Announcements

Launch: Years in business

February 9, 2021

Add an opening date to your Business Profile to tell customers when your business first opened, or will open, at its address. Learn how to add an opening date. While the “Opening date” feature is available to all businesses, eligible services businesses may find the “Years in Business” label in Search.
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Launch: Small Business Advisors

November 16, 2020

Businesses located in the US can consult with Small Business Advisors about Google products. Small businesses can schedule a one-on-one, 50-minute video call with a specially-trained Google Advisor who can: Provide guidance directly from Google Tailor recommendations based on the business’s specific business needs Help the business master Google products like My Business, Ads, Analytics, and more Appointments for Small Business Advisors aren’t available for large businesses or marketing/SEO agencies. Learn how to book an appointment.
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Launch: YouTube playlist of Google My Business tips

November 16, 2020

We found some great videos from Google My Business users who discuss some of the most common questions we get. You can explore a new YouTube playlist of some of these videos from the Google My Business community.
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Launch: Health & Safety attributes

September 11, 2020

Food, retail, and service businesses can add attributes to let customers know about the safety measures in place at their business. Safety measure attributes include: Masks required for customers or staff Temperature checks required for customers or staff Appointments or reservations required Learn how to add or edit your business attributes.
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Launch: Update your Business Profile directly from Google Search or Maps

August 13, 2020

You can now update your business directly from your Business Profile on Google Search and Maps. From Maps and Search, you can edit business information, add photos, reply to customer reviews, and create posts. A new performance report on Search provides insights on how customers interact with a merchant’s profile. Learn how to update your Business Profile. Read the blog post.
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Launch: Set More hours

May 13, 2020

Businesses can set additional hours through More hours for special features and services. With More hours, businesses can give more detailed information to their customers about times for options such as delivery, drive through, and pickup. Learn how to set More hours.
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Update: Marketing kit COVID-19 materials

April 29, 2020

Because of COVID-19, we added new printable posters and digital social post templates that focus on business updates. These items can help businesses communicate changes about their business, like "Temporarily closed" or "Order today for takeout and delivery." You can find and download these items featured in their own section of the marketing kit. Learn how to create your business marketing kit.
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Launch: Stores affected by COVID-19

April 6, 2020

If your store is affected by the COVID-19 situation, update your Google My Business profile to provide the most accurate information to your customers. For example, change your hours of operation if you’re closed or close early, or add pickup or delivery attributes. The updates will show on your Business Profile on Google Search and Maps. Learn how to update your store Profile.
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Launch: Food businesses affected by COVID-19

April 2, 2020

If your food business is affected by COVID-19, update your Google My Business profile to provide the most accurate information to your customers. For example, change your hours of operation if you’re closed or closing early, or add takeout or delivery-only attributes. The updates will show on your profile on Google Search and Maps. Learn how to update your restaurant profile.
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Communicate COVID-19 changes to your business operations

March 26, 2020

You can create COVID-19 specific posts that address: Hours of operation and temporary closures Changes to how the business operates, such as takeout or delivery only, call for details, or others. Updates to how the location is being managed as it relates to safety and hygiene. Requests for support. These updates will be a standalone carousel just below the business info. Learn how to create a COVID-19 post.
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Businesses affected by COVID-19: Provide customers with updated info

March 9, 2020

If your business is affected by COVID-19, update your Google My Business profile to provide the most accurate information to your customers. For example, change your hours of operation if you’re closing early, or add more details to your description. The updates will show on your Business Profile on Google Search and Maps. Learn more about providing your customers with the latest information.
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Launch: Get started with Google My Business for healthcare providers

March 25, 2020

Healthcare providers can now more easily list and personalize their practices with Google My Business. If you’re a healthcare provider or manage a practice, use Google My Business to connect with patients and find prospective patients. You can update your practice info and list services like telemedicine on Google Search and Maps. Learn more about Google My Business for healthcare providers.
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Launch: Job types for services

November 27, 2019

Services businesses in the US can choose from suggested types of services (for example, plumbers may see "Install faucet" or "Repair toilet" as services to add). If the type of service isn't listed, they can add their own custom services. These standardized job types make it easier for customers to find the services they need, and help merchants generate more relevant leads for the services they offer. Learn more about the services editor.
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Update: Discontinuing toll free numbers

November 11, 2019

We’ve removed toll free customer support numbers from the Google My Business homepage. If you call one of the existing numbers, you’ll be directed to the Google My Business Help Center for a more personalized and efficient help experience. You’ll still be able to request a toll free call from a support specialist under the “Contact Us” options in the Google My Business Help Center.
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Launch: Add up to 20 service area businesses

November 5, 2019

Service area businesses are now limited to having a maximum of 20 service areas per business. If more are needed, we recommend expanding the existing ones to cover larger areas. You can set your service area based on a combination of entire cities, districts, postal codes, or other areas that you serve. Businesses with more than 20 service areas will receive suggested updates to their service areas to cover the same geographic area while only using 20 areas. Learn more about how to add or edit your service area.
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Launch: Edits by unverified merchants

September 30, 2019

Business owners will be able to suggest edits to some core business information directly from their Google My Business account before verifying their business. This is like the “Suggest an edit” experience, but for unverified business owners. The edits will go through the regular review process, and pending review, these changes can go live before verification on Google Search or Maps. Learn more about how to edit your business information before verifying.
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Launch: Removing remaining distance-based service areas

September 3, 2019

Service-area businesses currently based on a distance will be automatically converted to the closest named areas, like San Francisco, CA or Islington, London. Business owners will be able to review these updates in their Google My Business account under Google updates, and can either accept or provide a new service area. They’ll also receive an email notification about the change.
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Launch: Insights on profiles through Google Maps

August 27, 2019

You can check how often your profile’s been viewed through your Business Profile on Google Maps. You can use profile view insights to track how popular your business is with current and potential customers. Profile view insights appear on your Business Profile under the "You manage this Business Profile" section. Only people who manage the Business Profile can view profile insights. Learn more about how to view insights for you business.
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Launch: Reply to reviews on Google Maps Android

August 22, 2019

You can reply to reviews directly from your Business Profile on Google Maps Android. This lets you more easily respond to customer reviews while away from your computer. Only owners and managers of verified businesses can reply to reviews from the Business Profile on Maps. Learn more about how to reply to reviews on Google Maps Android.
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Launch: View reviews in bulk

August 15, 2019

Businesses can view reviews for multiple listings at once. With bulk reviews, you’ll be able to view, reply to, and flag reviews for multiple listings from one place. This feature is available in all location groups with 500 or fewer locations. It’s not available for organization accounts. Learn more about how to view your reviews in bulk.
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Launch: Edit hotel information

August 9, 2019

Known issue: Updating hotel attributes in the Google My Business API and spreadsheet upload is not working. Learn more. Hotel owners with verified hotel listings can edit their services and amenities in the “Hotel attributes” section of their Google My Business account. This is only available on a computer. Learn more about managing your hotel’s information.
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Launch: Site manager sign-up link on Business Profile

August 6, 2019

We continually strive to make it easier for franchise owners and store managers to manage their listings for locations they own or operate. Now, a site manager sign-up link can be found in the Business profile of some claimed chain locations on Maps and Search. With the new sign-up link, users can sign up as a site manager directly from the Business profile page. Users who use the sign-up link will be verified by Google to make sure their profile data is accurate. Learn more about the new site manager link on Maps and Search.
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Launch: Changes in status names

August 6, 2019

We’ve made the status names more accurate on the locations page and the Google Updates card. On the locations and Google Updates pages, we’ll show “verified” and “unverified” instead of “published” and “unpublished,” since those more clearly describe the possible listing states. Learn more about how to check if your listing is live. Important: A listing being published is not the same as being verified. If the listing is closed, suspended, or pending review, it can be verified but not published. If a listing is on Google, but no one has verified their connection to the business yet, that business is published, but not verified.
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Launch: Messaging Insights

August 6, 2019

To encourage more frequent responses to customer messages, you can now see insights based on your responsiveness to messages. You can see your insights if you have messaging enabled in your Google My Business app. All insights will be private to you and won’t be shared with your customers. Learn more about messaging insights.
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Update: Google My Business support delays

August 6, 2019

Our support team is currently experiencing an unusually high volume of requests. We're working as quickly as possible to address these issues. If you want to request reinstatement for a suspended listing, please complete the reinstatement request form and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. Current wait times are several weeks or longer. Thank you for your patience as we work through this backlog. Resolving these wait times is a top priority for us. Please refrain from filing multiple requests or contacting us via multiple support channels as it may only cause further delays.
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Launch: Post Insights summary view on Google My Business app

August 1, 2019

Post Insights continually update as customers interact with your posts to help you better understand how your posts perform with potential customers. Your summary shows how your posts performed over the last week. The summary view of Post Insights is now available to everyone on the Google My Business app, as well as the Google My Business desktop and mobile website. Learn more about Post Insights.
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Launch: Manage your business on Google Maps iOS app

July 18, 2019

Owners and managers of businesses can edit the information on their Business Profiles directly from the Google Maps iOS app. This makes it easier for verified owners to manage their Business Profile. Learn how you can edit your info or add photos directly from your Business Profile on Google Maps iOS.
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Launch: Expanding Product, Menu and Services Editor availability

June 27, 2019

We’ve opened the Product Editor to all categories of businesses, except a few disabled verticals. With the Product Editor, you can more accurately showcase your products to current and potential customers. In addition, businesses using structured menus or service lists provided by third-party sources will see empty menu or service editors in their Google My Business dashboard. If there are third-party sources, any changes to the editor will delete them. Learn more about the Product Editor.
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Launch: Welcome offers

June 24, 2019

Google My Business continually searches for ways to help you connect with current and potential future customers. With welcome offers, you can do both. You can create a welcome offer (e.g. 20% off donuts for new followers) to thank customers who follow your business on Google My Business. Only new followers will see your welcome offer. To create one, go to Google My Business. Learn more about welcome offers.
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Launch: Claim an unverified listing through Maps

June 20, 2019

Google My Business is always working to improve the user experience. Now, we’re working on shortening the process to claim an unverified listing through Maps by going straight to the verification process and making the flow more user-friendly. Some merchants may see these changes. Learn more about how to claim an unverified listing through Maps.
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Launch: Share a short URL with customers for reviews

June 19, 2019

You can share a short URL to ask customers to leave a review or to share your Business Profile. All businesses who have claimed their short name in Google My Business can have a shareable short URL. Learn more about how to share your short URL.
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Launch: Real-time local Post Insights

June 6, 2019

Insights on Local Posts will be in near real time in Google My Business. Real-time data for Posts lets you immediately see your posts and how they benefit your business. Learn more about Post Insights.
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Launch: Popular Dishes on Google Maps

May 30, 2019

Popular dishes for restaurants can be seen in the Business Profiles on Google Maps on the Android app. Business owners, managers, and customers can add and name dishes on the Business Profile through Maps. Dishes names added by owners will get precedence over dish names added by customers. Users can also suggest edits if they feel a dish is inaccurate. Learn more about how to add and edit popular dishes for restaurants.
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Pilot launch: Short names on your Business Profile

April 24, 2019

You can create a short name and URL to make it easier for customers to find you. Verified businesses are eligible to create a short name and URL through your Business Profile. Customers can enter a custom URL link, such as g.page/[customname], and they’ll be taken directly to your Business Profile. Note: For bulk users, short names have to be claimed individually per listing. This feature is currently starting to roll out, and will become available to owners globally over the next few months. Learn more about how to create a short name & URL for your business.
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Launch: Google My Business API v4.4

April 22, 2019

We've launched version 4.4 of the Google My Business API. Here are some of the new actions supported in the API: Create and verify listings for service-area businesses Create user groups and location groups Add an opening date (including dates up to a year in the future) To learn more about the Google My Business API, visit the developer page.
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Launch: Suggested posts: Customer testimonials

April 15, 2019

We're happy to announce a new feature that lets you post automatically suggested reviews as customer testimonials. In some countries, Google My Business will provide suggested posts to help you showcase positive reviews left for your business. You may get suggestions for new testimonials to post when you sign in to Google My Business, or via email notifications. These posts are automatically suggested based on 4 or 5-star reviews recently left for your business. You'll be able to review and edit the post before publishing it. Learn more about posts.
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Launch: Product Catalog in the Business Profile on desktop Search

April 4, 2019

Before, items that businesses add through Product Editor appeared exclusively in Business Profiles on the mobile version of Google Search. Now, customers can see businesses’ Product Catalog on Google Search both on the computer and mobile. Learn more about Product Editor and Product Catalog.
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Launch: Add a business on Google Maps

April 3, 2019

To help improve the Google My Business sign-up process, we’ve added 3 ways on Google Maps on the computer where owners and managers can go directly to the sign-up flow. You can add your business through Google Maps on your computer by searching for a location, right-clicking on a spot, or through the menu. Learn more about how to add your business through Google Maps.
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Launch: Unified hotel reviews on desktop Maps

February 21, 2019

We’ve updated how Reviews look for hotels on Desktop Google Maps. Now, Desktop Google Maps displays reviews from both Google users and third-party providers (from TrustYou). With a consolidated list of reviews, users can make more informed decisions on Hotels directly from Maps. All hotels that work with one of the third-party providers are eligible for the unified hotel reviews section. A Google My Business account is not required. Please note that we cannot provide a full list of eligible third-party providers. Learn more about reviews on Google.
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Launch: Reply to reviews on Maps on desktop

February 12, 2019

We’re making improvements on how you can reply to reviews, and providing you with more information and tools to get feedback from customers. You can now reply to reviews directly with your business profile on Google Maps from your computer. Replying directly from Google Maps lets you manage your reviews without having to download the Google My Business app or open its homepage. Learn more about how to read and reply to reviews. We also have some tips on how to respond to negative reviews. Positive or negative, reviews are an opportunity to identify areas to improve the consumer experience. Lastly, we know you have questions about Local Guides, a global community of people who write reviews, share photos, answer questions, add or edit places, and check facts on Google Maps. So, we want to share more about how the program is designed to help make Maps better for customers and businesses. Learn more about Local Guides.
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Launch: Add hotel check-in and check-out times

February 4, 2019

We're pleased to announce that hotels can now add their check-in and check-out times to their business listing in Google My Business. This information helps customers know when rooms will be ready and when they must vacate. This feature is only available for hotels. To add check-in and check-out times: Sign in to Google My Business. Click on Hotel attributes. Click on Policies & payments. Use the drop down to change your Check-in and Check-out time. Learn how to edit your business listing.
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Launch: Updates for service-area businesses

January 22, 2019

We continue to work on improving the overall Google My Business experience for service-area businesses from start to finish. We're excited to announce a few updates designed to meet the unique needs of service-area businesses, including a new signup process. Learn more about the new features for service area businesses.
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Update: About virtual healthcare attributes

We’ve launched new tools for your Business Profile on Google so you can update how your healthcare business has changed in response to the COVID-19 situation. If you offer online care or video visits, you can add a “Virtual care” link and an “Online care” attribute to guide people searching for online services. Important: These attributes are only displayed in Search and placesheet on mobile.
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