{"id":6855,"date":"2025-03-12T09:13:34","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T15:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/?p=6855"},"modified":"2025-03-12T09:59:50","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T15:59:50","slug":"are-kiosks-and-atms-eligible-for-a-google-business-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/blog\/are-kiosks-and-atms-eligible-for-a-google-business-profile\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Kiosks and ATMs Eligible for a Google Business Profile?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Yes, kiosks and ATMs are eligible for a Google Business Profile if they are permanently located, provide a contact method, list accurate hours, and follow best practices similar to those for bank ATMs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1015\" src=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.54.18-1024x1015.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6857\" srcset=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.54.18-1024x1015.png 1024w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.54.18-300x297.png 300w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.54.18-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.54.18-768x761.png 768w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.54.18.png 1408w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">This is another instance in which a business model has become quite common and is abundantly included in Google\u2019s local results, but isn\u2019t directly addressed in the guidelines. Back in 2019, I reached out to Google support to ask if kiosks like the Farmer\u2019s Fridge model (which sells<a href=\"https:\/\/www.farmersfridge.com\/menu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> packaged meals via vending machines<\/a>) were eligible for listings. Here\u2019s my legacy screenshot of that exchange:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"488\" src=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.54.54-1024x488.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6858\" srcset=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.54.54-1024x488.png 1024w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.54.54-300x143.png 300w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.54.54-768x366.png 768w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.54.54.png 1300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">It was great to hear back from support, but the only problem was\u2026there wasn\u2019t any mention of kiosks in Google\u2019s guidelines at that time, <strong>and there still isn\u2019t in 2025<\/strong>! Everything we know unofficially about kiosks today comes courtesy of Google Business Profile Help Community Product Experts like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2Yw2InwujVE&amp;list=TLGGzOaJ3Ftl1WMxNzAyMjAyNQ&amp;t=29s\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Joy Hawkins and Colan Nielsen who released a video<\/a> about informal conversations with Google about this model which yielded the following advice:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Kiosks are, indeed, eligible for GBPs when they meet specific criteria.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Kiosks must be permanently located (not set up for a temporary event).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Kiosks should display a phone number or other methodology for contacting company support.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\">If kiosks are located <em>inside<\/em> a container store, they must list a different phone number than the one listed by the store.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Do not create more than one listing per kiosk location, even if your locations feature more than one machine.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\">List accurate hours for when the public can access the kiosk. For example, if a kiosk is inside a container building, only list the hours that reflect open hours for that building. If, however, the kiosk is located outside, meaning that it is publicly accessible at all times, you should be able to list it as a 24-hour business.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Be sure the company website features a store locator element which displays all kiosk locations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">These unofficial best practices are strikingly similar to the formal guidelines for bank ATMs. Given this, I feel fairly confident about referencing a few of Google\u2019s documented requirements for ATMs to further illuminate how to list a kiosk.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">For example, when it comes to choosing categories for kiosks operating inside container locations, here is a screenshot of Google\u2019s current guidelines for similar ATM models:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"173\" src=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.55.41-1024x173.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6859\" srcset=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.55.41-1024x173.png 1024w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.55.41-300x51.png 300w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.55.41-768x130.png 768w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.55.41.png 1526w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">And here is another screenshot from the guidelines about clarifying location information, with the examples <strong>on the right<\/strong> being the ones Google finds acceptable:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"565\" src=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.56.16-1024x565.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6860\" srcset=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.56.16-1024x565.png 1024w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.56.16-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.56.16-768x424.png 768w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.56.16-1536x848.png 1536w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.56.16.png 1584w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">And here is Google\u2019s advice regarding hours for ATMs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"261\" src=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.57.07-1024x261.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6861\" srcset=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.57.07-1024x261.png 1024w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.57.07-300x76.png 300w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.57.07-768x196.png 768w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.57.07-1536x391.png 1536w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.57.07.png 1618w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Finally, while the main <em>Guidelines for representing your business on Google<\/em> do not reference kiosks, there is at least one formal acknowledgment of this model in a separate document called <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/business\/answer\/13763036?sjid=17712636656893618836-NC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Business eligibility and ownership guidelines<\/a>, where we see the following:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"269\" src=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.57.35-1024x269.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6862\" srcset=\"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.57.35-1024x269.png 1024w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.57.35-300x79.png 300w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.57.35-768x202.png 768w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.57.35-1536x404.png 1536w, https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Screenshot-2025-03-12-at-12.57.35.png 1948w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">In sum, if your kiosk complies with the guidelines and best practices I\u2019ve covered here, it should be eligible for inclusion in Google\u2019s local index.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yes, kiosks and ATMs are eligible for a Google Business Profile if they are permanently located, provide a contact method, list accurate hours, and follow best practices similar to those for bank ATMs. This is another instance in which a business model has become quite common and is abundantly included in Google\u2019s local results, but [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6921,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"classification":[],"class_list":["post-6855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6855"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6904,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6855\/revisions\/6904"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6855"},{"taxonomy":"classification","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whitespark.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/classification?post=6855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}