Google has quietly announced in the Google Business Help forums that they have begun automatically upgrading some Google Places listings to the new Google+ pages with the added social features.

Google said in the updated thread that starting on August 20th, “some pages managed in the new Google Places for Business dashboard will be automatically upgraded to have social features.”

Google did say they have and will “send out emails to users whose pages are automatically upgraded” to inform them of the change. But if you are worried you didn’t get that email and you want to double check, if you can see the “Visit your Google+ page” in your dashboard, then you were upgraded.

Here is some additional details about the upgrade:

Hat tip to Linda for spotting this.

Forum discussion at Google Business Help.