The options to remove street view from Google Business Listing Profiles are somewhat limited and are handled in different ways depending on your situation. There are several scenarios where a business is looking to remove the Google Street View "See Outside" image from their Google Business Profile.
Does one of the following scenarios fit your situation?
- You have a home-based service area business and you don't want your house picture to show on your Google Business Profile. Learn how to hide your house picture »
- You have a brick-and-mortar business but the street view image is in the incorrect place - perhaps showing a back alley or the side of the building. Learn how to move the "access point" for your business »
- You have a brick-and-mortar business and the street view image is in the correct place, but it's ugly or severely out of date. See the options for removing ugly street view »
In this article, we go over the options for removing street view images for each of these scenarios.
1. How to Remove House Picture from Google Business Listing & Hide Your Address (Service Area Business)
Your home-based local business (often called a Service Area Business or SAB) will appear in Google Business Profile listings with a Street View image of your house if you don't hide your address.
An accurate, well-optimized Google Business Profile listing plays a very important role in Local SEO, but it may look strange to have an image of your house pop up associated with your business in search results.
In fact, it is against Google Business Profile guidelines to show a residential business address on Google maps. If your business address is zoned as residential, you must hide the address.
Set Up a Service Area for Your Business and Hide Your Pinpointed Address
Most home-based consulting businesses, mobile businesses, or any business where you serve your customers at their location fall into the category of 'Service Area Business'.
When you set up your business on Google My Business as a Service Area Business, you have the option to hide your address. This will prevent the street view photo of your house from appearing in association with your business in Google search results.
Before you can hide your address and street view house photo, you need to designate your business as a Service Area Business (SAB).
How to Change your business to a 'Service Area' business (and hide your address & streetview).
- Login to manage your Google Business Profile (formerly called Google My Business) listing and click on the business you need to edit. You will either see the traditional 'edit' screen on the back end of Google Business Profile, or you may be sent to a screen where you 'manage your business on search'.
- From inside the Google Business Profile manager for that business, click on the 'Info' tab on the left and then click the pencil icon next to the address.
- On the address pop up screen, click the "Clear Address" link and click "Apply", OR if you are editing your listing directly on search, toggle off the "Show business address to customers" toggle. By clearing/hiding your address, you are informing Google that your business is a Service Area Business and the Google street view image will be removed. Note: This will also remove the map marker for your business from the Google Local 3-pack map results.
- Click the pencil icon next to 'Service Areas' and set the service area for your business. Generally speaking, service areas should be no more than 2 hours away from your physical location. Learn more about service area businesses on the map by reading Google's guidelines for representing your business.
But Wait....Why do some service area businesses keep their residential address published on Google?
It sounds like a no-brainer at first....why would I want a picture of my house showing associated with my Google Business profile? However, there are many businesses who opt to keep their residential address showing on their Google Business Profile....even though it is against guidelines.
For searchers who are looking for the business that is geographically closest to them, having a marker for your business on the map may provide an advantage....a bright red dot on the map on which searchers can click. Further, when a user hovers over a pinpoint on the map, additional information about the business is provided.
By removing the marker from the map, this could lead to less clicks on your business profile (because no bright red dot or info panel is shown).
Since Google may have accidentally confirmed that clicks on a business listing are a ranking factor for local search results, many businesses avoid doing anything that could negatively affect the number of clicks, including removing their address.
Let me be clear, though...leaving your residential address published on Google Business Profile is against guidelines, and if you are reported by a savvy competitor, your listing may be suspended. In fact, we regularly report profiles that are out of compliance on behalf of our clients.
Choose What Works for Your Business
Some other things to consider when deciding whether to hide your home business address from your Google Business listing are:
- When your business address is hidden, your business is still eligible to appear in the Local 3-Pack...just no map marker.
- According to Google guidelines, a Local Business on Google should only display a pinpointed address if the business serves customers at that address at least some of the time.
- Many, many businesses are home-based, so there isn't necessarily a stigma attached to seeing the street view of the house in association with a business.
- An unattractive or very old Google Street View image may be more harmful than helpful depending on what type of business you have.
- If the Street View image is incorrect, or Google doesn't have the map marker quite right, you can report incorrect Street View imagery and move the map marker.
- Add Local Business photos to your business profile to help searchers find and understand your business. This can help draw attention away from a less than ideal street view image of your business.
2. Street View Image is in the Incorrect Location
If you have a brick and mortar business that is eligible to show an address on the map, but the street view location is in the incorrect location, according to Google you can edit incorrect street view imagery in the following ways:
- Change the map marker for your business if it is in the incorrect location in order to associate it with different (correct) Street View imagery
- You can also add your own Street View imagery with the Street View app. Please note: Taking this path does NOT replace the street view imagery, it only helps to provide additional imagery.
- Additionally, if you find that the "access point" for your business is in the wrong place such as behind the building or in a side alley, you can use the steps described in this help article to move the access point resulting in the street view imagery also moving.
3. How to Fix an Ugly Street View Image
If you have a brick and mortar business that is eligible to show an address on the map, and the street view image is in the correct location, BUT the street view image is really ugly or outdated, you are unfortunately out of luck. Eventually, Google will rephotograph the area, but there is not a direct way to change street view imagery.
In these cases, we recommend uploading your own high quality imagery to the profile in an effort to minimize the effect of the street view image.
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