Google Maps Policy Now Bans Promotions and Calls to Action in Listings

Google has rewritten the advertising rule in its Maps content policy, and it now names business owners directly. In the listing itself, Google bars promotional content that carries “time-bound promotions, pricing, or direct calls-to-action.” For a Collingwood or Wasaga Beach trade, the practical check is the business description: take out any “book now”, “call today”, sale or seasonal deal, and move that wording to a post or to your website. Prices in the services price field are a separate question, covered below.

What actually happened

Search Engine Roundtable reported the rewrite on October 6, 2026, from before-and-after screenshots that Hiroko Imai posted on LinkedIn. The change is on Google’s own Prohibited and restricted content policy, in the “Advertising and solicitation” section. We read the live page on October 14 and the wording below is quoted from it.

The section now says contributions “should reflect genuine experiences or define a business’s permanent identity.” It then splits the rule into users and merchants. For merchants, it adds:

• In the listing: “Promotional or commercial content that contains any of the following: Time-bound promotions, pricing, or direct calls-to-action.”
• In posts: “Email addresses, phone numbers, social media links, or links to other websites in your posts that are not related to your business.” Offers and updates “are otherwise permitted in posts.”

Part of this is not new. Google’s business description guideline already says a description must not “focus on special promotions, prices, and offer sales”, and it gives “Best bagels in town for $5!” as an example. Two things are new. The rule now sits in the Maps content policy, which covers the whole listing and not only the description field. And “direct calls-to-action” is named for the first time.

Google gives no enforcement date. It does not say whether it will remove existing text or reject only new edits, and it does not define “direct calls-to-action.” We have not seen a listing edit rejected under the new wording yet.

What this means for Georgian Bay businesses

The description is where this lands. We see the same patterns in trade profiles around the bay: “Call today for a free estimate”, “Book your spring opening now”, “10% off furnace tune-ups until November 30.” The first two are direct calls to action. The third is a time-bound promotion with a price. All three now break a named rule, not only a guideline.

Pricing needs care. The policy bars “pricing” in the listing, but Google’s own services help page still tells owners they “can add info such as price and description” to each service. Google has not explained how the two fit. Our reading: a price in the services price field is a field Google built for prices, so leave it. A price written into the business description is the case the old guideline already banned.

Posts change little. The posts line names contact details and outside links “not related to your business”, and it reads looser than the posts rule we covered in September, where Google said it may remove posts with unverified contact information. The stricter rule still applies. Keep contact details out of post text and use the Call now button.

The risk is a rejected edit or text that Google strips out. We have not seen this rule cause a suspension, but the usual suspension triggers are bad enough without adding one.

What to do

1. Read your business description. Remove phrases that tell the reader to act (“call now”, “book today”, “contact us for a quote”). Remove dates, deals and dollar figures.
2. Write what the business is. Google’s own words are “permanent identity”: what you do, the towns you serve, how long you have done it. “Licensed electrician serving Collingwood, Thornbury and Blue Mountain since 2009” passes.
3. Move offers to posts. A seasonal deal belongs in an Offer post with real dates, which the policy still allows. Our guide to Business Profile posts covers how trades use them.
4. Leave service prices in the price field. Do not copy them into the description or the service names.
5. If your description is already plain, no action is needed.

Our Google Business Profile management includes the description and a monthly policy check.

Frequently asked questions

Can I still put prices on my Google Business Profile?

Google’s services help page still offers a price field for each service, and the policy does not mention it. Keep prices there. Do not put prices in the business description, which Google has barred for years.

Is “Call us for a free estimate” a direct call to action?

Google does not define the term. That sentence tells the reader to act, so we treat it as one and take it out of the description. Your phone number and the Call button already do that job.

Will Google remove what is already in my description?

Google has not said. The policy has no start date and no note about existing content. Treat any promotional wording that is live now as exposed, and edit it before Google does.

Can I still run Offer posts?

Yes. The policy says offers and updates “are otherwise permitted in posts.” The limits in posts are contact details and links to sites not related to your business.