As a digital marketer and SEO person, I control and create tons of Google My Business profiles so my clients can be found on Google Maps. As of a couple of months ago, I have had no problems with Google My Business and was a big supporter for businesses to get one and maintain them. Recently, my tune has changed. I have multiple businesses that I manage going under suspension out of nowhere and with no explanation. Naturally, I contacted Google thinking this was a mistake, but Google My Business support informed me that they have no information and cannot help me, and they directed me to complete a GMB reinstatement request form.

I complete the Google My Business reinstatement request form with no information about why I had to fill this form out. To make things better they state that it will take 3 weeks or more for someone from that team to reach out to me. I explained that I can’t wait that long and I wanted to talk to a manager. They said that I can not talk to a manager and the only thing I can do is complete a reinstatement request form. Because I have no other option, I completed the form and waited. While I wait my clients are losing business by the day because their Google My Business page has been completely taken off Google. In the meantime, I read tons of forms that show there are thousands of other business owners in the same position as I am, and they have no idea why their business was put into suspension and no one will answer their questions.

3 weeks pass and I finally get two generic emails about two businesses I manage being suspended. One of them states that my Google My Business page has been reinstated and is live now. Of course, I go and check and yes, the GMB page is live on google maps. However, my Google my Business dashboard still shows it is suspended. The other google my business said that it is still suspended for breaking the guidelines. Both emails don’t say which Google My Business they are talking about or any details of why it was suspended in the first place. Below is an example of the email contents.

Now I am completely fed up with this Google My Business Suspension process and I need answers. I call Google support and say I need to speak to someone about my Google My Business Accounts and I am not going to fill out any more reinstatement forms. This Google support person is willing to talk to me for the first time in almost a month of no help or explanation from Google.

She finally explains the reason why my Google my business account was suspended and got rejected was because my client’s office is in a virtual office building. To be able to take the suspension off my client's account I need to take a picture of the outside of the office with a sign of her business. Mind you she is working is a multi-business building and they don’t allow signs on the outside of the building. After taking the picture of the business sign and uploading to their Google My Business account then Google Support wants me to complete another reinstatement form and wait another 3 weeks for the quality assurance team to email me back. This is absolutely absurd, and my client’s business is suffering because of this idiotic process.

Now, I ask more information about his quality assurance team the Google support person explains that this is a new and expanded team that is checking all Google My Business accounts especially ones that are making changes and if they find any discrepancies they can suspend your GMB account with no explanation and you have to complete a form and call Google support just to figure out what the heck is going on. I have been working with Google Support since 2009 and I have never seen such a poor process or support from Google in all those years. I am not talking about just Google My Business products I am also talking Google Ads as well. Their service and knowledge have dropped drastically over the past year to two years and now I am telling all my clients to be cautious using Google products or not to use them at all if you have that option.

In conclusion, The Google My Business suspensions that are happening to thousands of businesses is not a bug, which is what I first thought. This is the new way of business for Google and I doubt it is going to get better especially because they have outsourced all their support to India and they truly don’t care about you or your business.

Because there is no way around this horrible process, I suggest doing the steps below.

1. Complete the Google My Business Reinstatement Form

2. Wait 3 weeks or more

3. Once you receive an email from the quality assurance team with out of suspension you should be find

4. If you receive an email from the Google My Business Quality Assurance team with your business is still in suspension call the Google My Business support team

5. Have the Google My Business Support team explain why you are still in suspension

6. Take their recommendations and implement them on your Google My Business Page

7. Re-Complete the Google My Business Reinstatement Form

8. Wait another 3 weeks and if they reject you again do steps 4-7 again.

Unfortunately, there is nothing more you can do when your business has been suspended on GMB because at the end of the day Google does not care and the feel you have violated their guidelines.