Can a café remove the delivery app order links on its Google listing?

The controls are in the Business Profile. Under Food ordering, Google's help page describes these controls: turn off "Accept orders on your profile", which hides "any third-party order options and links you add"; mark a provider or link as preferred for pickup and for delivery; and select a provider or link and choose "Remove link". Google says: "Once a business makes a request, providers must remove third-party links from a profile within 5 business days. If a provider doesn’t process your request, report a violation."

Where the question came from

A question about restaurant listings was asked publicly on Webmasters Stack Exchange in May 2015. That is old, and Google's tools have changed since, so treat the thread as background and Google's current page, below, as the answer. The person who asked ran a business that manages restaurant web listings. A new order link had just appeared on restaurant listings in mobile search, and the poster said restaurants had no control over where it sent customers. The poster said Google's announcement had told restaurants they could ask for the link to be removed through support, but the poster had contacted support several times and found nobody who understood what was being asked. The poster asked whether there was a reliable way to reach a competent support agent.

What did the reply and comments say in 2015?

There was one answer and three comments. The answer pointed to the support route of the time: choose the business-information option, then the option for some other problem, then email, which it said reaches a Google My Business specialist. It advised listing the businesses concerned, using Google's own wording for the link, and noted that support was unlikely to act unless the request came from the owner or the account that set up the listing. The comments said, in turn, to vote the question up, to try Google forums or a public hang-out in case Google staff noticed, and that this looked like an intended change, so the poster's best route was Webmaster Tools. That support route is the one that has dated. Today the controls are in the profile itself.

What does Google's Business Profile page say now?

The page is Google Business Profile Help, "Manage online ordering options". It says you can "manage how customers place food pickup and delivery orders through your Business Profile", and it describes these controls, all reached by going to your Business Profile and selecting Food ordering.

The first is to turn "Accept orders on your profile" on or off. Google says: "If you turn off "Accept orders on your profile," any third-party order options and links you add are hidden from your Business Profile." The second is to mark a provider or link as preferred: "For pickup and delivery, you can mark third-party order options and links as preferred." You select "Set as preferred", then turn "Preferred for pickup" or "Preferred for delivery" on or off, and save. The third is to select a provider or link from the list and choose "Remove link".

On what happens after you ask, Google says: "Once a business makes a request, providers must remove third-party links from a profile within 5 business days. If a provider doesn’t process your request, report a violation."

In its US section, the page says: "Third-party providers who state they have authorized relationships with your business are automatically listed on your profile." Its non-US section lists "Links added by third-party “Place an order” providers" and says: "Links supplied and updated automatically by third-party providers who state that they have authorized relationships with your business." I make no claim about what any of these choices does to your orders or your costs. Google's page says nothing on that.

Where do the order links appear?

It depends on the country, and Google's page does not tell me which applies in Ireland. It says: "In some countries and regions, ordering options appear under the ‘Order online’ button. However, in certain regions, the ‘Place an order’ links might appear separately on the profile." Our suggestion: the first job is to open your own profile, go to Food ordering, and see what is listed there.

And the café's own website?

This part is my suggestion, not Google's. Put your own ordering or menu link on your website and on your profile, so there is one you control. Google's guidelines say: "Menu URLs can’t be direct links to third-party ordering or delivery services." How to add a menu is in adding a menu to your Google Business Profile. To see whether an AI assistant can read your hours, phone and address from your site, our free website check does that.

Sources

• Google Business Profile Help, Manage online ordering options, read 4 November 2026.
• Google Business Profile Help, Guidelines for representing your business on Google, read 2 November 2026.
• A public question on Webmasters Stack Exchange, May 2015, with one answer and three comments, paraphrased, read 4 November 2026. One thread, not a study, and now out of date on support routes.

This is a summary of a public Webmasters Stack Exchange question of May 2015 and a Google Business Profile Help page read 4 November 2026, not legal advice. Cupán Studio builds websites for cafés in Ireland.