Option to add "Services" gone from GMB

[Jon Cahen]

I have a dental client whose services disappeared recently. not just what was populated in the fields, but the option to add services. I spoke with GMB support and they said to give it 48 hours, but not all businesses are entitled to services... I have 100 other dental listings with GMB and no others were affected. They have the same categories listed as other clients. Any Ideas?

 

[Phil Rozek]

@Jon Cahen, I think it's one of those bugs that not even someone at Google can explain. Usually "Services" shows up (or doesn't) based on the primary category, but it sounds like the categories are consistent between your clients. I checked my dentist clients' listings, and "Services" shows up just fine.

I assume your clients do not have the "Products" tab on the left-hand side of the GMB dashboard.

 

[JoyHawkins]

We had this happen to a client. It took several months before it came back.

 

[Jon Cahen]

No "Products". Yikes, several months? Did it come back on its own or were there changes you had to make to any fields?

 

[ashley.smith]

I can confirm the "Google bug" hypothesis. This has happened to some of my listings and Google doesn't seem to have an answer.

 

[j_holtslander]

I have still yet to see any Canadian location I manage get "Services" that don't show up as "Menu" to the visitor.

 

[JoyHawkins]

Jon - we didn't do anything other than alert GMB support about it. It just came back on its own.

 

[ladykal]

@Jon Cahen, I think it's one of those bugs that not even someone at Google can explain. Usually "Services" shows up (or doesn't) based on the primary category, but it sounds like the categories are consistent between your clients. I checked my dentist clients' listings, and "Services" shows up just fine.

I assume your clients do not have the "Products" tab on the left-hand side of the GMB dashboard.

Hi Phil,

I have a client in the pest control niche and they don't have a Services option from their Info tab, but they do have a Products (beta) tab on the left-hand side of the GMB dashboard. Is this significant? From what I've researched, they are a service based company so they should have a "Services" option. Or is my thinking incorrect here?

 

[Tim Colling]

Here's a seemingly silly question:

Has anyone really been able to measure whether or not the presence of a "Services" or "Products" tab has had any impact upon the generation of new business revenue for their clients?

 

[Jon Cahen]

I pestered the GMB phone line and services are now back in the client's account. It may be a bug, but it is something they can control.
We had a dip in maps listings right around the time the services disappeared. The traffic has not recovered in the week or so that we've had services back.

 

[Tim Colling]

We had a dip in maps listings right around the time the services disappeared.

A drop in impressions, clicks, or both?

 

[Jon Cahen]

Just impressions. Clicks actually are flat.

 

[ladykal]

So a few of my listings actually do have the Services menu, but 99% of those listings (over 400) in my GMB account do not still. I reached out to GMB phone support the other day and they said it just happens automatically based on the algorithm, but I honesty just think they didn't know what other answer to give me. Can we use the Product (beta) menu to add services instead?

 

[Jon Cahen]

It should depend on the industry (primary category). I would call back in 48 hours and ask them to escalate it. The weirdest part when I called is that GMB COULD see services on their end in my account, but I could not. I had to do a screen share to convince them I was being truthful.
Are your clients ecommerce? Service?

 

[ladykal]

It should depend on the industry (primary category). I would call back in 48 hours and ask them to escalate it. The weirdest part when I called is that GMB COULD see services on their end in my account, but I could not. I had to do a screen share to convince them I was being truthful.
Are your clients ecommerce? Service?

Hi Jon! They are a service - a pest control company. I'll reach back out to GMB support then. Thank you so much.