Google for Small Business is an easy portal to pull more businesses into its ecosystem

Google today launched a new suite of tools for small business customers called Google for Small Business.  In celebration of of International Small Business Day, Google invited a few journalists and small business owners into its beautiful Grow with Google space at the front of its huge New York City Offices.

The web portal now has features that allow small business owners to slide into Google’s ecosystem a lot easier and of course start using its ads and other revenue-making services…

On the blog post which announced the changes, Google highlights some new of the new features shown in the image above.

Google claims it has “helped create $335 billion in economic activity for millions of businesses, website publishers, and nonprofits across the United States”. Google Small Business Ads product manager Kim Spalding spoke to a room full of press and small business partners this morning.

I’ve had the opportunity to get to know many small business owners and the challenges they face. Most of them tell me that they need help saving time at work, or that they need easy tools to help them promote their business. The internet has created new opportunities for small businesses, but it can be hard to know where to start.

We were also treated to a panel discussion with three different local and inspirational entrepreneurs.

9to5Google’s Take:

Being on Google is imperative for any small business even if it’s just providing location, hours of operation, and contact information in Maps. But getting additional features and customizations is quite important for a growing number of small businesses out there. So these are great features for small businesses, especially those with a lot of technical skill and know-how.

However, as a small business owner myself, I can’t help but worry about how Google’s many algorithms, “Black Boxes”, and lack of human support has crippled my small business on many different occasions (YouTube, AdSense and Ad Manager for those scoring at home). I don’t know if I’ll be telling my friends and family business owners to align their businesses with Google’s algorithms any more than they absolutely need to be. As you would with Facebook, Amazon or any big business, it is important not to rely too much on any one partner.