Author Archives: Anita Yuen

Foster meaningful conversations with customers on Google

Whether it’s searching for the perfect gift or looking for a contractor to remodel that bathtub, consumers are increasingly turning to calls and chat to interact with merchants. People want to communicate with businesses to help them make more informed decisions, and this trend is continuously accelerating. That’s why we’re introducing new features that’ll help business owners make the most of their interactions with customers on Google Search and Maps.

Learn more about the calls you receive from Google

People often value the immediacy and personal connection of a phone call, and we know this directly impacts merchants’ businesses. For example, Nedra Flansberg, the owner of Posh Brides and Grooms based in Carlsbad CA, told us that 50% of her customers come from Google. To help build connections between customers and millions of merchants like Nedra, we’re launching call history for all U.S. and Canadian merchants with verified Business Profiles. With call history, you can easily see which inbound customer calls came from your Business Profile and review helpful analytics on inbound call performance.

A cell phone showing a merchant’s call history

Quickly respond to customers on your Business Profile

Another valuable way consumers engage with merchants is by chatting with them. More and more people are turning to chat conversations with merchants of all sizes, ranging from small businesses to global merchants like Levi’s. With business messaging, Levi’s was able to resolve 30x more store related questions and saw a 31% increase in product related conversations. Merchants tell us they want to improve their interactions with customers, so we’re announcing a few new features to help them do just that.

Last year, we added functionality so you can chat with customers directly on Google Maps. Now, you can also see and respond to messages right from your Business Profile on Google Search.

A laptop showing messaging directly from Google Search

It's also helpful to know the recipient got your message on chat. With read receipts, both parties know whether their messages were seen. This feature is launching for all Business Profile merchants this month, further enriching the chat experience for customers and businesses.

A cell phone showing that a merchant’s sent message was read by the customer

As businesses prepare for another busy holiday season, and customers increasingly turn to calls and chat to interact with businesses, we look forward to helping foster even more meaningful interactions and giving merchants more tools to succeed.

Learn more about calls and chat on your Business Profile.

Making Google My Business work for agency and platform partners

Looking for something nearby—a hair salon, a pharmacy, a car dealership—is one of the most common searches we do. In fact, more than one-third of all mobile searches are related to location. With people searching for businesses near them every second, we’re committed to helping local businesses put their best foot forward in these moments with Google My Business. This year, we’ve introduced more ways for businesses to stand out on Google and connect with their customers. By sharing Posts, activating Messaging, or adding a Booking button to your Google listing, local businesses can turn leads into customers.


We always strive to make our products simple and intuitive for small businesses, but many businesses are strapped for time and rely on third-party agencies and platforms to help manage their online presence. Today, at the Local Search Association conference in Chicago, IL, we're announcing a few improvements aimed at making it easier for agencies and partners to manage Google listings with Google My Business—including updates to the Google My Business API, a new Google My Business agency dashboard, and the launch of a Partners program.  


In the last couple of years, we’ve invested in the Google My Business API, introducing features like Reviews, Menus, Insights and Posts to make it possible for agencies and platform partners to easily maintain and update Google listings for their end customers. With our latest API update, we’re adding more features like offer posts and merchant description so partners can continue to offer Google My Business’ latest features to their customers efficiently and at scale.


And for the first time, agencies will be able to sign up and register for a Google My Business account. Registered agencies will get access to a brand new agency dashboard designed with our partners needs in mind. Key benefits include:


  • Single Organization Accounts on Google My Business to manage all locations—no longer limited to 100 locations.
  • User Groups to manage internal teams and control access to locations.
  • Improved search functionality enabling users to efficiently search for locations within an account and across location groups.
  • Easier workflows to send and receive invitations to manage listings.
GMB partners - cropped

And to further support the agencies and platform partners who help ensure the success of millions of Google listings, this month we’re launching the Google My Business Partners program. Trusted partners will be eligible for early access to new Google My Business features, a partner manager, and the potential to be featured on the Google My Business website.


Sign up to be the first to know when our new solutions for agencies and platform partners officially launch.

Your family on Google

Popcorn. Snuggles. Sniffles. Families share a lot of stuff—and now we’re making it even easier to share and stay connected with each other by giving you more to do with your family group on Google. You can already share music and other entertainment with the Google Play Music family plan and Google Play Family Library. Now whether it's a new TV show on your DVR, the soccer practice schedule, this week’s to-do list, or family photos from over the weekend, here’s a look at how families can do more with YouTube TV, Google Calendar, Keep and Photos.

YouTube TV: Up to six household members get their own cloud DVR that never runs out of storage space, all for $35 a month. Stream live TV from ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and popular cable networks. Learn more.

YTTV2

Google Calendar: A shared family calendar makes it easy for your whole family to keep track of group activities like picnics, movie nights and reunions—all in one place. Learn more.

Calendar2

Google Keep:  Capture and share ideas with features like reminders, shared lists, and notes in Keep that help your whole family stay in the loop. Learn more.

keep2

Google Photos: Send photos and videos to your family group in a few taps, whether you're on a weekend adventure or spending the afternoon at home. Learn more.

Photos2

YouTube TV is available today in select markets. Family offerings for Google Calendar, Google Keep, and Google Photos will begin rolling out today.* You can get started by creating a family group with up to six members of your household. Now your family can share some of your favorite Google products, together.

*Family features for Google Calendar, Google Keep and Google Photos are available in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Your family on Google

Popcorn. Snuggles. Sniffles. Families share a lot of stuff—and now we’re making it even easier to share and stay connected with each other by giving you more to do with your family group on Google. You can already share music and other entertainment with the Google Play Music family plan and Google Play Family Library. Now whether it's a new TV show on your DVR, the soccer practice schedule, this week’s to-do list, or family photos from over the weekend, here’s a look at how families can do more with YouTube TV, Google Calendar, Keep and Photos.

YouTube TV: Up to six household members get their own cloud DVR that never runs out of storage space, all for $35 a month. Stream live TV from ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and popular cable networks. Learn more.

YTTV2

Google Calendar: A shared family calendar makes it easy for your whole family to keep track of group activities like picnics, movie nights and reunions—all in one place. Learn more.

Calendar2

Google Keep:  Capture and share ideas with features like reminders, shared lists, and notes in Keep that help your whole family stay in the loop. Learn more.

keep2

Google Photos: Send photos and videos to your family group in a few taps, whether you're on a weekend adventure or spending the afternoon at home. Learn more.

Photos2

YouTube TV is available today in select markets. Family offerings for Google Calendar, Google Keep, and Google Photos will begin rolling out today.* You can get started by creating a family group with up to six members of your household. Now your family can share some of your favorite Google products, together.

*Family features for Google Calendar, Google Keep and Google Photos are available in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States.