New Changes Coming to Google

Google has made some major announcements and changes this year.

First it was getting rid of third-party cookies in 2022, which got pushed back to 2023.

And now, in the past month or so, Google has announced a few more changes to its service.

One is here now; one will be implemented next year.

Though these changes to Google are not as major as dropping third-party cookies, they are still quite interesting and will impact how we do things.

Let’s explore them a little.

SERPs become continuous on mobile

In this blog post, Google announced that search results on mobile will now be one long continuous feed—starting immediately. No longer will users have to click on to the next page to see more. They will be shown a never-ending supply of results to their query until they either find what they’re looking for or search for something else.

Of course, when we heard of this change, the first question we had was, “What will happen to Ads? Will they just appear at the top of the page, or will they be sprinkled throughout the feed?” Good thing we didn’t have to wait long to find our answers!

Continuous search actually functions as basically as you could expect. To paraphrase John Mueller, Google Webmaster Trends Analyst, Google is still loading in batches of ten, just like it did on page-segmented SERPs. That batch of ten still has all its ads and other promoted items in their normal places. The continuously scrolling pages just stick these groups of ten (with ads) one right after the other. Another section is then loaded once the user gets to the bottom of the previous section.

So, ads will appear throughout the continuous mobile SERP. That’s good. But continuous scrolling will have a (possibly) slight impact on our Search Console Impressions reports. What John Mueller predicts will happen is users will see more than one batch of ten and their ads as they scroll down, equating to clicking on “next page” a few times. Once each batch is loaded, the ads will earn an impression. Clicks, however, will stay about the same, since the user will only be clicking on the ads they want like normal.

What we should see, then, is click through rate taking a slight hit, as impressions increase easier and faster than clicks. But armed with the knowledge that this might happen for mobile users, us marketers should be able to easily adjust our analysis to smooth over any such discrepancies in data trends.

Google My Business is changing names

In 2022, Google My Business will be no more—in name only, that is. It will become Google Business Profile. But it’s not just a name change. There will be a bit of streamlining to make it easier to manage your profile and monitor your business.

First, the Google My Business app and website will fade for smaller business, though larger businesses with multiple locations will still be able to access the website portal. This website portal is to be called Business Profile Manager. With Google Business Profiles, you’ll be able to access your profile directly from Google Search and Maps—the same places your customers find you. That’s right, just navigate to Maps or Search! You’ll be able to update your business information (address, business hours, photos, etc.), create posts, and respond to customer reviews. 

These are all some of what makes Google Business Profile (almost formerly Google My Business) so important. Organic SEO and analytic tracking are other benefits of making sure your business profile is not only up to date, but also constantly monitored. [For more information on the importance of Google Business Profile/Google My Business, check out our blog here.]

The nice thing is, if you’ve already claimed your Google My Business listing then you don’t need to do anything to prepare for the name change. Your Google My Business account will simply turn into your Google Business Profile when Google finalizes the switch. The only real difference will be, as already mentioned, how you access your profile.

AdsIntelligence is here to help you make the most of Google. We can streamline your SEO and Ads to maximize your presence on the new continuously-scrolling mobile pages. And we can make sure your Google Business Profile is optimized and staying current and engaged with your customers. Contact us today and learn how our services can accelerate your business!