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Google My Business was (and still is, post-rechristening) a popular platform allowing businesses to manage their online presence and easily connect with customers seeking the "social proof" provided by testimonials and reviews from peers.
It also provides tremendous benefits to "local SEO" and competitive visibility within single or multiple target market areas. And the benefits are invaluable to both online businesses and brick-and-mortar locations alike. Setting up a profile should be at the top of the marketing checklist for any and every brand new company or those in existence who have ignored GMB/GBP to date.
It's possible, however, that the previous product name was misunderstood as being only for businesses using Google products. So, to clear up this confusion, Google rebranded Google My Business to Google Business Profile. While never formally announced to that effect, the strategic reasons behind said nomenclature shift may be just that simple.
This new name may better reflect the fact that any business can use the platform to manage their profile and digital footprint across the entire web - as opposed to just being applicable to those using Google's native product suite.
It could also be said that the new name makes it more intuitive for prospective customers to find information about businesses when performing searches. As a result, the rebranding, and retirement of the word "my", should lead to a greater understanding of this mission-critical platform and how useful it is when managing absolutely any online business entity.
Since the day Google began introducing local business profile features in March of 2004, they’ve kept developing it aggressively and have changed the name no fewer than six times. GMB’s rechristening to Google Business Profile last Thursday involves more than a simple rebrand, however, so it’s important to know what changes you can expect - both right away and in the near future.
Here is a look into the primary feature change, access via search:
Since the inception of Google Local (aka Google Local Business aka Google Places aka Google+ Local aka Google My Business) and right on up to the announcement of Google Business Profile last week, the tool has become a local marketing cornerstone, ensuring ownership and control over business information within search results.
* Enter your business name into our online reputation calculator, and adjust the review volume slider, for an estimate of how critical GBP may be to your specific strategy.
From SMBs with a single brick-and-mortar location to enterprise-level chains with hundreds of franchises, GMB (or GBP as we can assume it will become abbreviated - at least outside of England) has been on the top of everyone’s checklist for a long time. And that isn’t going to change, but some of the details definitely will evolve in both the short and longer-term.
As of today, the main differences accompanying the name change have to do with direct profile management and a shift in how Google wants you to do so. While it’s been possible for years, Google is now deliberately pushing those with single listings to manage their businesses within Search or Maps and not in the old Google My Business console or mobile app.
Google has also announced a gradual new feature rollout which includes:
In line with their aforementioned preferences as to user interaction, the mobile app will eventually be retired (no definitive word yet as to time frame, but Google’s VP of Merchant Shopping hinted it will happen in 2022). The GMB web backend will be renamed Business Profile Manager and shift towards primarily supporting larger, multiple-location entities. It’s safe to assume this will also happen sometime next year.
In addition, the current profile URLs will be rebranded and redirect to the new experience. Eventually, GMB’s API will be renamed to Business Profile API, with the current functionality and development focus retained.
The short answer is, “no.” If you’re an SMB not using a Google Business Profile service to do the work for you, and a frequent hands-on user of the GMB web backend or mobile app, our only short-term adjustment recommendation is to start getting used to editing your profile directly in Search/Maps. Long before you’re eventually forced to sometime in 2022.
Additional Resources:
Google’s recent announcement is more indicative of continuing and “natural” improvements to a cornerstone feature than anything you need to worry about reacting to today.
Widewail is dedicated to keeping our customers informed and comfortable with industry changes related to our products. You can see Google’s full announcement here. We’ve included several informational links above and you can always reach out to your account manager by phone or email with more detailed questions.