Introducing the New "Primary Owner" on Google+ Business

by Jennifer Maimone - Mon, Sep 12, 2016 2:49 PM

These last few weeks, Google has deployed updates to its interface on both a major and minor scale. While the bigger changes affect places like Google’s Communities and Collections, one of the less noticeable changes affects the type of ownership you can have for your Google+ Business Page.

Originally, you had the option to be either the page’s Owner, Manager, or Communications Manager. As the Owner, you would have full control over all of the available features on the Google+ Business Page. The most important of these features was the ability to add/remove managers, and to remove listings.  

As a Manager, you would only be able to edit the company’s basic business information (like hours, photos, etc), manage YouTube videos, respond to reviews and complete most other actions. As a Communication Manager, you could only respond to reviews and complete other minor actions, such as looking at the page’s analytics.  

But now there is a Primary Owner. What access does it have?  

Upon inspection, the Primary Owner has nearly the exact same abilities as the Owner. They can add and remove users, and can alter the other users’ titles (ie: they can change the Owner to a Manager, or the Manager to the Owner). The only difference is that the Primary Owner is the only user whose access cannot be deleted from the page.

With this new Primary Owner feature, pages are now able to have two owners run a Business Page at the same time! This is ideal for businesses that may have more than one owner, or for those who prefer their page operated by a trusted employee.

As Google continues to update and renovate its features, we will receive more information about these new user features, which we will pass along to you. 

A Professional Tip:

Are you the owner of your business page?

If you’re the owner of your company, ideally you should be the Primary Owner of your Google+ Business Page. Only the Primary Owner cannot be deleted from the Business Page, and alongside the Owner, has the ability to remove or add on new users to the page.

There is one thing to be aware of, though. While the Manager and Communications Manager cannot alter another user’s level of access, the Owner can actually make itself into the Primary Owner without needing to request permission. That means they can make the former Primary Owner into simply an Owner (and then, if they felt like it, a Manager or Communications Manager).

So, always ensure that whomever you grant the title of Owner to is someone you trust. If you are concerned, you can always make them a Manager of Communications Manager. Remember, your Google+ Business Page is your intellectual property for as long as you own the business address, so the choice is yours! 

Remember, if you are an AutoBody-Review.com premium member, your account manager will help you build, configure and manage your Google + page for you. For more information, contact us at (909) 906-1291.

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Jennifer Maimone