Recent content by Stefan Somborac

Yes, as far as I understand it, BBB accreditation does not influence ranking.

Yeah, the same is true in Canada; small business owners can operate as a "sole proprietor" under their own name. (I think this is a "sole trader" in the UK?) I believe there is a similar business status in most/all US states. Unfortunately, there is often a disconnect between what is legally...

Getting BBB accredited involves more than just paying an annual fee; there is a vetting process. Accreditation requires businesses to meet a set of standards. I'm not familiar with the details, but it's clear that Google puts a significant amount of trust in accreditation (at least in the US)...

That list from @keyserholiday is great! I'll add: 6. Service areas overlapping with another profile This applies only to multi-location businesses with multiple profiles. 7. Phone number used on another profile Google doesn't seem to mind a toll-free number used on multiple locations, but if...

@RMortis - I don't think wiping the profile of content (photos, posts, etc.) before removing it changes anything.

If that message is shown, the listing will remain visible, unclaimed, on Maps after you remove the Business Profile from your Business Profile Manager. Then you can try to remove it from Maps using "Suggest an edit". I see the two working together.

Create a post in the forum. The review management tool breaks all the time. PEs can usually help circumvent a broken tool and get the review in front of Google for another evaluation

If you’ve ever had to “delete” a Business Profile, you’ve learned that there is actually no delete option. More importantly, you might have also discovered (unhappily) that all a Business Profile owner can do is “remove” 1) you and your team (i.e. all users) from the profile, and 2) the content...

I was seeing that error yesterday and saw similar reports from others. I'm not seeing it today. Maybe just a temporary glitch?

I spent a considerable amount of time exploring the Google Business Profile help channels for a project, and thought I would summarize my findings here. If you want to know how to contact GBP support by email, this list provides a support channel for most GBP problems. The Five "Main" Forms...

Two more possibilities for documents for the satellite location: City-issued business license (if the city issues licenses) Certificate of insurance Google's guidance on suspensions lists only four document types: Business registration Business licence Utility bill Tax registration So, I...

There's some strange behaviour with suspended GBPs these days, making it unclear whether the profile is a) suspended/disabled or b) if it needs to be verified. 1.) When a suspended profile gets reinstated, merchants sometimes get an email saying it needs to be verified. But when you try to...

@patrick71 - I used the word "franchise" loosely, as a reference. An easier way to look at it is to draw a comparison between two physical locations. Say you have a pizza restaurant and decide to open a second location in the neighbouring city. That second location will have: A unique address...

@patrick71 - There's a fine detail here. To quote the Guidelines: "Service-area businesses, or businesses that serve customers at their locations, should have one profile for the central office or location with a designated service area." In other words, a service area business cannot use an...

I spend lots of time in the Google community forum, and I see lots of fake review complaints. I thought it might be helpful to share the reasons you can give when reporting a review that I’ve found are most likely to get Google to take action. (See this post for a detailed breakdown of the steps...