Meta Ads · Status at source date: Newsletter archive
Google tests "Text Message" button in mobile Local Pack listings
Darren Shaw of Whitespark has flagged that Google is testing a new "Text Message" button directly in the mobile Local Pack, allowing users to initiate a text conversation with a business from the search results page. The test surfaces alongside wider reports of phone numbers disappearing from Google Business Profiles, raising questions about whether Google is engineering the shift from direct calls to mediated messaging: and whether this functionality will eventually be restricted to paid placements.
What changed
Shaw covers the development alongside 19 other local search trends in the Q1 2026 Local Search Roundup, including data on AI local packs reducing phone calls and old reviews driving AI summary misinformation.
Why it matters for advertisers
For you, this means businesses relying on calls from Local Pack listings should monitor whether the Text Message button reduces call volume, and whether responding to text enquiries via Google's interface becomes a new requirement for local campaign performance.
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Original newsletter text and archive evidence
Google tests "Text Message" button in mobile Local Pack listings
Darren Shaw of Whitespark has flagged that Google is testing a new "Text Message" button directly in the mobile Local Pack, allowing users to initiate a text conversation with a business from the search results page. The test surfaces alongside wider reports of phone numbers disappearing from Google Business Profiles, raising questions about whether Google is engineering the shift from direct calls to mediated messaging: and whether this functionality will eventually be restricted to paid placements. Shaw covers the development alongside 19 other local search trends in the Q1 2026 Local Search Roundup, including data on AI local packs reducing phone calls and old reviews driving AI summary misinformation.
For you, this means businesses relying on calls from Local Pack listings should monitor whether the Text Message button reduces call volume, and whether responding to text enquiries via Google's interface becomes a new requirement for local campaign performance.
Source captured . No explicit first-contributor label was provided for this update.
