Only A Suspended OWNER Account Will Get A GBP Suspended!?

[Stefan Somborac]

I had heard a rumour that only when a GBP OWNER account gets suspended does the profile get suspended. If a MANAGER account gets suspended, the GBP is fine.

I recently spotted this in Google's suspension help doc, making me think the rumour is probably correct:

If we remove:...

The owner’s Google Account:
...We remove all the locations owned by that user.

A manager’s Google Account:
...We suspend the manager on the accounts that they manage. It doesn't affect the locations.

Yet another good argument for giving most profile users manager-level permissions!

 

[JS Girard]

What *exactly* is the definition of "removed" here? Because if they meant "suspend", that's what they would say, wouldn't they? Or does that mean "remove" as in "delete entirely"?

 

[Stefan Somborac]

@JS Girard - Great question! The article uses "We may suspend or disable Business Profiles..." and "Your account may be restricted when you violate our policy."

So, "suspend" for the GBP and "restricted" for the user account. They even combine that into a sentence: "As a result of an account restriction, the Business Profiles you manage are suspended..."

But that last paragraph uses "remove" for both GBPs and users. I suspect that's deliberate and is used to mean both "suspend" and "restrict", depending on context. But you're right: it might mean something else entirely. If I find out any more, I'll post it here.

 

[JS Girard]

I was asking because it's already known that closure of a user account will delete all GBPs connected to it regardless whether the account is an owner or manager. So "removal of an account", at least for some definition of removal, definitely affects GBPs where that account is merely a manager!

 

[ElizabethRule]

Wow, great find Stefan!! Reinforces the logic that agencies should always have manager access. With this knowledge, I would recommend everyone have manager access, except of course the primary owner and another owner account in case you ever lose access to the PO account.

 

[Stefan Somborac]

it's already known that closure of a user account will delete all GBPs connected to it regardless whether the account is an owner or manager.

Hey @JS Girard - I think there's a mistake in that statement. If you close the account of a manager on a GBP, the GBP won't be deleted. It will remain under the control of the Primary Owner. The user list will show an icon beside the deleted user account that looks like this.

 

[Stefan Somborac]

I happen to be working on a big account-level suspension right now and found evidence that backs up the opening post.

The screenshot below shows the status of 3 GBPs. On the two suspended profiles, the restricted email account is an owner. That same email is a user on the live profile, but only as a manager!