Previously claimed GMB Page

[valentinb13]

A little backstory as this has been an ongoing issue for over a month now with no resolution:

Client has a Google Places/GMB listing - it was set up/claimed/verified by a previous SEO or previous employee (client is not sure) - I have no access to it via email nor cannot contact the whoever set the listing up.

Contacted Google help support - went through explanations, etc...they eventually "unverified" the page. I was able to now go through maps or through google+ local to try to manage the page - according to the help desk rep I should have been able to claim the listing and go through the regular verification process.

What happens though is it only gives me the option to "Request Ownership" via the previous claimant (which we cannot do).

I have been emailing/calling Google with the same help desk rep since Oct 27 with no resolution. The most recent recommendation was for me to simply make a new GMB page for the location, then the help desk rep could verify it and delete the previous listing.

My concern is that deleting the existing listing will hurt rankings (it currently ranks in local packs for certain key searches for the client).

I'm not sure what to do - I have no access/control over the listing even as a manager to make the changes I need and now the listing is not verified.

Any tips/advice/guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Brian

 

[Colan Nielsen]

What happens though is it only gives me the option to "Request Ownership" via the previous claimant (which we cannot do).

Brian

How come you can't do this?

 

[Scott Rawlins]

Deleting the listing would not be the right move, especially since age of the listing is a factor. Typically, if you request admin rights and have not heard anything after a week, you can call support to gain control of the listing. They will have to call the business to verify that you are allowed to have control. But once they get the info they need from the business, they should be able to get you set up with control over the listing.

https://support.google.com/business/answer/2911778?hl=en&rd=1

Logged into account, hit Contact Us in upper right hand corner. Fill out info and they will call you within a minute or so. This has always worked for me.

Kind of curious about that too Colan. Best to use a domain based email for new account as well. Once you have that account, you should be able be able to make that request with no problems.

 

[valentinb13]

The reason we couldn't gain control of the account was because the client didn't know who created the page (they weren't sure if it was a former SEO company or a former employee) etc..and the email addresses they provided to us were not associated with the page.

I've gone through the "call for help" process - the only thing they have done is to unverify the listing. Unfortunately that hasn't helped as anytime I try to take ownership of the listing now, I still get the "request ownership" message.

I actually just received a call from the help desk rep I've been dealing with since Oct. and she essentially said there is a "glitch" that is not allowing us to gain control of the page. She did tell me the email address the page was originally built under and I was able to login with that email, but since she unverified the listing, we cannot do anything with the page (it actually shows up as the page is being blocked):



It's sort of "stuck" - I've told her we have no interest in deleting the page, we just want to be able to manage/update/verify the existing page. One positive is the page had the wrong name and she was able to correct the name.

---------- Post Merged at 12:04 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 12:02 PM ----------

Because the client didn't know who set the page up and none of the emails they gave us were used to create the page. I've since found out it is a former employee that created the page under one of their email addresses they don't use. But since Google help already "unverified"/"unclaimed" the listing I still cannot get control of it.

 

[Ccleal11]

The ex employee that created- doesnt use the email or doesnt have access to the email? If they do, you need them to send you an email from that email stating they want to transfer ownership of location xx. Then you can forward that to the google rep. That worked for us.


Sent from my iPhone

 

[Brian Barwig]

I've dealt with some issues like this as well (client didnt know the email address associated with the GMB account). Seems you were handling it the right way.

I called Google Support on this matter and they stated to go the "Request Ownership" route. From there, they will send a transfer of ownership request to the email associated with the GMB account. If they do not hear back from the account owner within 2 weeks, they will attempt to get ahold of the business owner via phone. If there is no response, the Google team will unverify the account, upon which you should be able to take over.

GMB, on a multiple location level, is a mess. The Google support staff isnt trained and doesnt have the necessary knowledge to deal with all of these one off problems. Trying to get a straight answer out of the Google support staff is difficult at best.