Google has made a slight change (one paragraph) to its Business Profile guidelines that could dramatically affect businesses selling and delivering age-restricted products such as alcohol, cannabis, and weapons.
Google Updates Service-Area Business Guidelines
Google’s latest update to its service-area business rules now requires any business selling minimum-age requirement products to have a physical storefront.
The new rules apply to businesses selling weapons, alcohol, and cannabis, the latter of which has seen colossal delivery demand growth since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The update will stop businesses selling these and other minimum-age requirement products from operating as a service-area business on Google.
SEJ writer Matt G. Southern picked up on the update on X, where Stefan Somborac posted:
The new guidelines
Google made the update on its Business Profile help page where it now says under the “How to use a service area on Google for service-area & hybrid businesses” section:
Google’s use of the term “Businesses associated with” could cause a gray area of confusion, but if you interpret it directly, it should mean it includes third-party delivery firms, which will have a significant effect on the growing cannabis and alcohol delivery markets.
Permanent signage requirements
Google has two types of service-area listings, and both have specific requirements you must comply with.
Those are:
- Service-area businesses: Companies that deliver to customers without a physical business location.
- Hybrid businesses: Companies that provide a delivery service and have a physical location open to customers, like a restaurant or bar.
Sellers of age-restricted products with a physical address customers can visit must have permanent on-site signage (which requires a local municipality permit) to be eligible for listing as a service-area business.
Other rules include that your service area must be within a two-hour drive from your business address, and you can have a maximum of 20 service areas.
Here’s a screenshot of Stefan Somborac’s post on X with the new service area business guidelines highlighted in orange:
Why the change?
Google’s update may only be one sentence long, but it’s a significant change in the tech giants’ requirements for businesses providing a product delivery-only service and wanting to advertise using their Business Profile listing.
The update is another step in Google’s mission to clean up their business listings, similar to the “fake review notification” placed on UK business listings found to be using such reviews by Google earlier this year.
Google’s service-area business update requiring businesses that deliver age-restricted products to have a storefront with permanent signage is an addition to the advanced solutions, like biometrics and facial recognition already in use by delivery firms to address ongoing concerns and to comply with strict federal and state regulations to ensure minors don’t receive products with minimum age requirements.
