Google announced is shutting down websites made with Google Business Profiles. They will stop working on March 1, 2024 and will only redirect to your Google Business Profile listing until June 10, 2024. After that, anyone trying to go to that listing will receive a dead page : A “page not found” error page. .
I mean, shouldn’t Google at least let it redirect to your actual website for a couple of years? Google has said that 3 months is too short for redirects.
This is the email Google sends to those who have websites created with the Google Business Profile Website Builder:
Google wrote:
Starting March 1, 2024, customers will be redirected to your business profiles when they visit these websites.
In the past, you’ve used a Google feature to build simple websites from information in your business profiles.
This feature is going away in the coming months and will no longer be supported, meaning sites you’ve created using this tool will be removed. To help with the transition, starting March 1, 2024, customers will be redirected to your business profiles.
In your profiles you can display similar information about your business and also add social media links so customers can learn more. Your websites will redirect customers until June 10, 2024, after which they will show as unavailable.
This website builder feature was released in 2017. Here are screenshots of how it worked.
“Small businesses are an essential part of the online ecosystem, and we’re committed to building products every day to help them grow and thrive,” a Google spokesperson told us. “Due to low engagement, we are removing websites built with business profiles, which previously created basic websites with templates based on business profile information. Small business owners will continue to have access to business profiles , as well as on ad landing pages if they don’t. Don’t maintain a website and other resources to connect with potential customers online,” Google added.
Google has this help document with some tips:
Domains ending in business.site and negocio.site will be removed from the website field of your business profile in March. We recommend that you update your Google Business Profile to point to a new website. Other than that, your business profile will not be affected. When customers visit your website created with Google Business Profile, they will be redirected to your business profile. If you don’t have a website made with a Google Business Profile, the changes discussed in this article won’t affect you.
Here are some reactions to this, but a lot of SEOs got this email, so I didn’t include everything:
Google Profile Free Websites (Business Site) is deprecated. You should be receiving emails about which accounts will be affected. pic.twitter.com/BQ3Mq25qAr
— Yan Gilbert (@YanGilbertSEO) January 8, 2024
This will eliminate a lot of spam!!! pic.twitter.com/NZD5zXIEMW
— Shiver Maker Jason Brown 🇺🇦 (@keyserholiday) January 8, 2024
Google Announces End of GBP Websites. pic.twitter.com/LUV6sl1NS6
— Mike Blumenthal (@mblumenthal) January 8, 2024
On March 1, 2024, Google Business Profile websites will redirect to Business Profile pages (maps). This redirect will be in effect for just over three months.
If this happens globally, it involves more than three million sites.
There will be a struggle for companies that… pic.twitter.com/9ocSjnXAQi
— Steve Chipman (@SteveChipman) January 8, 2024
Just today I was writing an article featuring the sad forgotten products in the Google graveyard. And here we are, goodbye Google business profile websites. You served us very well 🪦 pic.twitter.com/ePEAvM5ckl
— Claire Carlile 🕊️ 🌊 🥑 🦥 (@clairecarlile) January 8, 2024
Another great example of why you should own and not rent. The platform you rent from can disable your site, page or profile at any time. I’m not sure how much was used, but the GBP sites will be disabled soon. https://t.co/fDazfr0mKQ
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) January 8, 2024
Again, I have a problem with the redirect being so short and you can’t tell Google to redirect it to your own domain name.
Discussion in the forum a Local search forum.
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