Client GMB Suspended for No Reason - Again. Can a competitor cause this?

[Nikki Stine]

I have a used car dealer client who had their GMB listing suspended almost 7 months ago in Sept 2018. I appealed the suspension, and it was rather quickly resolved.

(You can see the last thread I posted about it here: Client GMB suspended due to quality issues - no idea why (??) - Local Search Forum )

This week, it just happened again. I appealed again, in the same manner, and have not heard back as of yet. It's been just over 24 hours. I'm hoping it will get resolved just like it did last time.

I have no idea what would have caused a suspension, as everything on the listing is on the up-and-up. He does seem to have some malicious competitors though. A couple weeks ago someone posted a picture of a condom vending machine on his GMB listing. I was able to bring this to Google's attention through their Facebook page, and in about a week it was removed.

Is it possible competitors could do something else that would cause a suspension? Just trying to brainstorm why this would happen. Both the client and myself are showing the suspension. None of my other clients are experiencing this.

Any input is appreciated, otherwise I'll just wait and see what happens. Thanks!

Here's the info for the business:

LINK:Hall of Fame Auto Sales

Name, address, phone (as listed in dashboard): 4732 N 2nd St, Loves Park, IL 61111, (779) 210-2907

Verification date: More than a year ago when the business opened.

 

[djbaxter]

This is what I see:

 

[Nikki Stine]

Yes. It has been a claimed business. So now it's looking like that (appearing unclaimed)
on the public--facing side, and like this on my back end.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Hi Nikki,

Usually when you see a suspended message and the listing is still live on maps in an unclaimed state it's what's referred to as a soft suspension. A much better situation to be in then having the listing completely removed.

It is possible that a competitor did report the listing to Google but it's also possible that the suspension is related to the account level and not necessarily the business listing itself.

Either way as long as the listing is fully compliant with the guidelines I would reach out to support on Twitter and ask them to take a look and help you get it claimed again.

 

[Nikki Stine]

Thank you @Colan Nielsen for the reply!

When you said the suspension could be at the account level.... Does that mean one of the users who are owners/managers?

but it's also possible that the suspension is related to the account level and not necessarily the business listing itself.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Yes exactly.

 

[Nikki Stine]

Understood. Thanks again! I'll stay on it and hopefully this will be resolved.

 

[JoshuaMackens]

Yes exactly.

What would cause this?

 

[Nikki Stine]

Good news. I did get an email reply to the appeal that the GMB listing is no longer suspended. Of course, they did not give a reason.

After giving the quality guidelines further scrutiny, I only came up with one possibility. About 3 weeks ago a Google Post ran that mentioned a contest without linking to the terms & conditions of the contest.

That post was still in the history when the listing was reinstated. I deleted it for good measure. Again, I'm unsure if this was the cause, but it was the only thing I could come up with.

As always - thanks for the advice and support of this forum!