Home Office

[jmshap]

I managed a listing that is a home office that was recently suspended. My understanding was that if the office is staffed during business hours it was ok. I finally heard back from GMB support on Facebook and this is what they replied.

"Thanks for reaching out! We've reviewed your account and we've noticed that your business is located at a home address with the address shown which is a violation of our policies. Since your address appears to be a residential address, your address will need to be completely hidden. When setting up your business as a service area you are prompted to enter a verification address, you can use your home address, however it must not be shown, so instead of entering an address, leave the address field blank and select your service areas."

Is this new or am I just wrong?

Thanks

 

[Rich Owings]

If you have exterior signage and you really see clients at that location, you should be able to get it reinstated.

 

[LisaB]

It's very common for tax and financial professionals to meet with clients in their home offices. It doesn't make sense to me that Google would flag that.

 

[EmilyW]

Is this new or am I just wrong?

Thanks

I've not heard this from Google before, but don't manage very many home offices. I would think exterior signage and address numbers would be essential, but that's purely logic....not necessarily Google verified! Good luck.

 

[Conor Treacy]

I assume it has to do with the City regulations and Google following those. Operating out of a home is OK for businesses as long as they don't generate regular customer foot traffic. As an accountant, normally you wouldn't be getting a stream of people pulling up to a house and walking inside, however from the city level, most cities prohibit ANY foot traffic. Employees can't work out of a house, signage can't be placed, etc etc. That's just part of City regulation, and then Google follows that angle of things.

So while there might be regular staff, if it's zoned as residential, then it doesn't qualify for signage, and then can't be on the map either.

(at least, that's how we've always interpreted it)

 

[EmilyW]

So while there might be regular staff, if it's zoned as residential, then it doesn't qualify for signage, and then can't be on the map either.

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.