Social Profiles Disappear from Knowledge Panel after Verification

[Nikos]

Hello All,

This happened twice in 2017 and I'm curious if you witnessed the same "buggy" behavior from Google.

In both cases, an unclaimed GMB profile was displaying social media links. After verification, social media profiles disappeared from knowledge graph. Even after placing accurate Schema markup (sameAs attribute) social media links won't come back.

Anyone with any ideas? Some posts from 2015 suggested clicking on "Feedback" under the knowledge panel and then mentioning the absence of social profiles, however, this does not seem to work anymore.

Best regards.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Anyone with any ideas? Some posts from 2015 suggested clicking on "Feedback" under the knowledge panel and then mentioning the absence of social profiles, however, this does not seem to work anymore.

Hi Nikos,

The Feedback option will not create change necessarily. It's not like a support channel. They collect the data in aggregate to eval what's working and what people want. Then if thousands all request the same thing it MAY go on a project list to be implemented in the future.

I don't think there is a way to control whether social profiles show or not. It's all algo driven plus occasionally (or often) Google changes the way they display things.

Wish I had a better answer for you. Anyone else?

 

[heckler]

I've noticed it being odd this last 2-3 months. I see review sites showing up in the KG and then the next day they're gone (or just completely different).

I've been able to submit the URL (publicly) to get it to come back but it never stays. So I'm not sure there is going to be a way to solidify it. Maybe check and see if there are any duplicate social profiles that might be tripping up Google.

 

[Nikos]

Dear Linda and Heckler,

Thanks for getting back.

Well, duplicate social profiles might be a reason. I am aware of multiple G+ profiles since you cannot consolidate G+ properties anymore. Could that be the reason?

Google's documentation mentions that social profiles need to be verified also. So duplicate and unverified profiles might be the tip. However, this does not solve the main issue, which is the social profile links getting lost after GMB verification.

I thought that proper Schema code could solve this but obviously structured data is an indication, not a directive.

 

[JoyHawkins]

When you claimed the listing did you alter anything in the name, website or phone number?

 

[Nikos]

Hey Joy,

Thanks for replying.

Yes, both name and address was changed once the GMB profile was claimed.

 

[JoyHawkins]

K. That's probably what caused them to disappear then. If Google sees a major change, they probably aren't sure it's the same business anymore. Provided you do all the necessary steps and make sure the social profiles match the exact name/address/phone/website that's on GMB, they should return in about 6-8 weeks.