MOREBug: Google My Business Insights Issue
March 6, 2018According to Google: Due to a logging bug, you may see a drop for customer…
Google Introduces a Women-Led Attribute You Can Add To Your GMB Listing
March 6, 2018
Google has added a “Women-Led” attribute to GMB in honor of #InternationalWomensDay
READ MOREQ&A is Now Visible on a User’s Profile
February 23, 2018
Google has added a tab for Q&A to a user’s public profile on maps. This…
READ MOREGoogle Adds in Top Questions from Customers for GMB Messaging
February 21, 2018
We noticed Google now has quick common questions from customers in the Messaging feature in…
Google Starts Showing Ads in the 3-Pack More Often
February 20, 2018Previously we were only able to trigger 3-pack ads when the person was searching really…
Google Adds Mall Directories to Shopping Malls Local Knowledge Panels.
February 18, 2018
On mobile devices, Google is now showing a directory tab on the Knowledge Panel for…
READ MORERestaurants Can Now Add Menu Items Directly in GMB
February 1, 2018Now, in addition to using the GMB API or 3P menu service, listing owners will…
READ MOREAdd an Opening Date in Google My Business
February 1, 2018
Google starts prompting businesses to add the date their business opened via the Google My…
READ MOREGoogle Updated the Review Filter
January 29, 2018This is a trend several of the Google My Business Top Contributors observed based on…
Driving Direction Requests by Zip Code in Google My Business
January 19, 2018It’s now possible to see where your users got driving direction requests from all the…
READ MOREGoogle Posts Now appear on Google My Business Websites
January 17, 2018If you have created a Google Website via your Google My Business listing, your Google…
READ MOREYelp Allows you to Add Users to Manage Your Business Account
January 17, 2018You can now add other users to your listing without sharing your owner login.
READ MOREGoogle Updates the Review Guidelines
January 8, 2018Google changed the wording to clarified that both positive and negative reviews from an employee…
READ MOREVideos Come to Google My Business
January 3, 2018
The option to upload videos to a Google My Business listing showed up in the…
READ MORE
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Our Achievements
Here are some of our achievements:
- Columnist on Search Engine Land
- Google My Business Product Experts
- Speaker at State of Search, Pubcon, & SMX
- Writer for Moz
- Faculty Member & Speaker at LocalU
- Owners of the Local Search Forum
- Moz Local Search Ranking Factors Contributors
- Certified Google Partner
