A new feature being quietly tested by Google will allow businesses to have special promotional feeds that appear directly in search results.
Posting To the Heart of Google
The new feature, which is being tested by a selection of small businesses, will allow your business to have a promotional feed that appears in a specially designed advert that appears in relevant Google search results.
The feature was discovered accidentally during a search for engagement rings by Google expert and blogger Mike Blumenthal. In his post about the feature, he said, “The placement of the stream in search is very obvious and visually very compelling.”
A selection of relevant posts appears in the search results, linking to the business website. Although you can’t ‘follow’ the company or posts, and the posts don’t support comments, you can share them on social media and via email.
“This is the sort of the exposure missing from Plus that prevented it from being a meaningful business communication platform,” Blumenthal commented. “Clearly this sort of display plays to Google’s incredible strengths and could very well become paid placement that is easy to use and understand by the small business. It could be directly competitive with Facebook Boosted posts.”
Like Google Posts, but not Google Posts
Google has confirmed that this is an experimental feature currently undergoing limited testing. Although it is similar to Google Posts – a new feature currently being trialled by Presidential candidates. Google has a waiting list for this feature, which it claims is aimed at ‘prominent individuals and organizations.’
A tool that allows small businesses to place posts and videos directly within search results, feeding customers directly to their website, sounds powerful indeed. But surely such a powerful promotional tool cannot come cheap.
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