Google Maps and Search Business Messages to end

For the past few years, Google Search and Google Maps have offered a business messaging feature that allowed customers to contact stores, restaurants and other businesses via text chat. This feature will be shut down in July.

Businesses that enabled the feature saw a “Chat” (initially “Messages”) button on their Google Search and Maps listings that allowed users to have a chat conversation with the business (either a human or a bot), could send and receive images, and supported read receipts.

Behind the scenes, “Messages you send with your Google Account are stored and encrypted in Google Cloud.” Your email is not shared with the “company you messaged,” only your name and profile picture (if set). In a way, this form of communication keeps your phone number private.

Google announced today ( Search Engine Land) has announced that “chat features on Google Business Profiles will no longer be available” as of July 31, 2024.

• After July 15, 2024, customers will no longer be able to start new chat conversations with your business through Google. Customers who are in existing chat conversations will be notified about the gradual retirement of the feature.
• On July 31, 2024, we will be removing the chat feature from your Google Business Profile. You will no longer receive new chat messages. However, customers will still be able to find and contact your business through Google Search and Google Maps.

Google’s advice is to add a phone number to your listing or use “Book with Google.”

We know this may be difficult news. We are constantly improving our tools and sometimes we have to make difficult decisions that may impact the companies and partners we work with. It is important to us that we remain a partner to help our customers manage their businesses, and we remain committed to this mission.

It’s important to note that “Business Messages” are different from “RCS Business Messages,” and Google is presumably integrating them around richer experiences — for example, being able to check in and get your boarding pass when chatting with an airline using the Google Messages app.