It seems like Google makes hundreds of changes throughout the year, and it can be daunting to follow all the new changes and adjust your strategies accordingly. To make this easier for you, we have rounded up the most critical Google changes that we think you need to be aware of.
- Google Sunsets Short Names
- “New” GMB Label for New Profiles
- New Google Local Ad Formats
Google Sunsets Short Names
Back in May 2019, Google’s short names played a minor role in the GMB product, but now the sun sets on this feature. Earlier this month, Google made an update to the Google My Business product and even made a mention of the change in their help article. To quote the Google help articles, “You can no longer create or edit short names. Short names and URLs that already exist will still work”.
Not to worry, if you did set up a GMB short name, your URL would still work. But we recommend you start to take stock of your GMB short URLs and start replacing your short name links.
This is relatively simple.
- On your computer desktop, sign in to Google My Business. If you have multiple locations you are managing, select the location or locations you want to remove your short name.
- Click “Edit”, next to the short name.
- You should now see the “Profile Short Name” window. Click “Delete”.
Tough break shorty, you had a nice run.
“New” GMB Label for New Profiles
Up next is a fantastic new feature for GMB. Google will be placing “New On Google” labels on recently added Google My Business Profiles. If your listing was created within the last 30 to 60 days, you might see this new label.
We think it is important to note that this is different than the other new label, “Recently Opened”. The recently opened label is for newly opened businesses. This would be a brand new business. The “New On Google” label is for a business that opens a new profile on Google My Business.
New Google Local Ad Formats
Finally on our list is Local Ad Placement changes. Google has again expanded this section to include Auto Suggest ads, Similar Places ads, and Navigational ads.
Here is a quick breakdown of these three new ad placements:
Auto Suggest: These will show while a user is actively searching. These will be based on the user’s geo proximity.
Similar Places: Google will show similar businesses near a user when that user searches for a closed business. It’s important to note this will typically happen when the business is closed at the time of the search.
Navigational: When a user is using driving directions, Google will show these navigational ads. The user can choose to add one of these suggestions to a stop, changing their directional route.
Those are it! There are three changes to GMB that we think you should be aware of. Follow us to stay up-to-date on future changes to GMB, and other review sites.
If you want to learn more about how GetDandy can help you manage and monitor your reputation on GMB or help remove false or defamatory reviews from Google My Business , schedule some time to speak to our review experts today.