Local SEOs are reporting a noticeable rise in Google Business Profile (GBP) suspensions. Many professionals say they are now dealing with suspensions and reinstatement requests more often than before. Suspensions are one slice of a bigger picture. The rest of the numbers on how businesses use these profiles sit in our Google Business facts and statistics. Sorting one out starts with naming the exact listing you mean. Finding your Business Profile ID gives you that. Clean, complete profile details matter more when suspensions are this common. Our walkthrough on optimizing a Google Business Profile covers what to get right.
This trend was highlighted in a discussion on the Local Search Forum where several SEOs shared their experiences.
What SEOs Are Saying:
- Syed Amir mentioned that he has seen a sudden spike in GBP suspensions across multiple accounts he manages. He could not identify a clear reason behind it.
- Kurt Steinbrueck shared that almost every new GBP they create gets suspended within a few days. Some profiles even get suspended after making simple edits. He noted that appeals often lead to reinstatement without making any changes to the profile.
- Another forum member commented that “the humans at Google must have updated something to feed their AI algorithms,” adding that five small businesses approached them for help with suspensions, of which two were reinstated while three were still pending.
- Professor M added that the number of clients needing reinstatements has increased this month, suggesting that Google’s Spam and Quality Team may have tweaked the algorithm.
Key Takeaway:
Local SEOs advise businesses to be cautious about making too many edits to their GBP listings at the moment, as unnecessary changes could trigger suspensions.
In addition, Mike Blumenthal from Near Media shared a chart tracking monthly suspension reports on the forum. While the data may slightly undercount the total cases, it clearly shows an upward trend in suspensions over time.
