In the wake of the anti-racism protests in the United States following the death of George Floyd in May, we’ve seen several companies and organisations take steps to support the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as tackle issues of race. One of the latest initiatives announced in that regard is a new tool from Google aimed specifically at black-owned businesses.

To that end, these businesses will be able to identify themselves as black-owned when people use Google Search or Google Maps, with it potentially offering an avenue to support said businesses.

Unfortunately, this new tool is only rolling out in the United States for now, but it is certainly a start.

“Starting today, merchants in the U.S. with a verified Business Profile on Google can add a Black-owned business attribute to their profile, making it easier for customers to find and support them,” explained Jewel Burks, Head of Google for Startups U.S. in a blog post.

“As part of our $300 million commitment to support underrepresented entrepreneurs, we’re also integrating the attribute into the digital skills training programs we offer Black business owners through Grow with Google Digital Coaches. And through Google for Startups Accelerator for Black Founders, we’re starting our work with the first cohort of 12 startups,” adds Burks.

You’ll be able to see whether a business is black-owned via a new icon that will appear in the business profile. This is added to the recent addition of a Women-Led icon that was recently introduced to the Search and Maps platforms, both of which you can see for Source Booksellers in the image below.

This latest tool is part of the $175 million initiative that Google announced at the middle of last month to focus on racial inequality, so it’s good to see the firm follow through out what it has outlined.

Hopefully more of these kinds of digital tools will be made available in other regions in the future.