Google Testing Google Posts in the Local Finder

Dave DiGregorio noticed that Google is pulling in snippets from previous posts into the Knowledge Panel.  I have been unable to replicate it.

[Bug] Google My Business Messaging Doesn’t Work With Location Groups

If you set up Messaging via the Google My Business app and your listing is connected to a Google My Business dashboard that utilizes location groups, your messages won’t arrive.

[Bug] Google My Business Photos

[Bug] Google Wipes Service Menus From GMB Listings

Lots of people are reporting issues with Google removing the service menu from their GMB listing.

GMB Updates Guidelines Regarding Virtual Offices

This update finally makes it explicitly clear that you must have your own staff to qualify for a GMB listing at a virtual office.

Yelp Has a Huge Algorithm Update Wiping Out Tons of Reviews

It’s hard to put a date on this since it started in November and continued into December.  Yelp updated their “recommendation software” which resulted in a lot of businesses losing reviews.

Google Rolls out “Sold Here” to Local Search Results

Google is now showing “sold here:” in the local results for product searches.

Google Launches a New Sign Up Process for Service Area Businesses

When you go to add a new listing to Google My Business, the second step now asks you if you want your business location to be visible on Google Maps.  If you select “no” it will un-associate your address with the listing.

Google My Business App Gets Updated

Google launched a new version of the GMB app that includes a customer tab showing information about followers on Google Maps, a message tab for customer messaging & more.

Google Adds a Follow Button on Google Maps

Google has added follow buttons to Google My Business listings on the Google Maps app on Android.  Once you follow a business, updates from them will show up in your “For You” tab.

[Bug] Images Are Missing in the Knowledge Panel

If you aren’t seeing images in the Knowledge Panel, it’s not just you.

Reserve with Google Now Shows in the 3-Pack

There are now booking calls-to-action directly in the 3-pack for business listings that utilizing Reserve With Google.

Google My Business Adds Products [Beta]

This feature is currently in Beta but allows business owners to add a digital catalog for products that the business sells which can be organized by “collections”.

Google My Business Adds Branded Search Reporting to Insights

Google added a new metric in the local Insights report where you can see how many people search for your brands related to your company.

Google My Business Launches a Migration Tool for the Agency Dashboard

Google My Business has just announced that they are launching a migration tool to help organization migrate existing GMB accounts.

You can Now Manually Add the “Located In” Feature to a GMB Listing

Previously this could only be done by contacting Google My Business support.  Colan explains how there is a way now to edit the listing and add this information yourself.

Advanced Verification Launches in Canada

Locksmiths in Canada are now required to pass Advanced Verification to run ads.  This is the first time Advanced Verification has expanded outside the USA.

Algorithm Update

This algorithm update seems to be tied to the Medic update in August.

September 8-11 Algorithm Update

On September 8-11, Google started rolling out another pretty significant algorithm update.  We’ve seen this as more of an “adjustment” to the Medic algorithm update that happened in August.  Mostly the same sites have been effected and we’re seeing this impacting both organic and the local search results.

Google Adds the Veteran Led Attribute

Google has rolled out the “veteran led” attribute for business listings in Google My Business.

GMB Adds “Menu” and “Posts” Tab For Brand Searches on Mobile

Google is testing “Menu” and “Posts” Tabs directly in the local results on mobile for branded search terms like “State Farm Eugene”

Change to GMB Insights

Google just alerted us that they recently made a change to GMB Insights that allows Google to include more places where customers find you.

GMB Testing “View previous posts on Google”

Google is testing out a “View previous posts on Google” at the bottom of the local knowledge panel when a listing has no live Google Posts.

Visible Email Addresses of Other Managers in Google My Business

Ben Fisher noticed on Twitter that you can now see the email address of other owners and managers of a listing inside Google My Business.  To do this you need to hover over the name of the person and the email address will appear.

Google My Business Websites are Upgraded to HTTPS

Existing and new GMB websites and custom Google domains that route to the GMB website will have the upgraded security of HTTPS.

Google Now Shows Events on Search

Google has made it so that users in the USA searching for things like “events near me” will trigger a list of events in your area.

[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.