By Karen Axelton

1_google_logoIs your business benefiting from customers who find out about you via Google Maps or Google Places? Then you’ll want to take advantage of a promotion Google is offering through this Friday that gives small-business owners a free 30-day trial of a new feature, Google Tags.

Offered through Google Places, Google Tags is an advertising feature that allows you to highlight unique features of your business to potential customers on Google Maps and Google.com for PC and mobile.

ll you need to do is verify your listing in Google Places, then go to the dashboard to test the tool. Enhance your listings on Google.com and Google Maps with a yellow tag that highlights things like coupons, menus, your website, photos or a customized message. Google Tags also provides dashboard reports that let you track the effectiveness of your Tags. After the free trial period, Google Tags will cost $25 per month.

The feature, which began rolling out about three weeks ago, has already been tested by thousands of businesses, according to an article in MediaPost. One construction company cited in the article says business has tripled since adding a Tag that shows users photos of their work.

Visit Google to find out more.