Hard Suspension of GMB Listing: Multiple Businesses at Same Address?

[Travis Van Slooten]

My client has two businesses that share the same office/building location, which the owner owns. It's an office building with a large secured "yard" where all of this trucks are stored. One business is a repossession company and the other one is an auto transport company that ships cars for individuals and businesses from auctions, dealerships, private sales, etc.

Up until 7 months ago, the repo business Google listing had the owner's home address as the business address. Forgetting he used his home address when he created the listing a long time ago, he changed the address to the actual business address. While both businesses have separate local telephone numbers, they obviously have the same street address. Part of the building has offices for the repo company and the other part has offices for the auto transport business. Both businesses are separate legal entities with different business names (but somewhat similar), separate staff, clients, etc.

Everything was fine until a week ago. I logged into their GMB listing for their auto transport business and it was suspended, and a hard suspension to boot. Nobody had touched that listing for at least a few months. The last time we logged into the listing was to respond to a couple reviews. This is a listing that has been in good standing for several years and had 100+ positive reviews.

I've never had to deal with a hard suspension. Google doesn't tell you why the listing was suspended so I'm totally in the dark and I have no idea what to do to get their listing back. Did the address change for the repo business raise red flags with Google? If it did, why did it take 7 months for Google to react to that change and why was the auto transport business listing suspended and not the repo business' listing?

What things do I need to do before I fill out the reinstatement form? And how do I handle the address issue? Can you have two separate legal entities with the same address? Aside from the relatively recent address change for the repo business, we haven't done anything with either of the Google listings so I don't know what to do (if anything) before going through the reinstatement process!

Travis

P.S. What are the success rates of getting a hard suspension reversed? And how long does the process take?

 

[BenFisher]

The answer to your question is simple yet also complex, it will depend on the layout of the building itself and the signage (If storefront) available. Also being that they are distinct entities, the way they are presented also is another factor. Having two businesses at the same address is not a big deal, but how they are set up is.

Another thing is that anything can trigger a suspension, a competitor, a manual review, a sweep.. So there will not be a hard fast answer there. Feel free to PM me details, I can take a peek.

 

[Travis Van Slooten]

Thanks Ben! PM sent.

 

[JoyHawkins]

Hey Travis,

If they are two distinct businesses and the categories don't overlap, there shouldn't be an issue with getting it reinstated. Suspensions are happening like crazy right now.

 

[Travis Van Slooten]

Hey Travis,

If they are two distinct businesses and the categories don't overlap, there shouldn't be an issue with getting it reinstated. Suspensions are happening like crazy right now.

Joy - do you know how long it typically takes to get a response from Google after the reinstatement form is submitted? I just submitted it today so I'm curious how long it might be before we hear anything.

Travis

 

[BenFisher]

The current turnaround is 24- 72 hours, with some rare cases taking about a week.

 

[JoyHawkins]

Travis,

If you don't hear back in 48 hours, I would suggest posting over on the GMB forum

 

[JoshuaMackens]

Seeing anywhere from 24 hours to a week myself.

 

[Travis Van Slooten]

Thanks everyone! That's much faster than I was expecting.

Travis

 

[Travis Van Slooten]

For the benefit of others that may be reading this thread who have similar questions/issues, I thought I would provide an update. Google responded to my reinstatement within 72 hours. I'm happy to report that Google reinstated our listing! I have no idea why the listing was removed in the first place but I'm happy it's back up.

In the reinstatement, I provided pictures of the outside of the building clearly showing their company name and address on the outside door and signage. I also provided official documents as them being a legal entity with the state. I also provided copies of recent utility bills. I had no idea why the listing was taken down so I wanted to give Google everything "just in case."

Travis