Google Offering Upgrade Google My Business Profiles!
Google is starting to offer Google Guaranteed certification for a monthly fee, outside of Local Services Ads. It’s positioned as an “upgraded profile” that will include a badge appearing on the profile and which may also appear in the Local Pack. Google Guaranteed was introduced in connection with Local Services Ads to instill greater consumer confidence in the advertised businesses. However, it has also evolved into a distinct program used to certify local businesses for inclusion in Google Home/Assistant search results.
Google Guaranteed has been historically used in the home services category. Last year, Google introduced a similar program for professional services called Google Screened. Assume Screened is next if Google decides to roll out upgraded profiles to professional services categories.
Google has just recently provided the following announcement on this but will provide more once they are done testing:
“We are always testing new ways to improve our experience for our advertisers, merchants, and users. This experiment will show the Google Guaranteed badge on the business profile. We don’t have anything additional to announce right now”. – Google spokesperson
“The Google Guarantee”
The Google Guarantee badge is available for businesses that pass a Google screening and qualification process through Google Local Services.
If you’re backed by the Google Guarantee, and your customers (that came to your business through Google) aren’t satisfied with work quality, Google may refund the amount paid for the service. The following are the upper limits of lifetime coverage for claims:
- United States: $2,000
- Canada: CAD $2,000
What’s the Cost?
The cost is $50 per month, subject to Google Guaranteed’s normal eligibility rules, which include background and licensing checks. The annual cost of the program would be $600, assuming eligibility requirements are met.
What is Covers
- The Google Guarantee covers claims up to the amount on the job invoice up to the lifetime cap for coverage.
- Services must be booked through Google Local Services. The Google Guarantee doesn’t cover add-on or future projects, damages to property, dissatisfaction with price or provider responsiveness, or cancellations.
How it Works
If one of your customers submits a claim, Google contacts you to learn more. You’ll have an opportunity to make things right with your customer. After investigating the claim, Google will decide on a resolution. Currently, businesses can apply to get the Google Guarantee by signing up for Local Services ads. However, this will be changing soon to target businesses through their existing Google My Business listings, and for some industries, businesses are already seeing the following prompt from their GMB listing dashboard:
Pros that appear on Local Services through partner affiliates, like HomeAdvisor, are also Google Guaranteed (resource).
“Google Guaranteed” Certified Business Benefits
While there might not be a lot of studies to show exactly how Google Guaranteed benefits businesses directly (still very new), there are plenty of reasons to consider.
Trust Builders/Competiton
A business could begin losing customers to another service provider (competitor) if potential customers view their profile as less trustworthy than another business that has the upgraded badging and signaling. An upgraded business profile may become necessary should competitors begin using them with success. Trust is an important factor in convincing a customer to approach a service provider. Yelp and Angie’s List provide variations on trust badges to businesses that are designed to build trust.
CTR Boost
There’s no public data on any CTR or engagement lift from the presence of a Google Guaranteed badge but we would speculate that such profiles do and would see higher click-throughs since this provides a better user experience by displaying an additional “trust builder” from the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page) and Google Maps.
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