Google My Business & Google Maps forum threads being deleted

[k.ivanova]

Hello all,

I am struggling with Google My Business Help Community and Google Maps Help Community. Lately, most of the threads I create there are being deleted/hidden.

Here are a couple of examples:
https://support.google.com/business/thread/69988521 (no product experts' replies)
https://support.google.com/maps/thread/65510771 (here I have a Diamond Product Expert replies)

I've experimented with publishing threads without adding links/screenshots, yet that's not the case. Is there a bug, or I'm missing something here?

Thanks in advance, keep safe!

 

[hajnasiewicz]

That's interesting and unfortunate. Are your inquiries relevant to GMB and Maps topics?

 

[k.ivanova]

I firmly believe so, here are the screen grabs from the above links:

 

[BenFisher]

I am not aware of anyone deleting your posts. Post one about the marker is a maps issue. I would post that there.

The one about products I believe is a trending issue but should resolve itself soon. as all list will have the products tab, it is slowly being migrated to listings that do not have it.

 

[k.ivanova]

Thank you for double-checking and confirming the relevance, Ben!

I have another one removed in the Maps community, which I posted twice. It was regarding spammy listings on Google Maps (just in case posting the links here - https://support.google.com/maps/thread/60195311 and https://support.google.com/maps/thread/60559334). I can only see them when I am logged in, and now I see they are locked. There was another thread which got removed entirely and I believe I will be able to find the link in case that could turn out helpful.

Any recommendation here will certainly be not overlooked.

 

[BenFisher]

For spammy listings, those would be removed by PE's, it is a privacy issue to protect you. Spam should always be handled by the redressal form here: Business Redressal Complaint Form - Google My Business Help and for reviews via the contact form for GMB.

 

[k.ivanova]

Amazing, thanks!

So some of those removed threads were indeed hidden for a reason, yet still monitored by the PE's. I was not aware of this practice to be honest, and it makes perfect sense now. I guess I will keep monitoring the issue.

Thanks again!

 

[Map Wrangler]

Posts in the Maps Help Forum can only be deleted by the user or a Google employee.

A Product Expert (PE) can mark a post as either off-topic or abuse, which will hide the post from public view, but still won't delete it. It takes multiple steps for a PE to do that, so the chance of a post being accidentally marked are, in my view, slim.

That you can see them when logged in would be consistent with them being so marked by a PE or Google employee. FYI, all threads are automatically locked after 30 days ... I don't know if a thread so marked by a PE/Googler is automatically locked. Duplicate posts, for example, when marked as a duplicate are locked at the same time -- but are not hidden.

Are you able to see your post "Address Pin Location Update" when you are signed in?

It strikes me as unusual that a user has had multiple posts in two different forums removed from public view.

 

[k.ivanova]

Intriguing insights, thanks!

Yes, I am able to see the threads via the account I used to post them.

 

[freerunr]

A bit late to the party here, but we have been experiencing some similar things as @k.ivanova in the GMB forum.

• Threads we started have been specific to GMB suspensions.
• We also experienced a message that said, "you've reached your limit for posting. Please try again later." We received that for multiple Google accounts on multiple systems (computers). That message displayed when attempting to publish a post.
• We have included a lot of information in the posts to be thorough upfront. When we greatly reduced the text in the initial post, it seemed to solve the issue.
  • But in one instance, I added the additional information as a comment, but that comment was removed!
• As an alternative, including information as a screenshot seems to work.

Helmut recently chimed in on the forum and said this:

Those sentiments seemed to align with observed behavior. It's just unfortunate that "overachieving" by providing lots of info upfront can bite us. I wonder if the dials on the GMB forum's filters were recently turned up.

 

[BenFisher]

It appears to be kinda random, but if you are posting links try it without the https:// , make sure not to include an email or a phone number.

PS Screenshots deter me from answering, however linking to a Google Doc will get you points in my book!

 

[k.ivanova]

Many thanks for your input here @freerunr and for sharing Helmut's reply.

Ben, I will definitely follow your recommendations as well.