Google’s Latest API Update: Everything You Need to Know

On December 15th, 2020, Google launched version 4.8 of its Google My Business (GMB) API. This update includes support for hospitality and healthcare-specific attributes.

By Yext

Dec 15, 2020

2 min

On December 15th, 2020, Google launched version 4.8 of its Google My Business (GMB) API. This update includes support for hospitality and healthcare-specific attributes.

Hospitality-Specific Attributes

Google now accepts over 100 new attributes that are specific to hospitality businesses and the room types of their properties. Examples include: 'Is there a pool available?' 'Is breakfast included?' 'Is there a room available with a balcony and king sized bed?' 'Are employees required to wear masks?' Hospitality businesses can take advantage of these attributes via the GMB API.

Filling out these fields can provide your business with two distinct benefits:

  • It can enhance the user experience, helping to provide searchers the information they're looking for when determining where to stay.

  • It can help your business in search. As searchers continue to ask more pointed questions (think about the last time you searched for a hotel), sites like Google only want to deliver the most relevant answers. Syncing these additional fields on Google can help your business become more discoverable in search.

Healthcare-Specific Attributes

Searchers today want to know as much information as possible before selecting a provider. To help patients make more informed decisions, Google now allows healthcare locations in the US to specify their accepted insurance networks via the GMB API.

By selecting from the list of Google's identified network, you can now specify which insurance networks you accept. "Do you accept my insurance?" is one of the most frequently asked questions when prospective patients are deciding where to visit. Specifying your accepted insurance networks can help Google and patients alike make informed decisions about your health system.

Interested in using Yext to manage your GMB account? Contact your Yext representative to get started, or sign up for a demoof the Yext platform today.

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