New features in Google My Business keep pouring in. Users can now specifically filter results in order to fine-tune their searches. Until now, this function was only active for restaurant searches, but it has just been extended to other business activities.
The filter menus can be found at the top of the search listings. The main advantage for locations that meet the user-selected criteria is that they get an additional chance of being seen, even if they aren’t at the top of the listing.
Most of the time users can filter the results by rating and business hours. However, other selection menus may be displayed, depending on the device (mobile or PC) and the type of information search.
For businesses that appear in the local listing but have not yet been reviewed by consumers, only the ‘hours’ filter will appear. In the same way, if the search is focused on popularity in a location (best restaurant in a given city, for example), the ‘rating’ filter will sometimes be unavailable.
Since new attributes can now be edited in Google My Business spreadsheets, it is likely that other filter options will be suggested in the future, such as wheelchair access.
Google is truly being used by consumers as part of their local searches. And it’s only just beginning. The speed at which Google’s shopping-related products are evolving makes anticipating and monitoring future developments even more essential. Today, businesses with a retail network can no longer afford to neglect the subject.
These businesses also need to keep abreast of other trends… And Google isn’t the only company that’s particularly active in this field, as other geolocation players (Apple, Here, TomTom, Waze, etc.) are continuing to grow as well…
