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Local platforms are proving to be a vital communication tool during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing businesses to quickly connect with their local audiences regarding store closures, special opening hours, additional health and safety measures, and more.<\/p>\n
Google is focusing its efforts on local\u2014prioritizing certain features, disabling others\u2014Yelp is supporting pandemic-affected businesses, and we have some very good reasons you shouldn’t mark your business temporarily closed. Here’s what you need to know.<\/p>\n
It appears that Google has taken an extraordinary step for these extraordinary times: disabling all local review functionality as well as customer Q&A. Why? Because it wants to stem the tide of potentially ill-informed or malicious reviews and questions motivated by COVID-related disruption or closures.<\/p>\n
With the pandemic affecting Google itself<\/a>, it simply doesn’t have the resources to monitor “new reviews, review replies, and new Q&A”, which have been temporarily mothballed. Instead:<\/p>\n Our current focus is on the quality and reliability of information on Google Search and Maps. We want to ensure users and business owners have access to essential features like whether the business is open or has special hours. Learn about best practices for affected businesses<\/a>, and what you can do to keep your customers informed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Users can still click to “Write a review”, but the process pauses after that: nothing is published and businesses aren’t notified. Google hasn’t said when it expects to turn reviews, responses, and Q&A back on, but our Local Presence Management clients (and blog readers) will be the first to know.<\/li>\n Consumer engagement on Yelp has plummeted for certain categories, most notably restaurants (down 54%) and nightlife (down 69%). For that reason, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman announced $25 million in credits, waived fees, and support for local businesses. The package includes:<\/p>\n Yelp has also updated its review guidelines to “protect local businesses from reputational harm related to these extraordinary circumstances”. Claims that coronavirus has transmitted from a business or its employees will not be allowed, and neither will negative reviews about businesses being closed during what would otherwise be their regular open hours. Flagged reviews will be removed and not count toward a business’s star rating.<\/li>\n \n Get exclusive insights into digital Yelp unveils $25m relief package\u2014and clamps down on COVID reviews<\/h2>\n
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