Top common mistakes that get a GMB suspended or banned?

[Oliver Keates]

hi

What are the most common mistakes people make that get gmb listings suspended or banned when editing a listing.

Thanks

 

[Phil Rozek]

@Oliver Keates, there are plenty of outlier situations, of course. Also, most moves that can get you in trouble happen outside of the GMB dashboard, whereas most missteps in GMB will only prompt Google to auto-update / overwrite your info (rather than pull your page).

Anyway, here are what I'd say are the most common apparent causes of suspension:

1. Completing owner-verification at an address that has (a) no online listings (i.e. citations) other than GMB and that (b) shares the address with at least one business in the same industry or category. To Google, often that tends to look like you're trying to splatter with the map with pins.

2. Creating too many GMB pages for a business that tends to operate as an SAB (whether or not the addresses are hidden), especially if the addresses used to verify those pages are close together, like in the same city. Google wonders why a pest control company, for instance, has 4 "offices" in the same city.

3. Making too many changes at once, including changing the same field back and forth too many times. You'll want to spread out edits.

Keep in mind that a lot of the trouble one runs into is at the hands of attentive (or disgruntled) competitors who send in Google Maps edits that stick. Google itself doesn't pay that much attention and dole out most suspensions spontaneously. More often, Google removes a listing that someone has called its attention to. Most of it is crowdsourced.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

3. Making too many changes at once, including changing the same field back and forth too many times. You'll want to spread out edits.

What @Phil Rozek said.

 

[Oliver Keates]

What @Phil Rozek said.

That’s interesting. So if I were to take on a client when had for example only 20% of the info completed it would be risky to complete the rest of the info all in one go? @Phil Rozek

 

[Phil Rozek]

@Oliver Keates, correct. I'd spread out those additions over at least a couple of days. Maybe longer if the citations are sparse or non-existent. "No sudden moves" is a good SOP.

 

[Oliver Keates]

@Oliver Keates, correct. I'd spread out those additions over at least a couple of days. Maybe longer if the citations are sparse or non-existent. "No sudden moves" is a good SOP.

Awesome good to know. It’s abit of a shame that google doesn’t tell a gmb listing owner these sorts of tips? It’s like you have to make the mistake from inexperience to correct issues even if you follow the guidelines.

 

[Colan Nielsen]

Awesome good to know. It’s abit of a shame that google doesn’t tell a gmb listing owner these sorts of tips? It’s like you have to make the mistake from inexperience to correct issues even if you follow the guidelines.

So very true. This is why I think the defining characteristic of our industry is specialized knowledge. Increasing ones deeper understanding of local search and Google Business Profiles is what will elevate the people and agencies that place a lot of value on it. Pulling levers is great, and needs to be done. But having the highest level of specialized knowledge as possible is where one can continue to increase their value within this industry.