Google Support Process

[regl8r]

Just venting a little bit here. This year it seems like Google has tried to crack down on fake listings which is a positive thing but a repurcussion of this has been the suspension of legitimate businesses. This policy of suspending without warning, guilty until proven innocent and not having the staff to review and reinstate for 2-3 weeks is totally ridiculous. There is no thought to business owners that have employees and overhead that rely on the income that comes from this. Significant money is spent on paid advertising along with the free GBP but there is zero real-time assistance on this is extremely frustrating.

 

[JoyHawkins]

I agree that the wait time recently for reinstatements is stupid and very detrimental for small businesses.

 

[regl8r]

@JoyHawkins appreciate the reply. Since you have a direct line of communication with them is this something that can be brought to their attention.

We had an account review 3 months ago where they said you have 2 weeks to submit documentation. That was great, why not do that for everything or just a suspension pending 48 hours to submit everything. They could even have somewhere on the backend of the profile to upload government docs and proof of existence.

 

[djbaxter]

I've just had my first suspension on a client's site (a non-profit). I think I know why it occurred: the owners were selling some LGBQ+ merchandise (flags, signs, etc.) to help offset their costs which may well have confused Google reviewers into thinking it was a commercial enterprise.

I'm okay with that part (the owners independently decided they didn't want to continue selling the merchandise).

But of course it's a guessing game since Google won't tell you why it was suspended — only that it's suspended. You take a stab at guessing what they are objecting to, fix that, and then.... yes, wait 2-3 weeks (if you're lucky) without a word of feedback other than that you have requested reverification.

Frustrating to say the least.

 

[JoyHawkins]

is this something that can be brought to their attention.

Trust me, it has been brought up multiple times.