Restaurants can now opt out of specific third-party ordering providers right from their Google Business Profile dashboard, according to a LinkedIn post by Google’s Lisa Landsman. This setting lets restaurants choose which ordering options appear on their profiles in Search and Maps.
Asked in the post’s comments which countries have it, Michael G., a product manager at Google, replied “all.”
Before this, a restaurant could ask to remove a provider from inside Business Profile, but the provider had to process the request. Google’s help page for ordering options gives providers five business days to take the link down.
How The Setting Works
A screenshot in the LinkedIn post announcing the setting shows a “Manage provider” panel for a placeholder provider, www.provider.com. Under the heading “Show provider to customers,” the panel has separate switches for pickup and delivery, both on in the image.
Landsman, Google’s Head of Industry Engagement & SMB Success, wrote that restaurants can skip sending a request to each delivery platform. If a provider no longer suits a restaurant’s operations or margins, she wrote, “you can turn it off yourself.”
She also made the case for keeping some providers listed, writing that diners tend to order through apps where they already pay for a subscription or have a card saved, so listing those apps can keep those orders from going somewhere else.
From Removal Requests To Direct Controls
According to an archive of Google’s compliance policy for ordering providers made in May, the burden was placed with each ordering provider to provide restaurants a method (such as a removal form or a help/support ticket) to take themselves out of the ordering provider’s feed to Google.
Under that policy, providers had five business days to review and complete an opt-out request.
The current version of this page, which was most recently updated Oct. 19, does not contain that requirement. The current version states that merchants may enable or disable individual provider integrations through product controls; it also states “All partner integrations are enabled by default.” It also still says providers have to drop any restaurant that asks to be removed from their feed.
Why This Matters
A provider that you do not want to show in a business profile can now be turned off for pickup, delivery, or both from the Business Profile dashboard.
On Google’s policy page for ordering providers, integrations are enabled when first set up. Therefore, for each restaurant profile you manage, the provider list under “Food ordering” belongs on your checklist.
Looking Ahead
As of Oct. 28, a Google help page on ordering options describing how to use the “Remove link” option does not include information on the “Show provider to customers” option. Also, the LinkedIn post did not state if the new setting will work in bulk or through the Business Profile API, which commenters asked about.
Featured Image: Gorodenkoff/Shutterstock
Source: Google.
