The services menu in Google My Business allows you to add details about the different services your business offers. Up until yesterday, the fields would only show up on mobile as a tab that either display as “services” or “menu” (which looks silly for any non-restaurant businesses).
The service menu can be created directly in the Google My Business dashboard.
What is a “Justification”?
In early 2019, Google started to display Google post highlights in the 3-Pack and Local Finder. Joel Headley confirmed that at Google, they call these “justifications”. We are seeing these more and more lately and have learned a lot about how they function. There is currently justification for Google posts, Google reviews, and website mentions. Here’s what they look like in the wild. 
New “Services” Justification Test
Up until yesterday, we didn’t see a ton of value in adding services to the GMB dashboard. At best, they added an additional section to the mobile version of the GMB business profile, but there is no ranking benefit to adding the services menu.
Our perspective changed yesterday when we spotted “services justifications” in the wild. Here’s what they look like. These are being pulled directly from the “services” section inside the GMB dashboard.
So What?
Service justifications, like the other types of justifications, can have an impact on CTR. For instance, in the weed control example above, if the user is specifically looking for broadleaf weed control, the listings with the “Provides: Broadleaf Weed Control” will have an increased chance of getting clicked on and/or contacted.
The second takeaway is an emphasis on the idea that if Google My Business has a feature, you need to be utilizing it, even if the benefit isn’t immediately clear. So make sure to utilize all the GMB features.
To learn more, follow the discussion at the Local Search Forum.
Like Joy, he is obsessed with everything related to Local Search and is active on many online communities including the Local Search Forum where he is a moderator.
- Google My Business is Testing “Services” Justifications - December 30, 2020
- October 2020 Google My Business Insights Update - September 29, 2020
- Google My Business Adds Performance Metrics to Direct Edit Experience - August 18, 2020
Yea! All that time writing Services descriptions in client’s GMB finally has proven worthwhile. It all seemed like a waste of time but we did it because, as you said, if Google offers a feature in GMB no matter how dumb or worthless it may seem, one would be remiss not to employ it. Now we can see a tangible benefit.
Thanks for the heads up Colan!
You’re welcome, Jim!
Excellent news. Now, any type of information held in Google Business can assist in SERP.
Yeah, my default is (generally) when Google asks for something, provide it and optimize it. It may not immediately pay off, but it likely will at some point, putting your client ahead of the curve.
Amen!
Hi Colan you guys update on many diffrent things but I have seen no. Expert talk about the Kansas bug in GMB that gets businesess from across the US stuck in a place called fawn creek township ks its been going on for months now google has not fixed it yet
Hey Joe,
The Kansas bug is gone, however, the changing of an address will clear the address on Google’s end, nulling it, which can cause complications.
Hi Colan Kansas bug is live and kicking we are suffering from it since Christmas as many many other businesses that are not aware they are please run a quick check
carpet cleaning fawn creek ks and you will see I would attach a screen shot if I could
same is true for locksmith plumbers and more
please ru the search you will see not Evan 1 listing is from the area all are from NY LA TX and more
here is a link from today
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&tbs=lf:1,lf_ui:14&tbm=lcl&q=carpet+cleaning+fawn+creek++ks&rflfq=1&num=10&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwit05Ho05buAhUlZN8KHXmODwwQjGp6BAgBEEM&biw=1440&bih=754#rlfi=hd:;si:;mv:[[47.351232499999995,-73.97794019999999],[33.6670191,-127.26963889999999]];tbs:lrf:!1m4!1u3!2m2!3m1!1e1!1m4!1u2!2m2!2m1!1e1!2m1!1e2!2m1!1e3!3sIAE,lf:1,lf_ui:14
Hey Joe, feel free to post at the Local Search Forum https://localsearchforum.com/
OK will do thanks