Google to shut down Business Profiles websites

Websites made with Google Business Profiles will be turned off in March. Customers attempting to visit those websites will be automatically redirected to your Business Profile until June 10. Beyond this date, visitors will encounter a “page not found” error.

If your Ads campaign is linked to a website from Google Business Profile, either change the link before March 1 to keep your ads running or choose to pause your campaigns.

Why we care. Businesses wanting to maintain their own website must create a new site using alternative tools, then update their Business Profile with the new site address before the deadline to ensure a smooth transition. Not only will this affect many businesses; it is likely to be a heavy lift for those that have created — and wish to preserve — multiple profiles, for different locations, for example, or for different divisions within the business.

Alternative tools. Google suggested using one of the following platforms to build a new website for your business:

• Wix.
• Squarespace.
• GoDaddy.
• Google Sites.
• Shopify.
• WordPress.

Third-party domains. If you’ve set up a custom domain to direct traffic to your Google Business Profile website, visitors to this domain will be redirected to your Business Profile until June 10. To manage this transition, log in to your hosting company account and select the “Redirect” option or a similar feature to reroute your third-party domain to a different website before the specified date.