What restaurants can now control
Google has handed restaurants direct control over which third-party ordering services appear on their Business Profiles, letting owners switch individual providers on or off for pickup and delivery from their own dashboard. The change removes a long-standing frustration: until now, a restaurant that wanted a provider removed had to ask that platform to take the link down. Now the restaurant can make the call itself, deciding which ordering options customers see on Search and Maps.
The new controls sit inside Google Business Profiles, where restaurants already manage their listings, menus and ordering links. For each provider, owners can choose whether it is shown to customers, and set pickup and delivery separately. A restaurant might keep a provider for pickup while switching delivery off, or remove one entirely and bring it back later.
The announcement came from Lisa Landsman, Google’s head of industry engagement and small-business success, who said control over ordering links was one of the most frequent requests from restaurant operators. She framed it simply: restaurants should decide which partners represent their brand, and if an integration no longer fits their operations, margins or kitchen flow, they can turn it off.
The move fits a wider pattern of Google giving businesses and users more say over how outside services appear in its products. Google recently opened Search and Gemini to outside apps, letting developers connect their tools to its assistant surfaces, a shift that also puts control over third-party integrations in the hands of the people using them.
What changed from the old way
Before this change, removing a provider was a request, not a switch. A restaurant could ask from inside Business Profiles, but the provider itself had to process the removal, and Google’s help pages gave providers five business days to take a link down. Until then, a listing could keep sending customers to a service the restaurant no longer wanted.
Google’s ordering-provider policy has moved the same way. A version archived in May placed the burden on each provider to offer restaurants a way out of its feed, with five business days to complete an opt-out. The current version, updated on 19 October, says merchants may enable or disable integrations, while noting that all integrations start enabled by default.
That default matters. Because integrations start switched on, the new controls also become a checklist item: every restaurant should open its profile, review the ordering providers listed under food ordering, and switch off any service it does not intend to offer. Left unchecked, a profile can still present customers with a provider the kitchen has already stopped working with.
Why Google is pitching choice, not just removal
Landsman argued against switching everything off at once. Diners often stick with apps where they already hold a subscription or have a payment card saved, so keeping trusted providers can capture an order that might otherwise go elsewhere. Direct ordering remains the priority, but a familiar third-party option can be the difference between an order placed and a customer lost.
She also urged restaurants to audit their profiles regularly, checking that every ordering link leads to an accurate menu and a smooth guest experience. A stale menu or a broken ordering link costs more than a lost sale: it shows up in the customer’s view of the restaurant itself, on the very listing Google puts in front of them.
Why It Matters
The control matters because a Business Profile is now a storefront, not just a listing. Ordering links sit in the same Search and Maps surfaces where Google is expanding its commercial features, including sponsored results in AI Mode, so the providers shown next to a restaurant’s name directly shape where its orders go. That placement matters.
For small restaurants, the switch is about leverage. A single location has little power over a large delivery platform, but a dashboard switch lets it pause a costly channel without negotiation, a form or a waiting period. That may not change delivery economics overnight, but it changes who decides, and that is what operators have asked for.
What is still unclear
Two questions remain open. The announcement did not say whether the controls work in bulk across locations or through the Business Profile API, questions commenters raised directly. As of 28 October, Google’s help page on the remove-link option did not yet mention the new show-provider setting, so some restaurants may find the dashboard ahead of the documentation.
On reach, Search Engine Journal reported that a Google product manager replied in the announcement’s comments that the controls are available in all countries. That suggests a wide rollout rather than a limited test, but the announcement itself did not list countries, so owners outside the United States should check their own dashboard before assuming the switches are live.
Background
Google Business Profiles have long been the place where customers find a restaurant’s hours, menu and ordering options, and third-party ordering links have been a persistent source of friction for owners who never chose them. This update finally puts that choice in the owner’s hands.
Source: Search Engine Roundtable report and Search Engine Journal report.
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