Google My Business -New Opening Hours Requirement

A new change in policy or just a clarification?

There are some reports emerging on various sources around the internet that Google has started implementing a policy of requiring businesses with a Google+ listing to include their opening hours. Now this makes sense for most businesses that are not Service Area Businesses ie those that state they are open for customers to visit but this is the first time that this has been reported as being a must include. There is certainly nothing explicit in the current guidelines. However Google has made it clear that it is tackling spam and wants Maps to accurately reflect the real world. If a business is open for customers to drop in then there should be a set of hours of operation and availability. It follows then that this information must be included in your Google+ listing. For me this is just a clarification in the rules but means that it might be enforced more rigidly going forward.