GBP Reinstated.....but

[coppaz]

So my "account" was suspended, which resulted in 3 profiles being suspended. We got all 3 back up, but my question is, does anyone know definitively if a suspension causes a reduced map pack ranking filter to be applied to the profile? If so, do you know how it is applied and what type of duration? Like, is it applied and then tapered off over a period of time? TIA

 

[keyserholiday]

I know for SABs it takes 14 days to rank. I see people talking about it taking longer for all reinstated GBPs to rank again.

 

[coppaz]

oh no we rank for a lot of keywords; we just don't rank as high. Prior to the account suspension, we dominated in the #1 position for most of our keywords; now, not so much. No other profile even comes close to 1. the # of reviews we have (67) and 2. no company with a 5-star review average has more than 16 reviews.

the profile is 100% built out and optimized based on the ranking factors checklist. even our images are geo-targeted.

 

[JS Girard]

So my "account" was suspended, which resulted in 3 profiles being suspended. We got all 3 back up, but my question is, does anyone know definitively if a suspension causes a reduced map pack ranking filter to be applied to the profile? If so, do you know how it is applied and what type of duration? Like, is it applied and then tapered off over a period of time? TIA

I don't think the reinstatement itself is inflicting a penalty, but I get the distinct impression that Google will reevaluate the profile in details, so that if an aspect of it seemed to not be taken into account as much (think good ranking despite few reviews or only old ones, or a truly terrible web page...), you are likely to be set back because whatever factors used to, say, override the freshness ranking factor will no longer do so.

My very tentative theory is that a reinstatement resets the GBP age factor.

 

[coppaz]

I don't think the reinstatement itself is inflicting a penalty, but I get the distinct impression that Google will reevaluate the profile in details, so that if an aspect of it seemed to not be taken into account as much (think good ranking despite few reviews or only old ones, or a truly terrible web page...), you are likely to be set back because whatever factors used to, say, override the freshness ranking factor will no longer do so.

My very tentative theory is that a reinstatement resets the GBP age factor.

no idea what you just said.

 

[keyserholiday]

oh no we rank for a lot of keywords; we just don't rank as high. Prior to the account suspension, we dominated in the #1 position for most of our keywords; now, not so much. No other profile even comes close to 1. the # of reviews we have (67) and 2. no company with a 5-star review average has more than 16 reviews.

the profile is 100% built out and optimized based on the ranking factors checklist. even our images are geo-targeted.

It is a myth that the business with the most reviews should rank number 1. There are only two ranking factors for Google reviews. The first is when you get ten reviews, and the second is review recency.

How long were you suspended, and when was your last review?

 

[fisicx]

the profile is 100% built out and optimized based on the ranking factors checklist. even our images are geo-targeted.

You could have over-optimised. It's possible it doesn't have the natural growth pattern Google likes to see.

 

[coppaz]

suspension happened in early Feb and we've been back since about the 3rd week in March. Last review was a week ago for two reviews, then 3 weeks ago.

 

[coppaz]

You could have over-optimised. It's possible it doesn't have the natural growth pattern Google likes to see.

we've ensured that we have been conservative with our approach. Like I mentioned we dominated in the #1 position for all of our kp's until the account was suspended. I've come to learn that we were using the same credit card for 2 different Google Ads accounts which we believe was the reason for the account suspension. now that we are back up, with not much changing with the profile(s) we have noticed that both are not ranking as well. I guess I understand being down for 5 weeks would have an effect as "no new reviews" for that time period, but since coming back we've had quite a few for both.

 

[fisicx]

now that we are back up, with not much changing with the profile(s) we have noticed that both are not ranking as well.

It can happen. Reinstatement means Google starts again with indexing the profile which can mean things that slipped through the net before now get caught.

Accept you may never regain your ranking.

 

[keyserholiday]

It can happen. Reinstatement means Google starts again with indexing the profile which can mean things that slipped through the net before now get caught.

Accept you may never regain your ranking.

This is not remotely true at all. I wonder if a GBP not receiving reviews for several weeks is what is causing the decline in rankings.

 

[fisicx]

This is not remotely true at all. I wonder if a GBP not receiving reviews for several weeks is what is causing the decline in rankings.

Why not?

Reindexing penalised sites can affect ranking so why not GBP? There is some Google documentation about this (I can't find it right now) that says reviews can adversely affect ranking.

 

[keyserholiday]

Why not?

Reindexing penalised sites can affect ranking so why not GBP? There is some Google documentation about this (I can't find it right now) that says reviews can adversely affect ranking.

As you previously stated, you are assuming. Unless something has changed, GBP gets update within minutes. Everytime I create a new GBP, it’s instantly visible on Google. There is no penalty associated with a GBP.

 

[fisicx]

As you previously stated, you are assuming. Unless something has changed, GBP gets update within minutes. Everytime I create a new GBP, it’s instantly visible on Google. There is no penalty associated with a GBP.

But if a GBP has been suspended it will be reviewed before reinstatement. It's this review that may find something that results in a change in ranking. This is what happens with organic ranking. The incremental SEO changes don't trigger an alarm but a full reindexing can result in a fall in ranking.

I agree I made an assumption but the logic suggests a change in GBP position is due to something other the number of reviews

 

[keyserholiday]

But if a GBP has been suspended it will be reviewed before reinstatement. It's this review that may find something that results in a change in ranking. This is what happens with organic ranking. The incremental SEO changes don't trigger an alarm but a full reindexing can result in a fall in ranking.

I agree I made an assumption but the logic suggests a change in GBP position is due to something other the number of reviews

The team handling the reinstatements doesn't know anything about ranking factors. Something did change, which is why I asked questions. My hypothesis is that being offline for several weeks and the absence of new reviews while the GBP was suspended might have a negative impact on the rankings. I can't say that is what it is based on one post. I will need more examples and to see ranking data before I can tell for sure. A core update was released on March 13th. It, too, could be the culprit. Since the OP is not my client and I don't know his business or have access to his data, I am at a loss.