A MALVERN-based business is helping to champion a new innovation from internet search giant Google.

Textlocal.com, which has an office in Geraldine Road, is an multi-award winning mobile messaging platform.

The firm, which has sent one billion texts on behalf of its 165,000 clients, is supporting a new pioneering ad extension that it says can bring bumper business benefits and improve customer satisfaction.

The Malvern business says the extension enables businesses, organisation or brands to add a SMS button alongside their name in the Google search results.

If the button is clicked an automatic text enquiry is sent to the business from the customer.

Depending on the nature of the enquiry this sets off internal alerts within the business, and a series of automatic responses designed to acknowledge or answer the initial contact request.

Textlocal.com is promoting the service as it says for businesses whose main performance objective is to help customers, Google’s new Message Extension is more targeted, efficient and cost effective at allowing customers to engage with businesses in a way that’s convenient for them.

Jason Palgrave-Jones, managing director at Textlocal.com, is describing it as an exciting development which can unlock an entirely new audience of customers.

“Google is making it easier for business to receive enquiries, grow their business and to retain customers," Mr Palgrave-Jones said.

"It’s something that Google predicted years ago when they declared a ‘mobile first’ strategy, having seen the increasing trend for people to search and shop ‘on the go’.

“This innovation could transform a business – it’s very easy to reach someone via text message and at the same time that person is being given the option of how they then want to continue the communication.

“Crucially, it also a means businesses can more easily develop databases of customers so they can be contacted later with discounts, vouchers and offers.

“From a company's point of view, all that is needed is a number which can receive text messages and send automatic replies, which Textlocal.com can provide for free.”

For more information visit http://wvw.textlocal.com/message-extensions-for-agencies.