Client's Lies have caught up to them

[Eric Rohrback]

Hello All:

So here's the situation... from the start of working with this client they told us their address was in fact a legit office space for their business. We even asked them if it was a PO box or a virtual location, and they told us "no, that's our business location." It was in an office building so it had a suite number tied to it, I didn't really think much of it... possibly my fault for not digging further into it and just trusting the client.

Fast forward a few months to today. The listing dropped off the maps today. It was up and looking good just yesterday, and now it's gone. We talked with the client, and guess what they had to tell us? Oh, you guessed it.... "Yeah, it actually was a virtual office."

So... what is going to happen to this listing? Are they essentially black-balled from Google Local? Basically, is this business screwed because of this? What typically happens to businesses that break the rules like this and use a virtual office?

 

[Linda Buquet]

Have you checked the history in MapMaker for clues?

Because if they were totally nailed for fake location you'd think they'd be deleted or suspended instead of just de-ranked.

 

[Eric Rohrback]

Hey Linda,

Sorry for the confusion on my post... they weren't just de-ranked, they got suspended. They got the "we do not currently support this location" message. So are they SOL'ed?

 

[Linda Buquet]

Ahhh, in original post all you said was "The listing dropped off the maps today."
So I thought ranking just dropped.

Now you say "they weren't just de-ranked, they got suspended. They got the "we do not currently support this location" message."

So let me be sure I understand. When you say suspended do you mean officially with a red warning in dash OR unofficially with just the do not support?

Have you tried to find them with phone search in maps? Does phone search in MM bring them up?

If not I hope you have a record of their CID or their FTID? If so, have a trick I can try.

 

[Eric Rohrback]

Linda:

He doesn't have the red bar of suspension yet, it's an unofficial suspension. I checked MM and it looks like he is wiped clear. No search in Google Local shows for his phone number. It basically looks like everything has been deleted. I really don't want to waste anyone's time researching or trying anything for this client. He has been a pain in the butt and always fighting with us on everything (he always wanted to bend the rules and we wouldn't do it for him), so I don't really want to sink resources towards someone who will not listen to my suggestions for improvements and play within the rules.

At this point, he is gone from local. What would be the next steps to getting him back up? He is a cleaning company, so I'm going to guess the only "legit" location is his home. Do I go through re-verification by listing his home as the main location, setting a service area, then hide the address? Or will he be essentially black-balled from G Local?

 

[JoyHawkins]

I think it'd be worth a shot setting him back up with his home address and hiding it. I doubt the listing will rank very well since it will take about 6 weeks to even appear in the index with a new address (from my opinion) and then you'll also have no citations to give the listing any credit until you build some with his new location.

This might be a scenario where you might just want to cancel the client if they are more pain than they're worth (or paying).

Just Say No to Bad Local SEO Clients - Let them Walk!

 

[Linda Buquet]

He is a cleaning company, so I'm going to guess the only "legit" location is his home. Do I go through re-verification by listing his home as the main location, setting a service area, then hide the address? Or will he be essentially black-balled from G Local?

Joy is right on both counts.

Just remember you can't edit the address on the current listing. It's likely black balled anyway. Need to treat like a move and set up new listing. I would recommend fresh new account too. Then be sure to also delete the old listing too.

But if it were me I would not do the extra work at no charge since the client caused the problem by violating the guidelines AND not being upfront with you. Charge a good price to fix this and if they don't want to pay - walk. OR just walk and don't even mess with it.

 

[Eric Rohrback]

Thanks Guys for your advice on this one. I had come to basically the same conclusion myself, but needed some confirmation. As always, thanks for all your help. I really appreciate both of you taking the time to help me out with this little dilemma