Suspensions Across Google Business Profiles: Have You Been Targeted?

The GBP community forum continues to fill with messages from worried business owners seeking advice on their situations. The general consensus is that appeals are being ignored, even for GBPs that have stayed in line with guidelines. Here are just a few of the messages:

The Horse Farm Hideout

“I’m not too sure why my business listing has been deactivated when there are other local businesses that are doing exactly the same thing as us listing on Google. […] I have tried to follow the process of reactivating it but I keep getting an error message. “The tool has no moderated content to appeal’ can anybody help me with this please.”

Ahmed Nasir

“My listing is getting suspended again and again […] due to google algorithm which is causing me trouble and I have tried 10 to 15 times [to] appeal and always it gets rejected.

I can give you all the pictures of the store, professional trade license, my ID, phone number, and everything else that can be provided to make a business real, […] but even after that I know that my listing will be dropped due to the Google algorithm, I make appeals not once but twice and both times get rejected.”

Melissa Grace

“Please help. Our business profile, for a business hardly built in more than 10 years where we have delivered our services with passion and high quality, got suspended. 

We have provided all the proof required to get the account re-activated, however we are getting the same response. Please help. 

It is frustrating to see competitors who are not following Google Guidelines being up there in rankings and us, who corrected everything, not getting a chance to be back on the map.”

If your profile has been suspended – and you’re confident your business is in line with Google’s GBP Policies and guidelines – you should file an appeal.

This said, a lot of appeals are getting rejected, with business owners receiving a message that reads: “Your access has been suspended because this profile doesn’t follow the guidelines. Edit your business info, and learn how to regain access.”

Google has recently cracked down on GBP policy violations by introducing strict consequences to business owners:

These updated restrictions could correlate to account suspensions, so it’s worth double checking that your GBP meets the most up to date guidelines set by Google.

If it does, appealing is the only step you can take towards getting your account reinstated at this moment.