Category: Google Maps

Google has updated the help document on how to verify your business to say “we may require you to verify by more than one method.” So if you verify using one method, Google might decide it needs you to verify again but using a different method.
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Allie Margeson from Whitespark noticed that the Google local pack in the search results is no longer a static map. The map is now interactive and lets searchers zoom in and out, move the map around, hover over businesses to see the names and reviews an…

Kara a Google Community Manager announced that Google is doing away with the Google Business profile feature to follow a local listing in Google Maps or Google Search and also dropping the welcome offer feature. There is no date on when this is happen…

The questions and answers section is often found for local listings local knowledge panel listing on both desktop and mobile but now it is also showing up in the Google Maps interface.

Google has launched a new API to retrieve call history data from your Google Business Profiles, you know, when people click call this business from Google Search and Google Maps. They named it the “My Business Business Calls API” – shouldn’t it be nam…

Google Business Profile manager seems to have removed the ability to modify or add a new appointment link to your business profile in Google Maps and Google Search. It is unclear if this is a bug or a feature Google is intentionally removing.

We’ve seen Google legitimately test two ads in the local pack but what Iampk spotted on Twitter and some were able to replicate seems like Google placing an ad unit spot twice in the local pack. Like this is some bug where Google decided to not show tw…

I believe for the first time, Google has provided more detail on how it handles review spam policy enforcement for Google Maps. The search company wrote a blog post, accompanied by a short video, describing what they do to tackle issues with reviews i…

Google seems to be testing a feature to help searchers listen to how to pronounce a company name with a microphone icon. Google is also testing in that local pack a “translate more” link.

Google will be deprecating the Google My Business API on April 30, 2022 and replacing it with new APIs in the Google federated model. So you will have to update any of the old APIs you may be using with the new ones within the next few months.

Google is promoting the Pointy from Google solution in Google Business Profiles dashboard, Colan Nielsen explained on Twitter. Google is placing this box that says “Help customers find products they need” by connecting your in-store product inventory w…

Google has added to Google business profiles listings in the Google Maps interface a section named “updates from customers.” This seems to show some recent reviews from Google Local Guides and this might be a concern for some businesses where Google m…

Chris Tweten posted a photo the other day on Twitter of a dental office sign with its company name – the company name is named “Dentist Near Me.” Of course, the SEOs in all of you are thinking, oh, this dental practice wants to rank for all [near me] …

With Google’s new effort to get business owners to manage their business listing in web search and not in the Google Business Profile manager, formerly Google My Business, Google is now using large overlays to tell businesses they can do so in search.
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Google Maps, the map interface, is testing displaying review snippets, short selected reviews, directly under the name of the business or organization in the map interface under the pin. This was spotted by Allie Margeson who said on Twitter “seeing re…

Google is testing a new layout for location packs that show things to do, airports and transit stops based on the location you are looking at. This is Google mobile search feature that Brian Freiesleben spotted and posted on Twitter.

Google is putting new Google Business Profile owners and managers into a sandbox, penalty box or a waiting room for seven-days before they can manage all of the features in the Google Business Profile account. This is a new, I guess, security feature,…

Google is showing more and more cars for sales in the local search results. Saad AK spotted it the other day and shared a video of it in action and Riley Hope shared more details on how dealerships can get their cars in these spots.

Google is now showing bike icons for the bikeshare data it shows in the local search results, including the local pack and local listing for a bike share location. Google also shows the quantity of bikes that are available at that location. And Google …

Google Business Profiles (formerly Google My Business) seems to have added or is testing adding a new check box for products. There is an option named “mark as special” that will show that product at the top of the page in Google Search.