Company profiles are a card that is displayed both in the search engine and in Maps with information about businesses, which includes the contact information, but also the address, opening hours, a description of their activity, photos and reviews from users, both written and by star rating.
Google has started notifying users of business profiles by email that this summer they will lose two features: chats and call history, but their removal will be done in two phases, as reported by the specialized portal Search Engine Land.
Chats are a function that allows Internet users to contact a company directly through its profile. While call history allows you to track customer calls you receive from Maps or Google Search.
On July 15, customers will not be able to start new written conversations with companies although they will still have a couple of weeks to keep in touch in conversations that they had already started before this date.
Subsequently, on July 31, the company will completely deactivate chats. From this date, companies will also not be able to view their call history in the business profile, although customers will still be able to find and contact them in the Search Engine and Maps.
This measure will force the use of alternative services for written communications, although they will still receive calls.
