Google creates duplicate listing and strips out owner submitted information

[sd1111]

Well this is one of the weirder things I've seen happen on Google Business Profile...

I was working with a client to get one of their employees added as a manager on GBP. Somehow, during that process, we all got notified that the listing was marked as a Duplicate.

your Business Profile on Google has been marked as a duplicate. When you add a business that already has a verified Business Profile, your profile will be marked as 'duplicate' and won't appear on Google Search and Maps.

The email had a link to request ownership of the "profile that's already been verified," so I did.

It seems Google created an exact copy of the profile (reviews, category, hours, user uploaded photos). But ALL of our owner-submitted information is gone (photos, review replies, description). This is the profile that Google somehow marked as the Verified one, and the original is now the one marked Duplicate.

Has this ever happened to anyone else? I'm not even sure where to start here. I'd really like to get all of the photos and review replies back rather than starting over...

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer.

 

[keyserholiday]

I want to start off by pointing out 2 issues with the business profile. 1. This is a residential address and they need to hide the address. 2. Unless they have a DBA, the name is violating Google's TOS. Google could suspend them for these violations and refuse to provide support until the business adheres to the TOS.

Once a business profile has been marked as a duplicate, there is no way to revert it back. You will need to start all over again by adding photos and replying to the reviews.

 

[Claudia]

Well this is one of the weirder things I've seen happen on Google Business Profile...

I was working with a client to get one of their employees added as a manager on GBP. Somehow, during that process, we all got notified that the listing was marked as a Duplicate.



The email had a link to request ownership of the "profile that's already been verified," so I did.

It seems Google created an exact copy of the profile (reviews, category, hours, user uploaded photos). But ALL of our owner-submitted information is gone (photos, review replies, description). This is the profile that Google somehow marked as the Verified one, and the original is now the one marked Duplicate.

Has this ever happened to anyone else? I'm not even sure where to start here. I'd really like to get all of the photos and review replies back rather than starting over...

Thanks in advance for any guidance you can offer.

I have had this happen to me a couple different times. In both instances it was a new client and their was little to no activity on it for probably years. I ended up having to reverify the business.

 

[Claudia]

@sd1111 I would bet that another employee or the owner tried to gain access to this listing on the front end of Google. Instead of trying to gain access by adding a user through the Profile manager they claimed the business either by postcard or phone. Once the business is claimed then all other users will show a duplicate.

 

[Ljubica]

I have a similar situation. The listing received a soft suspension, and the client reverified the profile. This created a duplicate listing. Now, the first listing is still marked as suspended, and the second one is verified with the same data (actually, nearly the same, we don't have photos in the new one). The CID number is the same for both accounts.

The suspended listing is displayed in the search, and we can see the performance data in the verified one.

Should I contact GBP support via "Get Help?" I'm afraid to submit a reinstatement request in this case. I'd appreciate your advice.

 

[sd1111]

I want to start off by pointing out 2 issues with the business profile. 1. This is a residential address and they need to hide the address. 2. Unless they have a DBA, the name is violating Google's TOS. Google could suspend them for these violations and refuse to provide support until the business adheres to the TOS.

Once a business profile has been marked as a duplicate, there is no way to revert it back. You will need to start all over again by adding photos and replying to the reviews.

Great feedback, thank you!

 

[sd1111]

@sd1111 I would bet that another employee or the owner tried to gain access to this listing on the front end of Google. Instead of trying to gain access by adding a user through the Profile manager they claimed the business either by postcard or phone. Once the business is claimed then all other users will show a duplicate.

Oh no. That definitely is possible with this client. Thank you so much for sharing that— I'll be more careful in sharing clear instructions for access in the future.

 

[JeffClevelandTN]

I have a similar situation. The listing received a soft suspension, and the client reverified the profile. This created a duplicate listing. Now, the first listing is still marked as suspended, and the second one is verified with the same data (actually, nearly the same, we don't have photos in the new one). The CID number is the same for both accounts.

The suspended listing is displayed in the search, and we can see the performance data in the verified one.

Should I contact GBP support via "Get Help?" I'm afraid to submit a reinstatement request in this case. I'd appreciate your advice.

Hi @Ljubica, I'd suggest creating a new post with your question and hopefully you'll get some replies . Also, please mention if there are there any reviews associated with the suspended profile.

 

[Claudia]

@Ljubica i had a similar issue just recently. The client was suspended. I went into the Google Forum for help and the Google product expert found a duplicate listing. I claimed the duplicate and after going back and forth with Google I ended up closing the suspended profile and keeping the active one which pretty much had all the same data and reviews. This might be a new Google glitch.