2022 unveiled a lot of Google new features and updates to keep in mind this year. Start this year the right way by catching up with them and how they can improve your business.
Protect the Hours of Operation on Your GBP from Unwanted Google Edits
In some cases, Google has used machine learning and AI to alter the hours of operation on some Google Business Profiles to create a “self-updating map.” The hours of your business in 2023 may be quite different from what they were during the most challenging times of the pandemic, so if this was your case, Moz is telling us what to do to “tell” Google your actual service hours:
- Be sure the hours of operation on your website are accurate.
- Regularly check your listings to see if Google has altered their hours.
- Take some time to edit your hours, even if the edit is minor—for example, your winter hours.
- Be sure the hours displayed on your windows, doors, and street-level signage are accurate, just in case a Google Maps Car or a local guide is heading your way.
What Percentage of Gross Revenue Goes to Advertising?
On their Chart of The Week, Borrell tells us the percentage of gross revenue that goes to advertising. 72% of local businesses spend less than 3%! This could be because some local advertisers don’t know how to spend in areas like podcasts, so there’s a lot of room to grow in 2023 since, right now, most of them are likely to spend only on social and SEM.
Google Business Profile Roundup
Brightlocal put together a GBP Roundup to ensure we didn’t miss anything.
- Google has rolled out its new editing experience within the search engine results pages (SERPs) for anyone managing Business Profiles.
- The new editing and insights experience for Google Business Profile will not include photo insights.
- The new in-SERP editor now has a photo cropping tool for Google Posts and Updates.
- Videos in GBPs are auto-playing in the Google Maps app.
- Business profiles offer a ‘Manage your menu’ option, where restaurant and hospitality businesses can select their chosen menu from the ones automatically sourced by Google.
- Google Map’s augmented reality live view is now rolling out.
- You can now search restaurants by dish.
- A new layout test with larger photos and street view formats has been spotted.
- Google is testing a new placement for local businesses in SERPs.
- Google is suggesting service areas to add to your GBP.
- There’s been an increase in fake ownership requests over the last few weeks. Be on the lookout for these requests, as they may look official.
- A new label estimates how long your requested edits may take to be reviewed.
- Google is now identifying previous business locations.
Google Link Spam Update
Google rolled the last link spam update of 2022. Google said that ranking might change as spammy links are neutralized, and any credit passed by unnatural links is lost. This launch will affect all languages.
Google Debuts New Search Technology
Google held its new Google For India event, unveiling some new features. SEJ summed them up:
- Search in video: While watching a video on YouTube, tap on “Search in video” and enter the topic in the video you want to skip to.
- Bilingual search results: Google is making search results in India bilingual, serving results in the user’s local languages alongside English results. This functionality is rolling out in Hindi and will expand to other languages.
- Bilingual voice search: Google is improving speech recognition technology for Hinglish speakers. Searchers can conduct a voice search using Hindi and English in the same query, and Google will be able to understand what they’re looking for.
- Natural language search in Google Pay: Google is debuting a feature that allows users to conduct natural language searches in Google Pay. Users can now query Google Pay using questions like, “Show me how much I spent on coffee last week.”
- Handwriting to text translation via Google Lens: Google is working on a feature for Google Lens that translates doctors’ handwriting into legible text.
Most of these features are only available in India but might become available in other countries soon.
