Google is renaming Google My Business to Google Business Profile, as it transfers effort away from the Google My Business app and into other parts of Google Search, including Maps.
Why is it changing? The new name for Google My Business will be Google Business Profile. Google said people will be able to claim and verify your business profile directly on Google Search or the Google Maps app.
Not another new name? It is now known as Google Business Profile, before that, it was named Google My Business, before that, Google Places, Google+ Local, Google Places, and then before that, it was just Google Local.
So Google My Business is dead? Well, Google is saying they now prefer businesses with single listings to manage their businesses in Search or Maps and not in the old Google My Business dashboard.
Google said that the current Google My Business web interface we use now will transition to businesses with multiple locations, and will be renamed “Business Profile Manager.” The Google My Business web interface will be rebranded going forward.
If you manage multiple locations for your business and/or you are a local SEO that manages several businesses, you will continue to use an interface like Google My Business, renamed to Business Profile Manager going forward. There are rumored changes to the Business Profile Manager planned for the upcoming months.
But it’s not ALL bad news. Google also announced some new features with this announcement. The new features include:
- Claim and verify your Google Business Profile directly in Google Search and Google Maps
- Messaging can now be done directly from Google Search (more details here).
How do you manage your business? You can either just search for your business name in Google Search or Google Maps for businesses or search for “my business” in Google Search to see the business you have already claimed and verified. You’ll also see an option to verify your Business Profile or resolve other issues your profile might have, like a suspension.
From search or Maps, you can also edit information people see when they search for your business, like your address, business hours, make posts, respond to reviews, and more.
What it looks like. Here are screenshots of the web interface and mobile app interfaces for these features:
Messaging through Google Search
Call History
Read receipts
Look out for the rebranding of Google My Business to Google Business Profile in the coming weeks as all of Google’s social media profiles etc are updated to reflect the new branding.
As always if you have any questions about setting up your Google Business Profile or anything Website or SEO-related at all do not hesitate to get in touch with us here at Bee Spotted, we are waiting to help!