Unable to Recover Rankings After Suspension?

[KymM]

We've noticed two things happening recently. The first is that several of our listings are getting suspended out of nowhere recently. Getting them reinstated isn't difficult because there was no reason they should be suspended in the first place. However, after getting reinstated, we've noticed we have been unable to recover our rankings. In the past, we have seen rankings return almost immediately after reinstatement for suspended listings. Now, our listings have dropped dozens of spots, or don't show up at all. These are listings that used to rank in the top three, with years of history, hundreds of reviews, in compliance with all of Google's guidelines, etc. Our clients are desperate and upset, and we cannot find any reason they shouldn't go back to their top rankings.
Has anyone else experienced this? Is Google just punishing listings that have been suspended now? Or are we missing something?

 

[JoyHawkins]

How long has it been since they were reinstated and are they service area business listings or do they have a map pin?

 

[KymM]

How long has it been since they were reinstated and are they service area business listings or do they have a map pin?

It's happened to multiple businesses. There was one several months ago, one in early May, one just last week. All service area businesses. We figured maybe the first one was a fluke, and maybe we haven't given the one from last week enough time, but it seems like a pattern is developing.

 

[JoyHawkins]

Service area businesses have a 2 week period after a reinstatement before their rankings come back. May is a lot longer than 2 weeks though so it sounds like it's possible they created a new listing instead of reinstating the old one?

 

[KymM]

Service area businesses have a 2 week period after a reinstatement before their rankings come back. May is a lot longer than 2 weeks though so it sounds like it's possible they created a new listing instead of reinstating the old one

I guess it's possible, although it seems unlikely that's happened several times. Also all of the reviews, photos, etc are still there?
The one from May also had a duplicate merged into it around the same time, so that might also be affecting it.
Especially the one from a few months back though, we cannot figure out what's going on or how to help it. It seems like a pattern so I was curious if anyone else had noticed this. It's concerning (for us) if we're the only ones experiencing this.

 

[MLane]

You noted that "The one from May also had a duplicate merged into it".
The issue is with the merge. Google did not perform it correctly.
Google merged the primary profile into the duplicate, and then moved the reviews over to the duplicate. The remaining profile may have the reviews on it, but it is still the duplicate profile which does not have the ranking that the primary profile had.
We have had the same issue with several merges. We have requested support reinstate the primary profile, but no response yet, much less resolution.

 

[JoyHawkins]

I've seen that scenario before as well where they do the merge wrong and rankings don't stay the same. The crappy thing is that there is no way to undo a merge but usually we do see rankings eventually rebound, it just takes a few months based on the cases I've tracked.

 

[virens]

Service area businesses have a 2 week period after a reinstatement before their rankings come back. May is a lot longer than 2 weeks though so it sounds like it's possible they created a new listing instead of reinstating the old one?

I've got one that's very similar that has disappeared for just over 2 weeks now.

The answer I got in the forum didn't mention the 2 weeks - that's useful to know.

Profile reinstated a week ago but not appearing in local search results - Google Business Profile Community

Annoying to say the least - suspect I might lose the customer as a result, and their business has taken a worrying dip. They had the budget for me to manage their profile, but they haven't got enough budget to run Google Ads.

Sadly, the fact it's not ranking for anything yet is ridiculous given Google took the blame for the incorrect suspension... the business has been damaged for no reason whatsoever.

 

[Ana]

We've noticed two things happening recently. The first is that several of our listings are getting suspended out of nowhere recently. Getting them reinstated isn't difficult because there was no reason they should be suspended in the first place. However, after getting reinstated, we've noticed we have been unable to recover our rankings. In the past, we have seen rankings return almost immediately after reinstatement for suspended listings. Now, our listings have dropped dozens of spots, or don't show up at all. These are listings that used to rank in the top three, with years of history, hundreds of reviews, in compliance with all of Google's guidelines, etc. Our clients are desperate and upset, and we cannot find any reason they shouldn't go back to their top rankings.
Has anyone else experienced this? Is Google just punishing listings that have been suspended now? Or are we missing something?

They are being suspended for a Google reason, if you are unable to recover your rankings then something negative has been seen by Google. I guess it may be the opposite colour of white hat but need to verify with your URL

 

[Blueviolet38]

One of my SAB listings was reinstated on September 15th but the ranks are lower for sure. It's quite frustrating; the only thing that changed is the hours.

I'll wait for another few weeks before making any changes I think.