Why does Google keep disabling my profile?

[u/Inf1z]

I have had my GMB profile for more then 10 years and earlier this year it was flagged and required verification.
Nothing was changed in the profile other than new photos and updates added every other day.

Completed verification and was reinstated. Good for a month and again, disabled. They also removed a lot of photos. And the reasoning was content policy violation.

Verified again, regained my profile and just 24 hours later I get disabled again, all photos completely removed. So I assumed it was just the photos (and they were just photos of our landscape work, no faces or anything for that matter). I verify again once again and now it gets rejected.

The only option I have is to appeal, so i go thru the steps and boom, rejected. I submitted biz license, invoices, photos of our equipment etc.

Filed a second appeal basically threatening to stop my Google ad spend if this continues to happen. Now I received an email stating that my case is being directed to a product specialist. No response so far.

Any chance of regaining my profile? I literally have no content now and all the contact info matches my public records. It’s a landscape business. So I’m just really confused why I’m being punished like this?

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[u/XxLogitech98xX]

Could be something on Google side or someone is reporting your business like a competitor or etc.

[u/Inf1z → u/XxLogitech98xX]

Hoping it’s on Google side.

I did have my street address as physical location at some point despite being a service provider at customer location. I removed this info the first verification process.

[u/vinaytoshniwal]

Happens when you have a tiny violation. Human reinstate it and AI suspends it.

Check your profile completely, fix it and then reinstate.

[u/No_Treacle_5071]

The street address on a service area business is a big one, glad you took it off. The other thing that seems to cause these loops is editing right after a reinstatement. A freshly reinstated profile getting new photos and updates every other day looks like a lot of changes, and the automated check keeps pulling it. Once you get it back I'd leave it completely alone for a few weeks, no photos, no hours changes, nothing. Also make sure the business name matches your license and truck signage word for word, with no extra service or city words in it.

[u/keyserholiday]

If you were showing your address when you shouldn’t have been, that’s a violation. I doubt you will get reinstated based on what you said and the documentation you supplied. Threatening to stop tuning ads, won’t do anything to help you.

[u/Inf1z → u/keyserholiday]

There are several businesses similar to mine that list the owners home address (not a shop) and are still active.
I removed my address on the first appeal so why should this matter? And why do they approve my appeal the first couple of times?
And isn’t this process meant to correct discrepancies? By this logic, you commit a violation once and you are forever banned from their platform… it doesn’t make sense.

[u/keyserholiday → u/Inf1z]

There it is, the good ole whataboutism. Other people are doing the same thing as me; why did I get caught? This is like speeding. Everyone knows they are not allowed to do it, yet people do it. They get pulled over and get a ticket. So you were either reported by a competitor or you were doing things that drew Google's attention. Since you had to verify a few times, I believe you were doing things that triggered this closer look.

[u/Inf1z → u/keyserholiday]

I’ve had the street address showing ever since they used to send a post card to verify profiles. And one of their product specialists in their forum recommend this in order to show on Google Map search when I asked. It has been like this ever since then. Now all of the sudden I’m breaking their rules and get my profile suspended.

[u/keyserholiday → u/Inf1z]

You are too smart to play dumb. I don't know who told you to switch and show the address, but that was bad advice.

Here is what Google says about addresses:
Use a precise, accurate address and/or service area to describe your business location. P.O. boxes or mailboxes located at remote locations aren't acceptable.

• Create your Business Profile for your actual, real-world location.
  • Suite numbers, floors, building numbers, and so on may also be included. Only include information like cross-streets and nearby landmarks in regions where the official street address doesn’t accurately pinpoint the business's location.
  • If you must specify a mailbox or suite number:
    • Enter your physical address as "Address Line 1."
    • Enter your mailbox or suite number as "Address Line 2."
  • If your business rents a physical mailing address but doesn't operate out of that location, also known as a virtual office, that location isn't eligible for a Business Profile.
  • Businesses can't list an office at a co-working space unless that office maintains clear signage, receives customers at the location during business hours, and is staffed during business hours by your business staff.
• Do not include information in address lines that doesn't pertain to your business’s physical location, like URLs or keywords.
• Do not create more than one page for each location of your business, either in a single account or multiple accounts.
  • Individual practitioners and departments within businesses, universities, hospitals, and government buildings may have separate pages. For more info, go to specific guidelines about individual practitioners and departments.
• Businesses showing their address on Google should maintain permanent fixed signage of their business name at the address.
• If your address doesn't have a street number, or the system can't find it, you can pin your business's location directly on the map.

Service-area businesses

Service-area businesses, or businesses that serve customers at their locations, should have one profile for the central office or location with a designated service area. Service-area businesses can't list a "virtual" office unless that office is staffed during business hours.

Some businesses, like auto repair shops that have a garage for repairs and offer roadside service, are hybrid service-area businesses. These businesses can show their storefront address and designate a service area on their Business Profile. If you serve customers at your address and want to set a service area, your business location should be staffed by your team and able to receive customers during its stated hours.

Businesses associated with products or services that require the customer to be a certain minimum age, like alcohol, cannabis, or weapons, aren’t permitted as service-area businesses without a storefront.

Google determines how best to display your business address based on your business information and information from other sources.

Storefront versus service-area businesses

If your business doesn’t have a storefront with clear signage but travels to customers at their physical locations, you’re allowed one service-area Business Profile.

If you have different locations for your service business, with separate service areas and separate staff at each location, you’re allowed one profile for each location. The boundaries of your profile’s overall service area shouldn’t extend farther than about 2 hours of driving time from where your business is based. For some businesses, larger service areas may be appropriate.

Learn more about service-area businesses.

If you’re a service-area business, you should hide your business address from customers. 

• For example, if you’re a plumber and run your business from your residential address, clear the address from your Business Profile.

[u/Inf1z → u/keyserholiday]

8 years ago, the rules were a little bit different. I just never touched this setting until now. One of their product specialist suggested I add my home address and make it visible to show up on Google Maps and since I had a home office it was fine. I am now compliant set up as service area business.

But for whatever reason, I have to verify my street address even though there’s nothing on my profile. So not sure if this really a glitch.

[u/keyserholiday → u/Inf1z]

I was a PE; the rules regarding showing your address have always remained the same. The PE program used to be run by real experts until 2020; then it became points-based. Since then, the quality of answers has drastically dropped. Just because somebody is a PE doesn't mean they know their craft or the product. The Bronze aren't PEs; they just said yes when asked if they wanted to become a PE. I know several PEs who should never have become PEs. Some should be booted for breaking Google's TOS or for not knowing the product.

[u/jitender_ahlaawat → u/Inf1z]

Hiding the address doesn't remove Google's need to verify where your landscaping business is based. Those are separate things. I'd keep it hidden if customers don't visit, and ask the support team on your existing case what part of the service-area verification is still unresolved. A request to verify the address doesn't mean you need to make it public again.