Google Maps now lets customers depart enterprise opinions underneath a customized nickname as a substitute of their actual identify. The function is a part of a four-feature Maps replace and is rolling out globally on Android, iOS, and desktop.
Native web optimization company Whitespark was among the many first to doc the change intimately, describing it as one of many extra notable shifts to Google’s assessment system in years.
What Modified
Google’s help documentation outlines the brand new setting. Customers can allow a customized show identify and movie for posting via their Maps or Google profile. As soon as enabled, that id seems on opinions, images, movies, and Q&A posts throughout Maps.
The function works retroactively. If you happen to edit your nickname later, previous contributions replace to point out the brand new identify.
Whitespark notes that folks have lengthy created Google accounts with aliases. That is the primary time Google has supplied a devoted posting id separate out of your foremost account profile and documented it formally.
How It Impacts Spam Detection
Google’s weblog put up says its current assessment protections stay in place. Evaluations written underneath a nickname are nonetheless tied to an account and its historical past. Companies can nonetheless report opinions they imagine violate insurance policies.
Whitespark calls this “pseudonymous slightly than actually nameless.” The general public show identify differs, however Google nonetheless sees the underlying account and contribution historical past.
Why This Issues
Anticipate to see extra nicknames and illustration-based profile footage in assessment feeds. Whitespark highlights industries like authorized, medical, and monetary providers the place shoppers typically hesitate to put up underneath their actual identify. This might improve assessment quantity in these classes.
If you happen to work with companies in privacy-sensitive classes, it’s possible you’ll need to replace assessment request templates to say the nickname possibility.
Wanting Forward
The nickname function is dwell or rolling out for many customers, although some native SEOs, comparable to Pleasure Hawkins, report they don’t but see it in their very own profiles.
Featured Picture: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock
