Google My Business Is Temporarily Withdrawing Some Of Its Features With The Concerns Regarding Coronavirus

Google, a big giant tech company, takes significant actions with the concerns of coronavirus. They are temporarily withdrawing some of Google My Business due to the limitations created by the coronavirus situation all over the world.  

Google representatives said, “During the unprecedented COVID-19 situation, we are taking steps to protect the health of our team members and reduce the need for people to come into our offices. As a result, there may be some temporary limitations and delays in support as we prioritize critical services.”

Features like Reviews and Q&A, new listings, verification, business info edits, and new listing claims are removed from the google my business for the few days till the situation does not get back to normal. 

Delay In New Listings, Verifications, and Claims Other Than Health-Related Centers: 

Due to coronavirus concerns, Google My Business is not supporting and delaying the process for new business listings, their claims, and verification process other than the health industry based businesses. 

During this period, they are only prioritizing to review the listings for new businesses that are serving the health industry and help them get the early claims and verifications so that they can support the cause of COVID-19.

This means that Google is only prioritizing the critical business industry in the situation, and other sectors of businesses can expect to delay the process for a new listing, claiming, and verification. 

Removing The Review and Q&A Feature:

For these few days, Google My Business is going to remove the features used to publish the new reviews, replies, and Q&A section until the new notice will come from the officials. 

However, the existing reviews, replies, and Q&A section will remain visible. 

All the new reviews and replies will be submitted in Google when the situation comes back to normal, and they have resources to perform them. 

Bill Hartzer, gave his viewpoints on the decision taken by the Google My Business due to Coronavirus, he said that “Most likely, Google is doing this because they want to make sure that the information provided is valid and from trusted sources. I can only imagine how quickly the Q&A could potentially get out of hand if they allowed anyone to answer questions.”

Extend In The Business Info Edits:

Due to the virus concerns, Google also extended the process of reviewing the business info edits even for prioritizing businesses too. 

These business info edits include editing in the special hours, description, business attributes, editing opening and closing info, and temporary closure time. 

Thus, if your business is not part of any critical health industry, then your business can face the delay in Google My Business editings. 

However, Google is not going to restrict the posts features. So if you want to update and have any new information that you want to share with your customers, then you can share it in the posts section. But this may also get affected if the situation gets worse. 

Read More : Restaurants and Bars Are Closing in Ohio, Massachusetts, California, Illinois, and Washington Due To The Growing Concerns For Coronavirus.