Change Log

v4.9

New Features

MoreHours
MoreHours can now be set as part of the business listing.
MoreHourTypes can be retrieved for each category using categories.batchGet.

Behavioral Changes

v4.x Accounts Deprecation
accounts, accounts.admins, accounts.invitations, and accounts.locations.admins are now deprecated in the Google My Business API. See the deprecation change log for more info.
CallToAction Posts
In Q2 2021, CallToAction Posts with the GET_OFFER ActionType will no longer be valid.

v4.8

New Features

Lodging Amenities
Retrieval and update of Lodging Amenities. More Info
Addition of GetGoogleUpdated endpoint for Lodging.
Addition of canOperateLodgingData boolean value in LocationState
Health Provider Attributes
Retrieval and update of HealthProviderAttributes. More Info
Addition of canOperateHealthData boolean value in LocationState
Insurance Networks
List insurance networks accepted by locations. More Info

Behavioral Changes

Review IDs
Review IDs have migrated to a new format. This new ID will now be returned in all applicable API responses. For a short period of time, old review IDs will still resolve when used to call the API, but it is critical to refresh all review IDs stored on your system within 30 days as required by our policies by calling the listReviews endpoint.
Service Area Business
In Q1 2021, Address will no longer be returned in the Location object for CUSTOMER_LOCATION_ONLY businesses.

v4.7

New Features

Food Menus
Retrieval and update of FoodMenus. More Info

v4.6

New Features

Service Lists
You can now retrieve and update the services a business offers. More Info
Addition of canModifyServiceList boolean value in LocationState
Indicates whether a location is eligible to modify service listsMore Info
Predefined ServiceTypes for Categories
Predefined service types are now included as in the categories object.More Info
CategoryView
Ability to specify a BASIC or FULL view for categories. The FULL view will return additional details such as service types. More Info
Categories.BatchGet Method
This new method allows you to input a list of categories and returns information on only those categories. More Info

v4.5 COVID-19 Update 2

New Features

COVID-19 Alert Post Type
You can now create a COVID_19 post via the API. More Info.

v4.5 COVID-19 Update 1

New Features

Temporarily Closed
You can now set a business to CLOSED_TEMPORARILY via the API. More Info.

v4.5

New Features

Pub/Sub for Q&A
You can now receive Google Cloud Pub/Sub notifications for new/updated questions and answers on a location. More Info.
Pub/Sub for listing state
You can now receive Google Cloud Pub/Sub notifications for a change in listing state. More Info.

v4.4

New Features

Verifications of Local Service Businesses
Local service businesses can now be verified by the API. More Info.
Follower Count
You can now retrieve metadata about followers. More Info.
User Groups and Location Groups
User groups and location groups can now be created through the API. More Info
Addition of hasPendingEdits field in LocationState
Indicates whether a Location's properties are in the edit pending state. More Info

Behavior Changes

Open Date
You can now set an opening date in the future for a listing.
PointRadius
PointRadius is now read only. Edits or creation of local service businesses will require using Places.

v4.3

New features

Questions and Answers APIs
Retrieve questions, post answers, and provide frequently asked questions on your business locations. More Info.
Bulk-Read Reviews
Retrieve reviews for multiple locations in a single call. More Info.
Recommended GoogleLocations
See unclaimed locations that Google thinks might be owned by you. More Info.
Report GoogleLocation Issues
Report issues with either RecommendedGoogleLocations or GoogleLocations results. More Info.
Service Enum for PriceList sections
Identify a PriceList section as either containing FOOD items or SERVICES provided. More Info.
Media Description
Provide a caption when uploading new media. More Info.
CHAINS_QUERIES Insights
Retrieve the number of times a location was shown as a result of a search for the chain it belongs to. More Info.

Behaviour Changes

Notifications for Organization Accounts and Location Groups
Accounts configured for Pub/Sub notifications will now also receive those notifications for any listings contained in an Organization Account or Location Groups they are a admin of.
ListLocations for Org Account and Location Groups
accounts.locations.list called with a User Group or Organization account now displays all locations that are accessible by that account.

v4.2

New features

Verification APIs
List and trigger available verification methods for unverified locations. More Info.
GoogleLocations API
Search for existing locations on Google to claim, or retrieve a link to request access claimed locations. More Info.
Expanded Location Filters
Additional options for limiting the results returned from a Locations.List call. More Info.
Chain Membership
Indicate membership of a location as part of a chain (e.g. Walmart, Target, etc.). More Info.
Organization Information
Information for Organization Accounts will now display as part of Account objects. More Info.
Reviewer Profile Photo
URLs for profile photos of reviewers are now included in the review object. More Info.

v4.1

New features

Customer Provided Media
You can now retrieve and view insights for user generated photos and video for locations you own and manage. More Info.
Admin Management APIs
You can now list, accept, and decline account and location related invitations for your account. More Info.
Profile (Merchant Provided Description)
Describe your business in your own voice and share with users the unique story of your business and offerings. More Info.
openingDate Field
Provide the date that your location opened for business. More Info.
Offer Type Posts
A new type of Post on Google, helping users find deals available at your locations. More Info.

v4

New features

Posts on Google
You can now create Posts on Google directly through the API.
Photo Upload
Photos can now be uploaded directly via the API in addition to the existing URL upload.
Notifications Filtering/Opt-in
You can now filter which notifications are sent to pubsub topics. Future notifications will use this mechanism to be opt-in rather than being sent to all users.
UPDATED_REVIEW Notifications
You can now subscribe to real-time notifications for updates to customer reviews.
Support for User Groups
Google My Business API now supports User Group type accounts.

Backward-incompatible changes

  • Photos, previously a field of location objects, are now a resource under location (accounts/account_ID/locations/location_ID/photos).

  • Address field Country is now region_code and sub_locality is now sublocality.

  • Previously deprecated Ownership field removed.

  • Previously co-owners of accounts and locations were indistinguishable from primary owners through the API (all appeared as OWNER). Now primary owners will be given the OWNER role and other owners will be given the CO_OWNER role.

  • AccountType.BUSINESS is now named AccountType.LOCATION_GROUP.

  • When using a field mask for updating locations, provide update_mask in place of the existing field_mask.

  • The category message used for primary_category and additional_categories no longer contains the human-readable form. Users should use the categories service of the Google My Business API to get translated, human-readable category names.

v3.3

New features

Structured Menus

You can now add, update, or delete:

  • Multiple menus on a given location

  • Include multiple menu sections within a menu

  • List menu items with name, description, price, and photos

v3.2

New features

Insights
You can now retrieve location insights and driving metrics through the API.
Notifications
You can now subscribe to real-time notifications for new Google Updates.

Backward-incompatible changes

  • The previously unused languageCodes and platforms fields of UrlAttributeValue have been removed.

  • SAME in the deprecated Ownership enum now only applies if the location that this duplicates has the same primary owner. Previously, the behavior was based on a more complex ownership calculation.

v3.1

New features

Notifications
You can now subscribe to real-time notifications for new reviews.
Maps URLs
Google Maps URLs are included in location responses allowing users to easily link to Google Maps.
Location States
Additional Location States indicating when the listing is published, disabled, pending verification.
Reopen Flag
canReopen flag indicates permanently closed locations that can be reopened vs. those that cannot.
Attributes
Support for URL and Enum attributes.
Category Endpoint
Get a list of supported categories by country and language (replaces CSV files).

v3

New features

Reviews
You can now retrieve and respond to business reviews through the API.
Attributes
Provide additional, category-specific information about locations.
Find Matching Location
Find and manually associate existing maps locations with your business location.
Transfer Location
New action on Location :transfer. Allows transferring a location from one account (business or personal) to another.
Preferred Photo
Indicate which photo you'd prefer to show up first in Google Maps and Search.
New Search Filters
New search filters include any_google_updates, is_suspended, and is_duplicate.
New Location States
Location states now also include is_verified and needs_reverification.
Photo URL Improvements
The API now accepts photo URLs without an image format suffix.

Backward-incompatible changes

  • Photos can now only be updated for locations with a Google+ page (these were accepted and silently dropped before).

  • The location_name and category_name fields are now output only. Only use category IDs when setting categories.

  • Field masks should no longer include the location. prefix for included fields.

  • Create/update operations now take the location as the body payload; other parameters are moved to the query string.

v2

Backward-incompatible changes

  • You must now specify a request_id in CreateLocation calls. This ID must be unique for each location; it helps prevent duplicate locations being created in your account. Attempts to create a location where the request ID matches a previously created location simply returns the existing location, and avoids creating a duplicate in your account.

    • business_hours in Location has been renamed to regular_hours.