Google has announced it will shut down the chat and call history features within Google Business Profile.
The company will begin the wind-down process on July 15, 2024, with the functionalities entirely losing support by July 31.
The news came directly to businesses utilizing these features in the form of an email. No online announcement was made, but TechRadar Pro has asked Google to share more information regarding its decision and how it’s expected to impact customers.
Google Business Profile chat and call history is going
In its email, Google acknowledged the potential challenges its decision may pose, but emphasized an ongoing commitment to enhancing the tools available to support businesses that use Google products and services.
Part of the email reads: “It’s important to us that Google remains a helpful partner as you manage your business and we remain committed to this mission.
From July 15, customers will no longer be able to start new chant conversations with businesses on the platform. Existing chats will be notified of the impending deprecation. From July 31, chat messages will be turned off and call history will also be removed.
Google affirmed: “Customers will still be able to find and contact your business via Google Search and Maps.”
The company advises businesses to download their chat and call histories for record-keeping purposes before the features are permanently removed – businesses can use Google Takeout to download their data.
In another step under the ‘What do do next’ heading, Google also stated: “Consider inviting your customers with any ongoing chat conversations to alternate chat channels.”
Although this has never been Google’s most popular service, users who are forced to move to other companies like Meta’s business chats across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp may end up moving other operations to rival companies, spelling out wider negative implications for Google.
