In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused 41% of Black-owned businesses to close their doors, more than any other racial group in America, and nearly double that of their white counterparts. While COVID was devastating minority-owned businesses, Google Search Trends data showed that people were searching to support Black-owned businesses more than ever before, with 2020 searches spiking over 600% compared to the previous year.

The problem was that there was no simple way for people to find and support the Black-Owned businesses they were searching for. While Google’s business profile tool allowed business owners to self-identify some traits (including women-owned, LGBTQ friendly, etc) there was no tool that empowered Black business owners to self-identify, and enable users to connect search queries for Black-owned business to actual business results at scale.

Google Search Trends data showed that people were searching to support Black-owned businesses more than ever before, with searches spiking over 600% from 2019 to 2020. The problem was that there was no simple way for people to find and support the Black-Owned businesses they were searching for.

Our creative idea was to connect Black-owned businesses with the Google Search, Maps, and Shopping users seeking to support them by encouraging everyone to Search Black-owned.

Google Search processes billions of queries per day, and this scale allows new product features to have massive reach if implemented successfully. In order to connect Black-owned businesses to users seeking to support them, innovations were needed both on the consumer and the business sides of Google products.

In addition to the overall spike in interest for Black-owned business, we also saw that searches were specifically spiking in cities where a higher percentage of Black businesses owners lived. As such, we set out to address the specific barriers those communities faced.

We partnered with the Black Chambers of Commerce to understand the most urgent issues facing Black business owners. Our research revealed that innovations were needed to help people support Black-owned businesses in their own communities.

One of the main ways business owners connect with customers is through their Google business profile, which can be customized to include photos, reviews, store hours, etc. However, there was no option for an owner to self-identify as Black-owned.

On the consumer side, The interest in Black-owned business was overwhelming but there was no simple way to find these businesses at scale.

We added features into Google’s business profile tools that allowed Black-owned businesses to self-identify, and worked with Black Chambers and hundreds of Black business owners to build a representative “Black-owned” icon that would appear in Google business profiles. We then made that information and icon accessible in Google Search, Maps, and Shopping, evolving the way these products index information to make the first-ever identity attribute that people could search for, discover, and directly support.

Our 360 campaign included national broadcast, print in black-owned publications, and digital featuring the realbusinesses people were searching for in their communities. To amplify Black-owned businesses in the moments when people were searching, we created contextual digital ads that elevated the types of businesses people were searching for. To expand our reach we partnered with celebrities to share their favorite hometown businesses with their social followers in the cities people were searching for “Black-owned” the most.

Since launch, more than 96,000 businesses have identified as Black-owned, with the majority saying the feature has already helped improve their business. By making black-owned businesses searchable for millions, we didn’t just keep doors open for businesses at a time when they need it most, we gave people a tool to shop their values.