Why Google’s New “What’s Happening” Feature Makes Google Posts More Important Than Ever

We’ve long championed the power of Google Posts at Uberall as a direct way for businesses to communicate with local customers. But let’s be honest – the visibility and impact of those posts have sometimes been limited, especially compared to the reach of social media platforms. That’s changing now.

Google has rolled out a brand-new update: the “What’s Happening” feature for both first-party (Google Business Profile posts) and third-party social content. And the timing couldn’t be better.

We just released our latest Uberall Consumer Survey, which found that nearly 30% of consumers say they choose a business based on special events and promotions and 47.5% will revisit that business if there is a special promotion or discount. That’s exactly where this Google update shines.

What’s the “What’s Happening” Update?

The “What’s Happening” features introduce a refreshed way for consumers to discover and engage with a business’ real-time content:

• First-party posts: Updates, offers, and events you publish directly to your Google Business Profile will now be surfaced more prominently in local search.
  
  
• Third-party social posts: If you’ve linked your social profiles (like Instagram or Facebook) to your Google Business Profile, content from those channels may also be highlighted.

These posts appear in new carousels and modules when users search for relevant businesses, especially in verticals like food and beverage, retail, and hospitality.

The goal behind all of this is to make it easier for searchers to see what’s happening at your location right now.

Why Does This Update Matter?

This is Google leaning into real-time discovery and rewarding businesses that actively update their profiles and stay engaged with their customers. For brands, it’s a major opportunity to:

• drive more traffic from search to store, since search engines and LLMs look for updated businesses first and prioritize these in their results
• showcase special events, offers, and news where consumers are already looking
• differentiate from competitors who aren’t leveraging Google Posts or social integration

In short: if you’ve been neglecting your Google Posts, it’s time to rethink your strategy.

The Uberall platform luckily makes it seamless to manage this at scale. From our platform, you can schedule and polish Google Posts across all your locations, link your social media profiles to your Google Business Profiles, as well as monitor your performance and optimize your profile based on engagement data.

What Should You Post About?

If you’re wondering what type of content performs well, our Google and Apple Posting Ideas from Uberall Academy has you covered. Some examples include:

• Seasonal specials and promotions
• Upcoming events or in-store experiences
• Product launches or limited-time offerings
• Community involvement or brand stories

And we recommend you include keywords and/or visuals with each of the examples listed above to maximize your visibility further.

The key takeaway here is that you should keep your content fresh, timely, and local. That’s what the “What’s Happening” feature is designed to highlight.

Tell Customers What’s Happening in Your Business

We expect this update to expand across more industries and markets soon. Now is the time to get your local content strategy in place and attract attention and customers to your locations. If you’re an Uberall customer, your Customer Success Manager is ready to help you take full advantage of these new capabilities.

If you want to learn more, check out our Academy page or get in touch with our expert team for a personalized walkthrough.