Did Google My Business get cancelled?
ah… no… read on….
Let’s talk quickly about the Google My Business changes that are being talked about, which are coming through now in late 2021.
The rumors were that it’s all 2022 changes, but some of them are flowing through already.
As Google has done in the past with Google My Business and Google Search generally, things change gradually all the time.
Occasionally, you’ll see an article or get a fright that something’s going to change quickly and you’ll be left behind, but it’s really not the case with this one.
There’s been a few articles around, and there’s a bit of misinformation as well.
I want to talk about it so you know that you’re doing the right stuff for your business and you’re not going to suffer any penalties or anything like that.
The first thing is it is not going away or being deleted.
Google My Business is not going to disappear in any way.
That was one rumor where I saw that’s not true. It’s just changed its name.
In fact, it’s already changed its name. If you log on to google.com/businesstoday, you’ll notice the name has changed.
Everything looks the same.
It just says Google Business Profile manager.
So, you’ll see that we’ve got there change your name to Google Business Profile, and when you go to the dashboard, it’ll just say that plus manager.
It doesn’t look any different to what it did last week, so don’t worry about that.
It’s simply a name change.
So you’ll see above the new name when you log on, ALSO some helpful tips are starting to appear on the dashboard as well.
At point 2 in the image above, there is a tip about managing your profile directly from “search” and “maps” — expect to see more of these tips.
This product, Google My Business or Google Business Profile, has been around for something like 15 years already.
It’s been there for ages, and it’s evolved lots of times.
There’s been name changes three or four times, and it’ll change again, because what they’re trying to do in the long run is become, and I think they’ve already done this, to be fair, they’re trying to become the main online directory for business.
So, it stands to reason we use Google Maps all the time, we use Google Search all the time, so why not have the main business directory also being a Google product?
I think they’ve achieved that.
All the changes they make are about increasing the effectiveness of Google My Business or Google Business Profile so that you rely on it more and you put more time and effort into that.
So, if you look at page one of Google now of a Google search, there’s lots of Google products on there. There’s YouTube clips, there’s a featured snippet, there’s Google ads. Then there’s the Google Map Pack, Google Business Profile as well.
Over time, Google is putting more emphasis on their own products. This is just another change to reflect that.
As always with Google, the changes are slow.
They talk about it and then they gradually do things.
These changes were first rumored earlier in 2021, they’re now starting to happen bit by bit by bit.
As in the past, and Google’s done this before, they might list out three or four changes, and not all of them will actually happen.
So, we know the name has changed, but if you look at the next thing down here, they’re saying that the messaging app might go.
So, the app that you download onto your phone to allow you to respond to messages and upload photos and things, they’re saying that might go.
I’m not so sure about that, because I know people use it and rely on it and it helps them with the messaging, because what they’ve said is that they’re trying to get people to manage their listing more directly on the desktop via Search and Maps.
So, via normal Google Search or normal Google Maps, they want owners to be there managing the listing on that, as you’ll see from the maps listing image below:
But I know from my clients and myself that using the app is quite useful because it’s on your phone, so you can reply to messages and reviews out and about.
I’m not sure whether the app will go. I’m still suggesting people download the app at the moment and use the app, because as with all Google products, the more fully you use their products, the better your ranking goes.
You always want to embrace all of the Google things, because typically that means a better result for you and your business, so you’re mad not to.
Look, really the bottom line, and I’ve just emailed my clients literally 10 minutes ago about this, is keep doing the things you know work.
Keep getting reviews. Keep chasing reviews as much as you can. Ask people for reviews.
Talk to customers. Get reviews. Upload photos, upload posts, log on, keep using it.
You won’t be left behind.
As always, guys, any questions about this stuff, just pop them in the comments below and I’ll get back to you.
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