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Tech companies are showing their support for Black History Month in a variety of ways, including new shopping-related features.
On Monday, Google revealed that it’s extending the Black-owned attribute in its Shopping tab to make it easier for consumers to find and patronize local businesses. Business owners can immediately add the attribute through the Google Merchant Help Center, and the feature will become available to all U.S. Google Merchants in the coming months.
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Google sees the move as a natural extension of a similar feature rolled out last summer across search and maps. Now, with the retail angle, the company figures it could help bolster direct commerce for relevant establishments.
According to Attica Jaques, director of brand marketing for consumer apps at Google, search interest in “Black-owned businesses” soared 600 percent over the past 12 months, based on Google Trends data.
“Across the country, people have been looking for ‘Black-owned restaurants,’ ‘Black-owned bookstores,’ ‘Black-owned beauty supply’ and more, which speaks to the diversity within the Black business community,” Jaques wrote in a Google blog post. “We want to make it easier for people to support and spend dollars with the Black businesses they love.”
The change fits into Google’s stated goal with shopping. Its mission of “democratizing online retail for merchants of all sizes,” as a spokeswoman told WWD, spurred major updates to Google Shopping over the past year. Merchants were allowed to offer products for free and with no commission fees for online check-out via “Buy on Google.” The company also released changes designed to help consumers find new stores and compare prices.
The massive uptick in interest for supporting Black-owned businesses wasn’t limited to Google. Yelp saw an even greater surge amounting to “unprecedented numbers,” it said. Searches for Black-owned businesses on the site shot up 2,400 percent in 2020, compared to 2019, and review mentions were up 232 percent over the same period.
Naturally, the online directory and review site for local businesses is celebrating Black History Month as well. To mark the occasion, Yelp is curating a list of “Black-Owned Businesses to Watch in 2021” — a roster that comprises highly rated and popular Black-owned businesses across the beauty, home, and food and restaurants categories.
Facebook and Instagram will double down on the parent company’s #BuyBlack Friday campaign, which pulled in more than 15 million views last fall. This time, they aim to boost visibility for Black entrepreneurs with a #BuyBlack initiative across Facebook and Instagram Shops. Instagram will also promote Black-owned brands through its @Shop account.