Earlier this week we began seeing new notices appear on listings with an alert symbol stating: Hours or services may differ due to COVID-19.
This was spotted by a number of users on Twitter.
New COVID-19 warning in GMB business profile pic.twitter.com/kAszvSC1H8
— Thibault Adda (@thibaultadda) March 30, 2020
We’ve dug in to learn more about how these notices are displayed and how businesses can control their visibility.
This notice is currently displaying in search results only, not maps. It’s being displayed on both the Listing Knowledge Panel as well as in the Map Pack.
Businesses can not request this feature to be added to their listing. If the business sets their special hours for the short term (not just a day or two), or sets their business to be temporarily closed, then the warning will disappear on the Knowledge Panel. However, the notice is not removed from the map pack.
Here is an example where a business has set special hours, the notice still displays on the Map Pack but has been removed from the Knowledge Panel.
These notices are currently impacting a variety of industries, including:
- Retailers
- Restaurants
- Hardware Stores
- Auto and Bicycle retailers and repair shops
- Laundromats and Dry Cleaners
- Professional services such as electricians and home repair technicians
- Schools, daycares, and educational services
We are not seeing this in healthcare, financial, hospitality/hotels, grocery-related businesses, or mailing/postal services.
If you are running into any challenges with the notice being removed from your listing after you’ve added special hours or marked your business as temporarily closed, please post on the Google My Business forum.
