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.

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.