Google Business Profile is making changes to some tools you might use regularly: chat features and call histories are being discontinued. Starting July 31, 2024, pet owners will no longer be able to contact your practice via the chat feature, and you’ll no longer be able to access call histories. Customers will not be able to start new chats as early as July 15, but they can still access past chats until the end of the month. What does this mean for your practice’s Google Business Profile, and how can pet owners continue to connect with your business? Keep reading to find out:

Chats Will Completely Disappear 

After July 15, 2024, Google Business Profile will no longer allow users to create any new chats, and it will no longer support chat programs after July 31. Google will keep past chats available until August 30, 2024. If you want to access any of these chat histories, you must go to Google Takeout and download them before this date. Google’s discontinuation of the chat feature  will also affect chat FAQs, as well as remove the Business_Conversations metric performance APIs.

Contact Information Is Very Important—Now More Than Ever

Your veterinary practice’s Google Business Profile will continue to be an important resource for pet owners to find and contact your practice. Pet owners will still be able to contact you through your profile and learn more about your business through the pictures and information you include on the page. Be sure your veterinary practice’s name, phone number, and website link are all correct so pet owners can easily contact you from your Google Business Profile page. Although Google is alerting users that the chat platform will soon no longer be available, you should also send out a newsletter letting clients know of the change and provide an alternative way for them to contact your practice.

Customers Can No Longer Request Chat Quotes

Customers can currently request quotes through Google Business Profile chats. Since that’s the only location for this feature, they will not be able to request quotes from your profile once the chat goes away. If you want to still be able to offer these virtual quotes, you’ll need to make alternative arrangements.

Chat Features for Your Website

If you rely heavily on the Google Business Profile chat feature, you might want to look into a platform to add to your website as an alternative. Online reputation management tools and third-party web chats on your website can work similarly to the one being phased out by Google. If you don’t want to add a platform like this to your site, you can create a contact form that makes it easy for clients (or new clients) to contact you about appointment requests, refill requests, or even specials for which you are running ads.

Beyond Indigo Pets is here to help you stay up to date with platform changes and algorithm updates that can affect your website and digital marketing efforts. Our dedicated team is here to make sure everything is functioning properly with your marketing so you can keep offering your clients quality veterinary care. To learn more, please call (877) 244-9322  or fill out this form.