Help!! My Google My Business is Suspended!

In the last month, I have received almost 50 calls from various companies that their business listing has been suspended and they are panicking. This is not just me getting these calls. I have confirmed with some of my friends and other experts in the SEO community that there has been a large increase in GMB suspensions across all verticals and markets.

Important things to know:

1. It’s fixable if you know why your listing was suspended.
2. Google won’t tell you why your listing was suspended.
3. DON”T KEEP SUBMITTING REINSTATEMENT REQUEST! (this is because Google works on a queue system and if you resubmit, your request resets back to the end of the line of the queue.)

In this blog post, I will explain why it may have happened and more importantly how to prevent it from happening or how to resolve it. Let’s start with the basics. What is Google My Business?

Google offers many mediums for business owners to attract potential customers. Pay-per-click, Organic listings, Youtube, however for those with a brick and mortar business, one of the most popular is the free tool – Google My Business. Google My Business is a free and easy-to-use tool for businesses and organizations to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. If you verify and edit your business information, you can both help customers find your business and tell them your story.

In addition to PPC, SEO and marketing strategy, I also manage multiple local listings for various clients. Here is a blacked out version of my log-in screen dashboard.

While none of my clients have suspended listings, I have helped others fix their listing (and often then they became my long-term clients 😀) Other than not being able to find your listing online, this is how you know it is suspended. You log in to your account, hoping to answer the latest review or gather other data and instead you see this.

What to do if your business is suspended in Google My Business

I understand how frustrating and scary it can be to see your listing or website negatively affected by a suspension. Don’t worry, I am here to help. When Google decides to suspend a business listing, they are responding to any number of red flags, suspicious activity or suspected policy violations. While Google will not officially disclose the reason a listing has been suspended, there are common events that tend to result in suspended listings – more on these in a minute.

When Google suspends a listing, they are acting in the best interests of your business’s industry, your customers and Google itself. With an increase in fraudulent listings over the last few years, Google has used listing suspension to filter out the illegitimate businesses and show honest, legitimate businesses to searchers. A legitimate business will have very little trouble getting out of suspension. Sadly, there are people out there who take advantage of a business owner’s lack of expertise in GMB and promise the world, get a quick paycheck, and are no where to be found when their bad practices raises Google’s alarms. In addition, there are some people who specialize in negative SEO- specific tactics to devalue a listing, organically or listing. I can’t stand either of these two kinds of people.

Back to your listing..

What is a suspension?

There are two kinds of suspensions- hard or soft. If it is a “soft” suspension your listing is still shown in search results. Probably, Google My Business requires you to reverify some information related to your account. Once it’s done, you are all set to do your business again at this forum. So, “soft” suspension is not a big deal to your business, though you cannot update your listing till the time suspension is ended. If it is “hard” suspension then your account is in serious trouble. Unfortunately, your listing is completely gone from search results.

Why Was Your Listing Suspended?

Well, the suspension could have been because of several reasons. They might be acting in response to some unwarranted activity, warning flags, or small to some serious policy non-compliance. Additionally, your account may be suspended for any discrepancies in name, information, address, profile description etc. One of the most frustrating things is that Google does not give you the reason it is suspended and even if you can get someone on the line, they pretty much just walk you through how to submit a reinstatement request- (which most people have already done, by the time they call Google).

Most of the causes of suspended listings have to do with this local consistency. Below are the most common reasons a listing gets suspended:

• Another business shares your address or a new entity claims the same address
• The address on your website is different than the one on your listings
• You have used a 3rd party to garner FAKE reviews.
• Any part of your address, primary categories, business name, website, or phone number has recently changed
• Your business name isn’t accurate or consistent across the web
• Your address is virtual or a P.O. box
• Your primary category is a high risk vertical (meaning people often operate without licenses):
  • Locksmiths
  • HVAC/heating and cooling
  • Plumbing
  • Roofers
  • Bars/Restaurants
  • Insurance 
  • Finance
  • Other home services businesses
• Makes Restricted Statements (Promises of Weight Loss, Debt Relief, etc)
• Your website listed has a forwarding URL to a different domain

Note: I have seen many companies that use a 3rdp party local listing service like YEXT, have a high level of suspensions. Although there are people that swear by this company’s usefulness and say their suppression is good, I am not someone that recommends them at all.

Google does not make this easy. By not letting you know what the “problem” is exactly, often business owners don’t know if they are solving something or making it worse. Google just gives this as a framework. (If you are experiencing this issue, you have already seen and been irritated by this

Only to be more frustrated when you click on the policies and realize there are a gazillion possibilities of what you might have done incorrect.

https://support.google.com/business/answer/7667250?hl=en

However, if you have “fixed any issues” and think you are now in compliance with ALL the policies , submit a reinstatement request form. If you’ve read all the above and still can’t figure out why your listing/account was suspended, your next step is to reach out to Google’s GMB support online. As a result of the increase in suspensions, response times from Google have been delayed, so be aware that resolution times are much longer than expected. I have seen INITIAL response back go anywhere from 7-15 days. They may require you to send them proof that you own your business, and that it’s legitimate. This proof can include:

• If your business as set up with a physical address, you will be required to provide an image of your storefront showing both your address and signage at the same time. If this is in an office building, it must include your suite number.
• If your business is set up with a physical address, you may be required to submit your business license. It must have the same address that is shown on your Google My Business profile.
• If your business is set up with a physical address, you may be required to submit a utility bill. It must have the same address that is shown on your Google My Business profile.
• If your business is set up with a physical address, you may be required to submit proof that you are not sharing office space with other businesses through photographs or video.
• If your business is set up with a service area only, you will be required to provide a legal document such as a business license or tax document with your business’ information.
• You may be required to remove any owners or managers from your profile who have engaged in practices Google has deemed spammy. (link buying, link manipulation, false listings, etc)
• You may be required to change your name on Google My Business to reflect the name on your signage.
• Your reviews may be removed from Google My Business-especially if the algorithm believes they are fake.  A follow-up escalation to Google may get LEGITIMATE reviews re-instated, but it also may not.
• You may receive an email back denying your appeal, but clarifying which specific policy you are in violation of. The reinstatement form revolves around verifying that your business is at an address that meets Google My Business guidelines.

I have noticed a higher amount of requests for a storefront photo when getting listings reinstated. It’s a good idea to have this handy in case it’s needed for reinstatement. If you’ve done all the above and THAT doesn’t work, you may want to to hire an expert to handle it.

Nuclear option!! (Not recommended for most businesses-) Start a new listing. 

I have seen some websites and local that were so erroneous and illegal, that going back and forth would take months to correct and the best option is to just start over from scratch and do it correctly from the beginning. Once again, losing reviews and all the work that you have put in may not make this a feasible idea, but you have to be the judge of that.

Hopefully, however, you get a message like this. (I had someone contact me that had just used a 3rd party listing tool. The tool created numerous listings at the same address under various names. Google’s algorithm redflagged the business and suspended the listing immediately. The customer called me in a panic as 80 percent of their traffic came from their local listings. I was made an admin on the google my business listing, cleaned it up, wrote an email and provided documentation and requested reinstatement that showed they were who they said they were and 7 days later, I received this email. (The client was thrilled)

Until Next Time,

Robert Urban

CEO, PhD, and best-selling author, Marine veteran. Offers expert-level strategy and execution through relationship driven marketing, content and sales while leading and managing people from all different backgrounds. Paperboat is headquartered in Deland, Florida.