Google My Business. A New Phase on the Horizon?

I remember with a smile how, years ago, going against the rest of the market, our advice was not to invest budget — especially if limited — in building a fan base on social profiles.

The reason was very simple: no publicly listed company gives anything away for free. The release of quarterly results is perhaps one of the most critical moments for a company's reputation and valuation, so it's easy to guess that over time, Facebook and Google in particular would capitalize on the enormous database they've been able to build over the years.

The two Silicon Valley giants are, in reality, two completely distinct things that only partly compete with each other.
There is, however, one similarity: the database. For Facebook it's inherent to its very nature — billions of members willing to reveal their habits and their location — while for Google we find it in one of the least exploited tools of the last 20 years, Google My Business (GMB). In this case it's a database of points of sale, whether restaurants, professionals, multi-brand stores, or retail — it doesn't matter.

Facebook has been using its own database for some time and monetizing it through Social Ads campaigns — very effectively, in my opinion, making this tool one of the best-performing, if not the best-performing, of the entire digital platform. Google, on the other hand, has not yet capitalized on its GMB tool.

We know it will happen, and if it hasn't happened yet it's because, hard as it is to believe, the platform still isn't solid in many respects. From a certain point of view, it would actually suit companies if it never became so, so they could keep using it organically as they do now.

There is, however, an early signal picked up by colleagues overseas. A signal we're sharing in the link below, and one I'd read carefully.

What could Google do to capitalize without guaranteeing the platform itself works perfectly? Charge for a "guaranteed profile" budget.

This is clearly a test, but it seems that for $50 a month, a listing could carry this badge guaranteeing its authenticity.

That might be a bit much — a lot for a small store ($600 a year), a lot for anyone with 100 stores — but perhaps in this case there will be different pricing policies.

Of course, if you read the article, you won't miss the little catch that might be lurking: if there's the badge, will the CTR be higher? Will the listing get more views? I'd say yes 🙂
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