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A huge number of SMB listings have been deleted by Google for violating the "Hide your Address Rule."
This rule pertains to outbound service area businesses, like plumbers, primarily those with home offices.
See my March announcement: New Guidelines - Hide your Address or Risk Losing your Place Page
I pushed Google again last week for an update due to a new situation that came to light. I also informed Google I was working on a big story and requested an official statement. (SEE UPDATE - LAST QUOTE)
But 1st I wanted to share the story of ONE of the many small business listings Google removed in error.
A RETAIL FLORIST - with a walk-in location, in one of largest office buildings in downtown San Francisco.
Does this look like a residential location to you???
Rossi & Rovetti Flowers' Google local listing has been down since JUNE and is still down.
Many other small business listings have been down even longer. See Jason's post from June 5th.
Businesses have been getting the "sorry, glitch - we're working on it" support emails FOR MONTHS and are still down MONTHS LATER. This has dragged on far too long. Below is a collection of Google support emails regarding the problem, so you can see how the replies have evolved over time.
OK so problem #1, he has a store-front so was not in violation. #2 telling businesses to delete and start over when this was Google's mistake was bad advice PLUS I don't know of anyone that has successfully deleted and started over, including Jason.
My reply July 15. "At one point support was saying to delete and start over. But I and some other TCs screamed loud and hard that that was NOT a good solution for MANY reasons and Google just needs to fix this and MAKE IT RIGHT! So Google says they have put resources into trying to fix it instead... So deleting and starting over is no longer advised. Wait for a fix is the latest advice. "
You can read lots of other complaints and replies in that thread, but I wanted to fast forward.
October 3rd Brockton from EZLocal added a series of support emails he's been getting over time. I emailed him to ask for more details and timelines on these. At the link you can read Brockon's original post at the Google forum. BELOW I'm stripping it down and adding in the dates he gave me.
I have tons of other related support emails and complaint threads, but above is a good cross section.
As I said, went to Google again last week for answers. What prompted my latest push was seeing a post in the Google forum from Justin Sous, who had client listings taken down even though addresses were hidden 2 months previously. Why is Google calling my clients even when I'm hiding their address?
Justin after meeting Joel Headley from Google in person at SMX was able to get Joel to re-instate some listings that should not have been taken down. I basically said to Google: "If Joel can revive those listings, why can't support revive all the other listings that have been down for months? "
In response to my request for an official statement from Google, Jade agreed to update the "do not support location" announcement at the Google and your Business Forum. NEW UPDATE BELOW.
So in a nutshell, there are 2 types of listings that were taken down. One type Google is having success reviving and they tell me they've re-instated many of these listings. But if your listing falls into the other bucket, the ones Jade mentions in #4 - these are listings that Google is having a difficult time reinstating. Still no ETA on restoring those listings.
If your listing is down, your only option is to execute #1 and #2 above, if you have not already. With luck your listing is in the 1st bucket, the type they are able to revive. If not, then the advice once again is, you need to continue to wait for a fix.
Sorry, I was hoping for more news or better news, but that's where we stand right now.
This rule pertains to outbound service area businesses, like plumbers, primarily those with home offices.
See my March announcement: New Guidelines - Hide your Address or Risk Losing your Place Page
Months later Google has been unable to bring many of the listings back
EVEN ONES THAT WERE MISTAKENLY DELETED AND WERE IN COMPLIANCE
EVEN ONES THAT WERE MISTAKENLY DELETED AND WERE IN COMPLIANCE
I pushed Google again last week for an update due to a new situation that came to light. I also informed Google I was working on a big story and requested an official statement. (SEE UPDATE - LAST QUOTE)
But 1st I wanted to share the story of ONE of the many small business listings Google removed in error.
A RETAIL FLORIST - with a walk-in location, in one of largest office buildings in downtown San Francisco.
Does this look like a residential location to you???
Rossi & Rovetti Flowers' Google local listing has been down since JUNE and is still down.
Many other small business listings have been down even longer. See Jason's post from June 5th.
Businesses have been getting the "sorry, glitch - we're working on it" support emails FOR MONTHS and are still down MONTHS LATER. This has dragged on far too long. Below is a collection of Google support emails regarding the problem, so you can see how the replies have evolved over time.
Chronicling the "Do Not Support Location" Email Chain
June 13 Google Support email to Jason
Thanks for your patience in waiting for an update on your Google Maps listing. If you're still receiving the "We currently do not support the location" error message, then your listing was affected by a technical issue and there are a couple of things you can do to help restore it to Google Maps.
First, review our quality guidelines: Google Places quality guidelines - Places for business Help
If your location doesn't meet these guidelines, it may have been removed from Maps. Especially check out this article about service-area businesses, and hiding your address in case your business is at a residential location: Service areas - Places for business Help
Please remove your listing from your Google Places dashboard by clicking "Delete" then "Remove my listing from my Google Places account," then recreate the listing. You will need to undergo PIN verification again if that was your original verification process, but doing so may cause your listing to surface cleanly on Maps once you input your new PIN.
Thanks for your patience and understanding with this process, and we hope to continue to improve your experience in Google Local and on Google Maps.
OK so problem #1, he has a store-front so was not in violation. #2 telling businesses to delete and start over when this was Google's mistake was bad advice PLUS I don't know of anyone that has successfully deleted and started over, including Jason.
My reply July 15. "At one point support was saying to delete and start over. But I and some other TCs screamed loud and hard that that was NOT a good solution for MANY reasons and Google just needs to fix this and MAKE IT RIGHT! So Google says they have put resources into trying to fix it instead... So deleting and starting over is no longer advised. Wait for a fix is the latest advice. "
You can read lots of other complaints and replies in that thread, but I wanted to fast forward.
October 3rd Brockton from EZLocal added a series of support emails he's been getting over time. I emailed him to ask for more details and timelines on these. At the link you can read Brockon's original post at the Google forum. BELOW I'm stripping it down and adding in the dates he gave me.
Brockon's List of Google Support Emails
NOTE: FOR BREVITY, removed all the "Thanks for your patience" niceties from Google support emails to strip down to the important details. Please click links if you want to read full emails.
JUNE 6 - Thanks for your getting in touch with us about your listing not displaying on Google Maps. We have identified the cause of your listing not showing and are working on establishing a pathway to revive dropped listings which meet our quality guidelines.
We don't have a timeline which we can give for this, but your submission helps us keep track of this problem and we will be reviewing your listing once the fix is fully established.
JULY 9 - The error has to do with a technical issue within our backend that we are currently pursuing a resolution to. As of right now we are still working on establishing a pathway to revive dropped listings that meet our quality guidelines. During this time, we ask you to wait and not delete/recreate your listing.
JULY 12 - I just want to update you that your dropped listing along with others are within our internal queue. Currently we are re-reviewing dropped listings to be re-instated within Google Maps.
Unfortunately, I do not have an ETA of when your listing will be up but we are currently in the re-reviewing process. We ask again at this time to be patient while the process is being undergone.
Thank you again for your understanding.
AUGUST 8 - We've tried recreating listings in the past and we found them to become affected by the same technical issue. Please hang tight as our engineers work out this issue, this is on our high priority right now and we hope to reinstate your business listing soon.
We have no doubt that your business is legitimate and abides to our quality guidelines. We are currently doing the best we can to reinstate your business listing and have it display on Google Maps accordingly, however, due to the complexity of this technical issue, we have been unable to fix this in a timely manner.
As we understand the impact this can have for your business, our engineers are trying to find a solution this and have been fully devoted to this issue. We hope to have your listing live soon.
OCT 4 - We are working with our Engineering teams to establish a pathway to revive your listing. Your submission helps us keep track of this problem and we will be reviewing your listing. I'll also be following up with you once your listing is reviewed.
I have tons of other related support emails and complaint threads, but above is a good cross section.
As I said, went to Google again last week for answers. What prompted my latest push was seeing a post in the Google forum from Justin Sous, who had client listings taken down even though addresses were hidden 2 months previously. Why is Google calling my clients even when I'm hiding their address?
Justin after meeting Joel Headley from Google in person at SMX was able to get Joel to re-instate some listings that should not have been taken down. I basically said to Google: "If Joel can revive those listings, why can't support revive all the other listings that have been down for months? "
In response to my request for an official statement from Google, Jade agreed to update the "do not support location" announcement at the Google and your Business Forum. NEW UPDATE BELOW.
Sevice Area Business with recent "do not support this location" message?
Here's the state of these listings now (October 8):
Sevice-area businesses who are experiencing the "We currently do not support this location" message should --
1.) Check to make sure you comply with the quality guidelines, particularly hiding your address, if appropriate.
2.) Once you're sure you comply, contact the support team (select the last option).
3.) If possible, the team will reinstate listings that are OK.
4.) Sometimes, the support team cannot reinstate a listing, even if it's OK. These listings cannot be brought back because of an issue that we're still working on fixing. The support team will send an email back saying the listing is down due to a technical glitch. When we have an update, we will follow up with all of the people who got the message about the technical glitch.
What's the status of listings in #4?
For listings in #4, there isn't much course of action other than waiting. Please know that our team's doing everything we can to get them reinstated when possible.
{Previous Message from 6/29 was...}
Good news -- we?ve been able to bring back some of the listings that incorrectly had the ?We currently do not support this location? error. Many previously deleted service area businesses that had their addresses correctly hidden a few weeks ago are back.
If your listing?s not back yet, please know that we are still working on it. In the meantime, please review the quality guidelines and this article on service area businesses. Make sure your listing complies.
Thanks,
Jade
So in a nutshell, there are 2 types of listings that were taken down. One type Google is having success reviving and they tell me they've re-instated many of these listings. But if your listing falls into the other bucket, the ones Jade mentions in #4 - these are listings that Google is having a difficult time reinstating. Still no ETA on restoring those listings.
If your listing is down, your only option is to execute #1 and #2 above, if you have not already. With luck your listing is in the 1st bucket, the type they are able to revive. If not, then the advice once again is, you need to continue to wait for a fix.
Sorry, I was hoping for more news or better news, but that's where we stand right now.