Having constant issues with phone and video verifications

[lonerangerseo]

We are seeing that more and more even after minor edits re-verification is required now on Google via phone, business video or sometimes email.

The main issue we are having is that when we request by phone or sometimes email, we just do not receive a code.

I am literally there with the business owner in their shop and we request phones calls and the phone does not ring, we always retry multiple times - this has happened 3 times in the last week.

In addition, regards video verification, these seem to be successful only 50% of the time - we currently have a situation where we have video verified, visited the location to ensure it's being completed correctly so the business owner doesn't get it wrong and then it's still not going through. We usually are not even receiving a notification that anything is wrong we check back after 3 days and it's asking us to repeat the process (usually video) or it then says no other ways to verify!

Is anyone else experiencing this? Could it be something on our account that's causing all of this?

 

[Colan Nielsen]

The video verification issues are very common. Check out the GBP forum and you will see that 20%+ of the threads are frustrations with video verification.

How long is the video? I have seen a lot of users say that making the video shorter, around 30 seconds, helped. You also want to make sure no faces are visible, including the person making the video.

You can also get in touch with Google about verification issues via this form:

https://support.google.com/business/contact/business_owner_conflict?pcff=listing_id:13619046150627532044&authuser=2

You can also check out this help center article - Sign in - Google Accounts

 

[Stefan Somborac]

The failure of the phone and email verifications is news to me, so I have no input, but I've been wrestling with a handful of video verification failures.

1.) The most common issue I see is an error message about the upload failing.

I'm still trying to figure out the source of the error. One culprit appears to be that the video file is too big. That's where @Colan Nielsen's recommendation about a shorter video helps. Try that first.

You may also be able to reduce the resolution of your camera, which would shrink the video file size. But this may be tricky (or impossible) on some phones, so aiming for a shorter video is definitely an easier approach.

I've heard others hypothesize that the upload pipeline is too full, or just buggy, so those error messages about failing to upload are unavoidable. The only solution there is to try again. (I had one merchant tell me that it took him 30 tries!)

If it is an issue with the upload pipeline being full, it may help to try at a different time of day. (h/t @Claudia and @Amy Toman)

2.) The other issue is what you're describing: you successfully upload the video but a few days later, you need to verify again.

I believe this means that your video did not satisfy Google's requirements.

Make sure it proves three things:
1 - Location: show the address. Even if it's a home-based service area business, show that home address before showing your service vehicle.

2 - Authorization: show that you're authorized to verify the profile on behalf of the business. The easiest thing to do is unlock something, like the front door of a shop or a service vehicle. (If it's a vehicle, I recommend starting it too.)

3 - Tools: show that you have the tools required for the job. For a barbershop, you should have barber chairs. A restaurant should have a kitchen. An administrative office should have desks and computers. Etc.

There's a fourth, requirement that Colan mentioned: don't show any faces.

 

[sarmcl]

We are seeing that more and more even after minor edits re-verification is required now on Google via phone, business video or sometimes email.

The main issue we are having is that when we request by phone or sometimes email, we just do not receive a code.

I am literally there with the business owner in their shop and we request phones calls and the phone does not ring, we always retry multiple times - this has happened 3 times in the last week.

In addition, regards video verification, these seem to be successful only 50% of the time - we currently have a situation where we have video verified, visited the location to ensure it's being completed correctly so the business owner doesn't get it wrong and then it's still not going through. We usually are not even receiving a notification that anything is wrong we check back after 3 days and it's asking us to repeat the process (usually video) or it then says no other ways to verify!

Is anyone else experiencing this? Could it be something on our account that's causing all of this?

Same here. I was about to start a thread because I am at my wits end about this

We have had almost everyone have issues. Anything from live video verification completed with support WITH A CHAT TRANSCRIPT WITH GOOGLE STATING ITS VERIFIED to then it falling out of verification. To live video not being able to be connected to Google to various other issues.

I have been doing this 15 years and I am about to lose my mind. Phone verification does not work. We DO NOT GET THE CODES. I don't know how many more times I need to tell support this. The documentation we give is 100% correct and follows their guidelines. I truly do not know what else to do. I have so many tickets open its bananas.

 

[lonerangerseo]

Same here. I was about to start a thread because I am at my wits end about this

We have had almost everyone have issues. Anything from live video verification completed with support WITH A CHAT TRANSCRIPT WITH GOOGLE STATING ITS VERIFIED to then it falling out of verification. To live video not being able to be connected to Google to various other issues.

I have been doing this 15 years and I am about to lose my mind. Phone verification does not work. We DO NOT GET THE CODES. I don't know how many more times I need to tell support this. The documentation we give is 100% correct and follows their guidelines. I truly do not know what else to do. I have so many tickets open its bananas.

Yes I've had that happen constantly recently too when we verify, it goes through and then a day later it says we need to verify! We're also having more and more say "no more options to verify" and we get nothing back from support - email them as they specify and just never hear back, or if we do it's an automated response.


We can't do any of our optimisation work without the google business profile being verified and right now we are unable to verify most of our listings, which means customer acquisition is now in limbo as we don't have the confidence to know whether we can actually help them - if their GBP is controlled by someone else or they never took control of it, we now fear the worst.

I always like to think that there's a solution for every problem, but sometimes things are out of your control and we've not heard anything from Google on this - that there are bugs or issues, and when we contact them we get nothing back, or worse hear back 2 months later with an automated message telling us to do something completely unrelated to the request we made.

So we are also at our wits end and I'd like to keep this thread active, thanks for the comments so far and hopefully someone in the know with what is going on internally has some more insights

 

[Stefan Somborac]

Yes I've had that happen constantly recently too when we verify, it goes through and then a day later it says we need to verify!

@lonerangerseo - The document Verify your business on Google states:

"You may have to verify with more than one method."

Also, "If we can’t verify your business with the first method, the “Get verified” button shows up again. If the button reappears, try a different verification method."

Here's what the article doesn't mention: when you perform a verification step, you arrive at a screen during that process that tells you that your profile is verified.

This is a misleading message. It should say something like "You have completed this verification step. Now we're going to evaluate it. You may be required to verify by another method."

If the first verification pass is phone or email, it's pretty common for that to be followed (after a few days of "processing") by video verification.