SEARCHENGINES
Google Business Profiles Manager Drops Appointment Link

Google Business Profile manager seems to have removed the ability to modify or add a new appointment link to your business profile in Google Maps and Google Search. It is unclear if this is a bug or a feature Google is intentionally removing.
Reports of this first came in via the Local Search Forum from Professor M who said “A few users this morning (me included) have noticed that the appointment link in the “Info” section of the GBP Manager is not available and it was there before (it had a link as well). So is this a bug or is Google removing this feature in favor of 3rd party booking integration?”
Joy Hawkins confirmed this saying “es, I’m seeing this as well. I went to see if you could still edit it via Suggest an Edit on Google Maps and you can only remove it (not change it). Weird that they would keep it live still in the Knowledge Panel if there is no easy way to update it.” She also shared this screenshot:
Personally I do not see the appointment link at all in my Google Business Profile manager anymore – but I never had a link.
So maybe Google is doing away with allowing businesses to add appointment links but letting them, for the time being, to keep the old links? I am not sure.
Forum discussion at Local Search Forum.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Ads Testing Replacing Ad Label With Sponsored Label

Google Ads is testing replacing the “ads” label with a “sponsored” label again. And just so you know, Google in 2010 replaced the “sponsored” label with an “ad” label until this day. Yea, sometimes we do see “sponsored” labels in Google Search but not for the normal search ads – those have been labeled “ads” for the UK and US regions for a long time now.
I personally cannot replicate this but Bastiir posted some screenshots of this on Twitter:
Test: Sponsored label in Google Search:
Normal: Ads label in Google Search:
Here is another full size screenshot you can click on to see the “sponsored” label:
Here are more tests:
Here’s an interesting test. Google is currently showing new ad label variations on mobile, now with the words ‘advertisement’ and ‘sponsored’. This is matched with another URL + favicon test from March – lots going on here. More info: https://t.co/j6IUtkSa1z pic.twitter.com/FLSnZcmzWc
— Brodie Clark (@brodieseo) May 17, 2022
I personally like the “sponsored” label, makes it feel more luxury. 🙂
Forum discussion at Twitter.
Update: Google has now confirmed this as a test and sent Search Engine Land this statement:
This is part of a series of experiments to help users more easily identify the brand or advertiser associated with the Search ads they may see for a given query. We are always testing news ways to improve the experience for users on the search results page, but we don’t have anything specific to announce right now.
Source: www.seroundtable.com
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