In what continues to be a whirlwind of a week for Google My Business updates, our talented team of GMB sleuths (aka our Local Listings Specialists) have once again noticed a small change that has the potential to impact some of our small business clients.
This morning BizIQ Local Listings specialist Kandice Ginger noticed that business hours were no longer showing up for a BizIQ client who owns a limousine service in California. Their operating hours had simply disappeared without a trace. Never a group to let a Google My Business scoop go, the team promptly hopped on the phones to figure out what’s what.
Missing business hours in Google My Business are (mostly) not a bug. They’re being removed for certain categories
The first representative we spoke to called the disappearance a known bug and assured us a resolution was already in the works, offering to escalate our concerns. A subsequent representative however, did confirm that this was indeed intentional. They first confirmed that listing business hours would no longer be an available option for limousine services and kindergartens, but only in California.
That seemed a little, shall we say, specific. Naturally we decided to do a bit more digging. Local Listings Manager Danni Petersen hopped on the phone once more after we began noticing the disappearing operating hours for a number of other Google My Business categories, outside the great state of California. She was connected to a Google support specialist who was able to tell us a bit more.
“There are some categories that have been shortlisted by Google, such as kindergartens, moving companies, and all transport companies wherein Google does not provide an option to show business hours” a Google support specialist confirmed.
After being connected to a floor supervisor, we were able to get confirmation that the option to list business hours is indeed being removed from Google My Business for certain categories, and the change is not a bug, at least not for most categories.
“There are certain business types that will not display hours on Google” the supervisor told Danni “Places like preschools, universities, and apartment complexes – those are intentional, they are not a bug.” The supervisor said.
The list of Google My Business categories currently affected by missing business hours include:
- Emergency Veterinarian Service
- Emergency Care Physician
- Movie Theater
- Any transportation based businesses (includes taxi services, car service, limousine service, airport shuttle service, etc.)
- Any education based categories (Preschool, Elementary School, University, etc.)
- Moving and Storage Service
- Mover
- Apartment Complex
Hotels also seem to be impacted, however we’ve been told that this is indeed a glitch.
Additional categories may also be affected moving forward
The floor supervisor was able to confirm or deny whether the categories above were impacted, however he was unable to provide a complete list. We’ll keep you posted right here on the IQ News blog if we get confirmation of any additional Google My Business categories being affected by the change, and as we gain insight into how this update will impact small businesses.
In the meantime, if you’ve noticed any categories not on the list above that lack business hours, let us know in the comments and we’ll investigate!
