COVID-19: What changes is Google doing during this pandemic?

Due to the current situation of COVID-19, Google has limited the number of specialists available, with the majority of the workforce working from home to protect the health of employees. Because of this, users may encounter changes and/or delays when using certain Google features. 

From changes to the reviews and Q&A, to delays on the scheduling, we would like you to be aware of these changes so you can best inform the members of your team. 

Here are the 4 changes that Google has made to some of its services: 

Google Reviews: At this time, this feature is currently unavailable

Due to resource constraints, new reviews and review replies will be unavailable during this time. 

Even though it is still possible to leave reviews on the profile by clicking on “Publish”, this review won’t be published on the listings directly. Once the COVID-19 crisis is over, they will be posting these reviews on the business listings.

You can read all the information on Google reviews in this article.

Update: Review replies were recently restored and should be available for use now. In the coming days/ weeks, Google will try to gradually restore additional functionality (i.e., new user reviews, new user photos, Q&A, etc.). Functionality will expand gradually by locale and business category.

Q&A: Another feature that is no longer available.

As well as the reviews, Q&A is also no longer available during this period. This means that  your clients won’t be able to ask any questions and, of course, these questions won’t be answered.

Schedule: Delays in reflecting the changes

Due to Google operating with a limited team, any changes to business information, such as business hours, may not be immediately available in Maps or in Google Search.

So, when publishing new changes for your business, it is likely to take a little longer for you to see them reflected in Google Maps. You can read the full article here.

Descriptions: Changes may be delayed

As with the schedule, Google is suffering some delays when reviewing the changes of business descriptions. With the physical closing of stores, many businesses are changing tags, website URLs, contact information and other relevant information, so it is worth noting that these changes may take longer than usual to be reflected.   

As we are a remote company – we’re business as usual! If you have any questions regarding the latest changes to Google’s features in light of COVID-19, please reach out to us.