Here are commonly asked questions about the fields Opening Hours, Special Opening Hours and More Hours. This information is provided on the location level, under Basic Data.
Why is providing the opening hours of my business important?
Google takes into account that people often search for the store’s hours of operation. This is evident from the data collected by Google Trends, which shows that “opening hours” is a commonly searched term right after the brand or service name. As a result, Google displays the store’s opening hours next to its address in search results.
How is the Special Opening Hours field meant to be used?
You can use the Special Opening Hours field to tell your customers when your location will be open on a certain day or during a special holiday. For example, you can use this field to let people know that your location will be open on a public holiday or during Christmas break. You can also use this field to let people know when your location will be closed on a particular day or during a special holiday.
Why can't I add Special Opening Hours for my location?
The field Special Opening Hours can only be added if you have provided the regular opening hours for your location.
In reverse, you cannot remove the Opening Hours if you added Special Opening Hours.
Why are my Special Opening Hours not visible in my listings?
There a few reasons:
- Not all directories support this field
- Some directories take up to 7 days to update your listing – therefore, make sure to keep your location data as up to date as possible to allow those directories the time to process and display the accurate information.
- Most directories only show special opening hours a few days before the actual dates.
What are Special Opening Hours best practices?
There are three situations in which you might want to use the Special Opening Hours feature:
- If your business is opening or closing at a different time than your usual opening hours, you can use Special Opening Hours to let your customers know.
- If your business is undergoing renovation or is temporarily closed, you can use Special Opening Hours to let people know.
- If your business is closed for a series of dates, don’t remove your normal opening hours from Google My Business–otherwise, people might not know when you’re open.
Note: Be sure to set Opening Hours, in addition to Special Opening Hours, to ensure your business’ information is accurately reported.
How do I set Special Opening Hours via bulk import?
In addition to adding a date range in the app itself, Special Opening Hours can be updated in Bulk via the Import file.
In order to make a successful import, you will need to add the dates in the column “special opening hours” in the following form:
yyyy-mm-dd=hh:mm or yyyy-mm-dd=closed.
For a range of dates, please use the following example:
2020-03-17=closed;2020-03-18=closed;2020-03-19=closed.
How do I set my locations to Temporarily Closed?
Some directories will let you close your location for a temporary period of time. If you have set Special Opening Hours for 14 consecutive days or more, Google and Apple maps will show that your location is closed. If you have set Special Opening Hours for 7 consecutive days or more, Foursquare and Facebook will list your location as being temporarily closed.
What are More Hours and how can I set them?
You can choose the hours when a service is available. This is based on Google’s framework, which depends on the location’s primary category.
These hours support services like delivery, takeout, drive through, pickup and other.
‘More hours’ are selectable in the platform under ‘Basic data’ as well as available via the bulk import tool and API.
If you are unable to see certain hour types for the location it is likely that Google does not support that hour type for the primary category selected.
