According to new data from Google, 76% of people who use location search on their mobile devices visit a business within a day and of those, 28% make a purchase. This goes to show the power of location and how it affects consumer behavior. These trends are so powerful that Google has started to return location results by default, and the company is investing in new ways to leverage location data in mobile experiences. With these investments, real-time control over location data will be more crucial than ever before.
In May 2016, Google released version 3 of its Google Business Profile API, investing increasingly in automating data management. Businesses like yours now have the opportunity to add nuanced details to your Google listings with Location Attributes. Location Attributes make local search easier by allowing businesses to add and update features of a location under a dedicated data field.
Google understands your business can't be defined simply by its address or hours of operation. So now, it's enabling you to get specific with the details you provide for your Google listings, in order to serve searching customers with more nuanced results. With Location Attributes, you can list the attributes most relevant to your business. These include Accessibility Attributes — for instance, does it have wheelchair accessible seating? Does it have Wi-Fi? With Category-Specific Attributes, restaurants can note that they accept reservations, for example, or that they offer gluten free options. Hotels can specify if they welcome dogs, grocery stores can highlight the organic products they offer — the possibilities go on.
Right now, you can only select these new keywords via the Google My Business API — so you won't find these options on the Google My Business dashboard yet, if you are updating your listings manually. Google will soon display these new keywords across Search, Maps, Ads, Google+, and more. Select these new keywords via the API now to ensure your business stands out the moment they appear across Google's properties! Learn more about Location Attributes from Google on our blog.