Opening Date and Future Opening Date (Coming Soon Locations)

Last updated on November 14th, 2023

Future Opening Date and Opening Date are fields currently supported by Google to show upcoming store openings as well as years in business respectively. 


Future Opening Date (Coming Soon Locations)


When adding a location you have the possibility to select an opening date of the location set in the future. This feature is supported when adding an individual location through the UI or via API*.

How does it work?

The platform will send the 'Opening date' field set in the future to the directories that support it. 

Currently, only Google supports this specific field. 

When creating a location in the platform with an opening date in the future, we will activate the listings on Google and Facebook. Your listings will show up on Facebook 90 days prior to the opening date and on Google 1 year prior to the opening date.

Keep in mind that both directories must be connected and, in the case of Google, the location must be verified for it to be published.

In the case of Facebook, the page will contain the date created as usual and the name descriptor will contain a 'Coming Soon' text. The 'Coming Soon' text will be removed once the opening date is reached.


Information

Your location will only show on Facebook, Google and its child directories on the 'Directories' section until the 'Future opening date' is reached.
Once the date is reached, the rest of the directories in the location's plan will be added.


Invoicing

How will this location be billed?

The location will be billed according to the date added to the platform, not at date of opening.


Opening Date

Users can add the date their location first opened for business by using the Opening date field. 

Google can utilise this information to let users know how long a location has been in business. 

How can the Opening Date be added?

Simply fill go to the respective location > Profile > Basic Data and fill in the field called Opening Date

The information can be filled for all existing locations or when adding an already open locations.

What happens if a locations has not opened yet?

If the location has not opened yet, the opening date will be populated with the Future Opening Date that has been entered when adding the location to the platform (see Future Opening Date). Once done the Future Opening Date is no longer visible. Instead, an informational message will be shown mentioning that the “Opening Date” represents the date the listing’s information will be published.

This opening date can be modified multiple times and the update will be sent to GBP via API. Please note that changes usually it can take up to 72 hours if Google reviews it.


*API clients should begin transitioning from “Future Opening Date” to “Opening Date”. Since API Version _20220208, only the openingDate is used.


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