A number of local SEOs are noticing a lift in the number of suspensions they are dealing with in Google Business Profiles. Many local SEOs are reporting that they are dealing with these suspensions and reinstatements more often now than before.
This comes by way of the Local Search Forum where a number of these local SEOs are complaining about this.
Here are some of those complaints:
Syed Amir wrote:
Lately, I’ve been noticing a significant spike in Google Business Profile suspensions across multiple accounts I manage. These suspensions seem to be happening more frequently than usual, and I haven’t identified any clear pattern yet. Is anyone else experiencing the same issue?
Kurt Steinbrueck responded:
I have. It seems almost every new GBP we create gets suspended within a couple of days and we've seen some suspensions after edits. In each case, I've appealed the suspension with documentation, and the GBP has gotten reinstated, and I didn't make any changes to the GBP info.
Another responded:
Yes. The humans at Google must have released updates to feed their AI algos. Five smb's approached us about their suspended Google Business Profiles. 2 reinstated, 3 more to go.
Professor M replied:
This month, I’ve seen a noticeable increase in clients needing reinstatement for suspended GBPs, which likely means the Spam and Quality Team has made some tweaks to the algorithm.
So keep this in mind, maybe don't make too many edits now on your local business profile. You might not want to trigger a suspension.
Forum discussion at Local Search Forum.
Update: Mike Blumenthal from Near Media tracks suspensions closely and sent me this chart showing the rate of suspensions by month as reported in the forum. The methodology tends to undercount the actual suspensions mentioned in the forum but is directionally accurate view of them over time:
