From 28 October 2026, restaurants can switch individual third-party ordering providers on or off from their own Business Profile dashboard, with separate pickup and delivery toggles, according to Search Engine Journal and Search Engine Roundtable. Before this, a restaurant that wanted a delivery app removed from its Google listing had to ask the app and wait. Now the owner controls which order buttons appear on Search and Maps.
For a UK takeaway, café or restaurant this matters more than it first looks. The order button on your Google profile can be one of your busiest ordering entry points, and until now the platforms decided who got that traffic. This guide covers what changed, whether it applies in the UK, and how to decide which providers to keep, with a worked example in pounds.
What exactly did Google change in October 2026?
Search Engine Roundtable reported the change on 28 October 2026, based on a LinkedIn post by Lisa Landsman of Google. She wrote that "one of the most frequent requests we hear from restaurant operators is simple: more control over their ordering links." Search Engine Journal described the screenshot she shared: a "Manage provider" panel with a "Show provider to customers" setting and separate switches for pickup and delivery.
The change affects only the ordering options shown on your profile in Search and Maps. Your account on each delivery platform stays as it is.
Does this apply to UK restaurants?
Search Engine Journal reports that when commenters asked about availability, Google product manager Michael G. replied "all". That came from a single comment reply, so treat it as likely rather than confirmed.
The UK setup differs from the US. Google's help page on online ordering explains that US businesses can take orders through Order with Google. Businesses outside the US get an "Order online" button powered by third-party providers that have authorised relationships with them, and can add their own links. A UK profile is therefore made up almost entirely of provider links, which makes control over those links more valuable here.
Why does the order button on Google matter so much?
This is the key point. A diner who browses a delivery app and finds you there is a customer the app found for you, so its commission pays for real marketing. A diner who searches your name on Google, reads your reviews and then taps a provider link already chose you. Paying full commission on that order means paying for a customer you brought in yourself.
Which providers are showing on my profile right now?
Search Engine Journal reports that Google's policy page, last updated 19 October 2026, says "All partner integrations are enabled by default." According to Search Engine Roundtable, Google suggests restaurants review their active ordering channels regularly and confirm each link leads to an accurate menu. An old provider showing last year's prices does more than leak margin. It produces complaints and poor reviews, and those then sit on the same profile.
How do I decide which providers to keep?
Work through this checklist once for each provider on your profile:
- If you no longer trade on that platform, or its menu is out of date: hide it on both pickup and delivery today.
- If it supplies riders and you have no delivery of your own: keep it on for delivery. Hiding it means losing those orders.
- If you offer collection and have your own ordering page or till-linked ordering: switch the provider's pickup toggle off and set your own link as preferred for collection.
- If you run your own delivery in a tight radius: test turning the provider off for delivery for four weeks and compare total orders, not just direct orders.
- If one platform carries most of your regulars who pay through its subscription: keep it visible. Landsman made this point herself, noting that diners often order through apps where they already have a subscription or saved card, as reported by Search Engine Journal.
- If you have no direct ordering at all: change nothing yet. Fix that gap first, because hiding providers would just lose orders.
What does the switch look like in pounds?
Take a hypothetical pizza takeaway. These are assumptions, not market figures: 200 collection orders a month come through a provider link on its Google profile, the average order is £25, the provider's agreed commission is 30%, food cost is 30% of the order, and direct ordering costs 3% in card and platform fees plus £50 a month for the ordering system.
Through the app: 200 orders × £25 = £5,000 revenue. Commission is £1,500 and food is £1,500, leaving £2,000 contribution, or £10 an order.
Direct, after losing 20% of those customers: 160 orders × £25 = £4,000 revenue. Fees are £120, food is £1,200 and the system costs £50, leaving £2,630.
That is roughly £630 a month better, or about £7,500 a year, even after losing 40 orders. Each direct order earns £16.75 against £10 through the app, so the takeaway would need to keep about 123 of its 200 collection customers to break even. It could lose up to around 38% of them before the change cost money. That margin of safety is why the pickup toggle is the low-risk place to start.
What are the risks and trade-offs?
- Customer preference: some diners will not set up a new account. Make guest checkout available on your own ordering page.
- A weak direct page: if your ordering page is slow on mobile or hides the basket, the 20% drop-off in the example could easily turn into 50%. Test it on your phone before switching anything. A properly built direct ordering website is what makes the numbers above work.
- Documentation lag: Search Engine Journal notes that as of 28 October, Google's help page covered the "Remove link" option but not the new "Show provider to customers" setting. Google has also not said whether the setting works in bulk or through the Business Profile API, which matters for multi-site groups.
- Contracts: read your provider agreement before you change anything, in case it has terms about how you present ordering options.
Should I remove a provider link or just hide it?
Google's help page still lists "Remove link", says providers must remove third-party links within five working days, and tells you to report a violation if they do not. Hiding suits testing better because you can switch a provider back on if orders drop. Use removal for platforms you have left for good. Separately, the help page says turning off "Accept orders on your profile" hides third-party order options and the links you added, which works as an emergency switch if a menu error is causing problems. Note your settings first so you can restore them.
What should I do this week?
- Today: sign in at business.google.com, open Food ordering and list every provider that appears.
- Today: open each provider's link on your phone and check the menu and prices against your current menu. Hide any that are wrong.
- This week: if you have direct ordering, add it with "Add a link", set it as preferred for collection, and switch competing providers off for pickup only.
- This week: note your current monthly orders and commission per platform. That is your baseline.
- In four weeks: compare total collection orders and contribution, not just direct orders. If total contribution went up, consider testing delivery next.
This change gives you a lever that used to belong to the platforms. Ordering links are only one part of a profile that drives local revenue, and local SEO for your Business Profile covers the rest, from categories to the reviews that persuade people to tap order.
Irvale Studio builds direct ordering and Business Profile systems for UK restaurants, designed to keep more of the revenue your own customers create. Book a revenue review to see where your orders currently leak.
Google Business Profile Ordering Controls — FAQ
Can UK restaurants use the new ordering provider controls?
Probably yes, though Google has not published a country list. Search Engine Journal reports that when commenters asked which countries have the feature, Google product manager Michael G. replied "all". That came from a single reply in a comment thread, not a formal announcement. Google's own help page already confirms that businesses outside the US get an "Order online" button powered by authorised third-party providers. So UK profiles show provider links, and the new toggle sits next to them. The way to be sure is to sign in at business.google.com, open Food ordering and select a provider. If you see the option to show the provider to customers, with separate pickup and delivery switches, your profile has it.
Will switching off a delivery app on Google remove me from that app?
No. The setting changes which ordering options appear on your Google profile in Search and Maps. It does not end your contract with the platform or take your listing down inside the app. Customers who open the app directly can still find you and order. Treat this as a decision about where Google sends its traffic, not about whether you stay on the platform. If you want to leave a platform altogether, that is a separate conversation with the provider under the terms of your agreement, and it is worth reading that agreement before you change anything on Google.
Should I turn off every third-party provider and only show my own ordering link?
Usually not, and Google itself argues against it. Lisa Landsman of Google said diners often order through apps where they already have a subscription or a saved card, as reported by Search Engine Journal. Taking those options away adds friction, and some people will simply order from a competitor. A better default for most independents is to keep the apps that do your delivery and point collection orders at your own system, because on a collection order the app adds little beyond payment. Then measure for a month before you cut anything else, comparing total orders rather than direct orders alone.
How long did it take to remove a provider before this change?
Under the older process you had to ask the provider to take the link down. Google's help page says providers must remove third-party links from a profile within five working days, and tells you to report a violation if they do not. Search Engine Journal notes that an archived May version of Google's provider policy carried a similar five-day window, although the current policy page no longer states it. With the new toggle you can hide a provider straight away from your own dashboard. The removal route still exists, and the current policy still says providers must drop a restaurant from their feed if asked.
Do I need to check my profile even if I am happy with my current providers?
Yes. Search Engine Journal reports that Google's current policy page for ordering providers, last updated on 19 October 2026, states that all partner integrations are enabled by default. Any provider with an authorised relationship with you can appear on your profile without you switching it on, including platforms you stopped using or that carry an old menu. Google suggested restaurants periodically review their active ordering channels and confirm each link leads to an accurate menu, according to Search Engine Roundtable. A fifteen-minute check once a month is enough for most single-site restaurants.
