I can't post any updates or images on my Google Maps and I can't reply to customer reviews. Everything is deleted by Google for spamming.

[yigitc]

I can't post any updates or images on my Google Maps and I can't reply to customer reviews. Everything I do, google robots delete it as spam within seconds. Please help me. My Google Business AccountS are 7 years old and still first for many keywords. 2 weeks ago I made a very small name change and after that I went back to my old name. Since then google sees all my updates as spam and deletes them. Normally I share updates every week and I can't share them for 2 weeks. Even funnier, the customer comments I reply to are deleted by google within seconds. Am I going crazy or has Google gone crazy?

I have two different maps one of them is my wife's map and another one is mine. I tried more than 10 different updates in 2 weeks and all of them have been deleted.

 

[Adam Wang]

Google will disable the listing that it deems as repetitive. Looks like it has detected your wife’s account and deems your account and your wife’s belong to the same business. Google’s guidance does allow one business in one location to have more than one profile if certain conditions are met.

 

[yigitc]

Google will disable the listing that it deems as repetitive. Looks like it has detected your wife’s account and deems your account and your wife’s belong to the same business. Google’s guidance does allow one business in one location to have more than one profile if certain conditions are met.

No we have different locations and our listings are also still available. Actually, Our Google maps are doing good we still get lots of calls and we are in the top 3 positions for our keywords. Only our admin accounts were disabled. We cannot reply to customer reviews nor make any updates.

 

[mblumenthal]

It is likely that your user account has been flagged and is limited by the flag.

Try creating or adding a different admin and see if they can respond.

 

[severina]

We've had several cases where businesses we manage suffered from a temporary ban from Google, resulting in some functionality limitations, for example, the inability to reply to user reviews or publish Google posts. The reason behind this, according to Google, is due to "spam activity" which we tried to prove several times is not the case. Unfortunately, there is no workaround here apart from persistent communication and a lot of follow-ups with the Google Support Team.

 

[mblumenthal]

We've had several cases where businesses we manage suffered from a temporary ban from Google, resulting in some functionality limitations, for example, the inability to reply to user reviews or publish Google posts. The reason behind this, according to Google, is due to "spam activity" which we tried to prove several times is not the case. Unfortunately, there is no workaround here apart from persistent communication and a lot of follow-ups with the Google Support Team.

Have you tried / tested?
Whether it is the email or the account itself

Ie can a new email address respond?
If you transfer owner ship to a new email and remove from existing dashboards can they respond?

 

[yigitc]

I have been talking to google business support for 10 days and they still could not provide me any solutions. They told me they were still searching for solutions in their last e-mail. They could not find any in 10 days LOL.
Here is their last respond;

"I want to assure you that we are actively working on your case and doing everything we can to resolve the matter as quickly as possible. However, please be advised that it may take some time to investigate the issue thoroughly and come up with a resolution.

We understand that this situation may have caused inconvenience on your end, and we apologize for any disruption it may have caused. Rest assured that we are doing everything we can to ensure that the matter is resolved as soon as possible.

In the meantime, there is no need to reply to this email. We will get back to you as soon as we have any updates. If you have any urgent concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us, and we will do our best to address them promptly."

 

[yigitc]

Have you tried / tested?
Whether it is the email or the account itself

Ie can a new email address respond?
If you transfer owner ship to a new email and remove from existing dashboards can they respond?

Nope they disable all of the accounts related to the business.

 

[richardwaine]

It is likely that your user account has been flagged and is limited by the flag.

Try creating or adding a different admin and see if they can respond.

Mike, I know your name and reputation as being pretty involved in local seo and all things Google, but I have been dealing with a similar issue for more than 7 months! Disabling accounts, trying workarounds, adding email addresses... all for nothing. Won't work.

Google has issues and a real manager needs to get involved. I can't reply to reviews, I can't make update posts, and now after they removed two of my reviews, they can't even tell me which reviews violated which policy.

Do you have a contact at Google... someone outside of their customer support team? I'd prefer to speak with the head of the entire product line, but someone who has a clue at that company would be great.

Google has told me that this is a widespread issue. They don't know what is causing it, they don't know how to fix it.

I find that not only to be BS, but also a poor excuse, since this happened when they released the helpful content update, and condensed GBP into maps and search. They have known about this problem, and if Google is so focused on customer service or user experience, then these things should be a priority.

This is very much a Google problem, but support can't actually provide support. So, we need to make waves with management!

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[mblumenthal]

@ richardwaine

I am not sure of your business, category, location or account history. Google has the ability to constrain review responses on a listing, manager, account or even a whole category basis. When they have done so in the past on the category basis (for example pregnancy care businesses after the Roe V Wade decision, or Ukranian & Russian businesses after the invasion) they applied the constraint to thousands of businesses. Occasionally, regardless of the reason for the limit, Google had a few businesses that needed additional help getting it removed. And sometimes refused to remove the block as they felt the user/account/etc had abused the system and that the limit was justified.

I appreciate your desire to communicate directly with Google and explain their bug. They don't care and as you have learned, make it nearly impossible for you to get this resolved.

I do not have direct access to anyone at Google above a community manager these days and when I do manage to get something fixed it is either through the community manager escalating the issue OR some news that I have written about getting enough coverage that they suddenly "care".

The only path open is for you to use the GBP forum and have one of the PE's escalate the issue to a Community Manager who will hopefully escalate it to a higher level and get it resolved. Sometimes this process can take months and at the end, not have a great resolution unless the PE is doggedly persistent.

 

[richardwaine]

@ richardwaine

I am not sure of your business, category, location or account history. Google has the ability to constrain review responses on a listing, manager, account or ben category basis. When they have done so in the past on the category basis (for example pregnancy care businesses after the Roe V Wade decision, or Ukranian & Russian businesses after the invasion) they applied to constraint to thousands of businesses. Occasionally, regardless of the reason for the limit, Google had a few businesses that needed additional help getting it removed.

I appreciate your desire to communicate directly with Google and explain their bug. They don't care and as you have learned, make it nearly impossible for you to get this resolved.

I do not have direct access to anyone at Google above a community manager these days and when I do manage to get something fixed it is either through the community manager escalating the issue OR some news that I have written about getting enough coverage that they suddenly "care".

The only path open is for you to use the GBP forum and have one of the PE's escalate the issue to a Community Manager who will hopefully escalate it to a higher level and get it resolved. Sometimes this process can take months and at the end, not have a great resolution unless the PE is doggedly persistent.

Mike,
I'm a headshot photographer. my GBP is photography-related. My reviews are all related to the experience I provide to my clients. I am very much aware of their policies around the reviews, and ensure that my clients adhere to them so we don't end up having this kind of situation. So, I still call BS on their excuse regarding the removal of reviews.

As far as the issues of being unable to reply to reviews or make update posts, I don't see these things as requiring constraint. It's headshot photography, and words used to describe pictures and experiences. Not anything controversial. So, they have no reason to engage in that kind of activity. The support team has even told me that they are impressed with the care and pride I take in my reputation and my profile.

Sadly, I agree that reaching a human at Google who can actually do something about the issues is almost a non-starter. They don't care, and it's quite obvious that they don't care. They sweep these issues under the rug, hoping that no one will say anything. Well, I for one, care! I care very much.

If you can direct me where to post, I'm happy to post. I'm happy to get on phone calls and Zoom calls. Whatever it takes for these to not be issues any longer... since after 7 months, it's actually hurting my business.

I appreciate your prompt reply. It's far more than I have received from other leaders in the field.

 

[mblumenthal]

Google's review filter is quite harsh on your category and a lot of the reasons for reviews not showing are related to that harshness and the behaviors of your users and have little to do with the specifics of review content. ( See this post) If you have reviews that are not showing, it is best if you a screen copy of the review, request support reinstate it and if that doesn't work escalate the review with your Maps URL and the case number to the forum.

You should create separate posts for reviews and the posting issues. To do so you can do it here: Sign in - Google Accounts

 

[richardwaine]

Google's review filter is quite harsh on your category and a lot of the reasons for reviews not showing are related to that harshness and the behaviors of your users and have little to do with the specifics of review content. ( See this post) If you have reviews that are not showing, it is best if you a screen copy of the review, request support reinstate it and if that doesn't work escalate the review with your Maps URL and the case number to the forum.

You should create separate posts for reviews and the posting issues. To do so you can do it here: Sign in - Google Accounts

I appreciate the help, Mike!

I wish I was more hopeful that creating posts in that community would be beneficial. I had hoped that these posts, here and in all of the other places I have mentioned the issues, would have caught the attention of more influential people, google leadership, or at least people who know or have a relationship with a human at Google with some form of decision-making ability. That was probably a bit presumptuous on my part. It just goes to show that Google is out of touch with its users, and they don't really care that they are.

I'll follow your guidance, but I don't think it'll do much good. Thanks again!

 

[mblumenthal]

Please share the link to the post here.

 

[richardwaine]

Please share the link to the post here.

Unable to reply to Google Reviews - Google Business Profile Community

Notice the date stamp on the posts

 

[mblumenthal]

That is pretty old. I would need a new post with links to the reviews and copies of your responses as well as example of Post content that has been rejected. Preferably with screen shots as opposed to video

 

[haroldwest5050]

Hi, I recommend on creating a new Google account. Upload some images of non-common places but with high demand to gain traction.