7 Unannounced updates to Google My Business in 2017
Google has been rolling out new features and updates on Google My Business over several months.
Google constantly launching updates to their products. Check below to know the update details.
1. Google Remove Permanently Closed Listing from the Local Finder
If you look at the picture from my article last year about permanently closed listings, you’ll see that there used to be tons of “permanently closed” listings ranking in the Local Finder. They would typically show up at the end of the list (after the open ones), and if you edited a ranking listing to make it appear permanently closed, it would instantly drop to the back of the list.
I haven’t seen a single “permanently closed” listing in the Local Finder in months. This is mostly a good thing.
Tip: Search for all your existing and former practitioners on Google by name + city and make sure you don’t have any of these out there.
2. Google removes the ability to access the classic version of Google Plus:
Google came out with the new version of Google Plus back in 2015, but up until a couple of months ago, they still kept the classic version accessible and it was the version that Google cached in their search results.
The classic version had all the Name, Address, Phone Number (NAP) data on it that we loved so much, and the new version gives you none of this info. Many of us used the site:plus.google.com search to find duplicate listings for clients, and this function no longer works, since the cached version of Google Plus has no phone number, no address and no reviews.
3. Google launches a platform for reviewing edits to business listings on Google Maps on Desktop:
Since MapMaker shut down, lots of people are under the impression that reviewing edits to business listings is no longer possible. Google has had the ability to review edits on the Google Maps app for quite some time, but since those of us in the local SEO industry rarely sit around doing client work on our phones, lots of people don’t realize this is possible.
In March, Google also launched a “Check the Facts” feature on Desktop for Local Guides. This is a very simplified version of editing and isn’t really comparable to what we used to have on MapMaker, but it does allow for users to approve or deny each other’s edits to business listings.
4. Google removes pending edits for a listing’s status from showing up on the Google Maps app:
I outlined in this article how spammers were attacking legit business listings by reporting their listings as spam just to get the pending status to show up on their listing on mobile. Indeed, these spammers shifted their focus to Trump Tower at one point, and searching for it on the Google Maps app produced the following listing:
5. Google rolls out the Snack Pack to more industries in the USA:
Different from the 3-pack, the “Snack Pack” refers to the local layout that that is missing the links to the business website or driving directions; instead of seeing these (useful) buttons, you get an image.
For some reason, Google decided earlier this year that all of us who search on Google would love to see pictures of bugs when searching for pest control instead of a website that would tell us more about the company we’re potentially hiring.
6. Businesses can now access 18 months of data from Insights inside their Google My Business dashboard;
In April, Google added bulk insights to the dashboard, which might look unimpressive at first if you don’t catch the fact that you can now select a custom date range for data and aren’t stuck looking at one-week, one-month, or one-quarter intervals! This is a huge plus for agencies who onboard new clients and want the ability to see how their stats look before they start improving things.
7. Google starts actively showing local pack ads on mobile:
Here is a picture of what they look like that I took using Mobile Moxie’s Mobile Search Simulator:
