I am not in league with a mind reader, and blanket cover all rejection notices are utterly useless. It is just not good enough. Are we supposed to spend the next 5 years finding out exactly what is wrong by trial and error?

I own two distinct businesses that share one website, but which have two different business locations. Simple enough you would think, but it would seem not.

In fact I have come to the conclusion that mighty Google is perhaps too mighty and high handed, and it is perhaps time to use other search engines.

If enough of us start to change our web usage then perhaps we will have an improved service. It really is that bad.

What really bothers me is that if you are in your Google Places management area, all listings that I manage, still show as active!

Clicking the link “see your listing on Google Maps” reveals whether or not it is actually active.

I am very familiar with their guidelines and am in compliance, but have many ads in Google Limbo.

My guess was right. I deleted one of my locations giving the error, edited the one that had the best traffic, and voila, I was able to save one of my stores. But it asked me to move my marker, which I did. Then I had to re verify this location (which BTW Google has created its own listing that clusters data from my live “owner verified listing”, making the owner listing weaker since it steals data). And when I did, I lost a lot of ranking for that listing.

Google Local/Places has hurt my business more than any single thing. With organic, I did fine. Now, I’ll be humming along, then boom, the phone stops. Then I go online, and sure enough some other new Places error, or Google creates like three or four “owner verified” listings, and I am biting nails wondering when I get suspended again for duplicate listings I did not even create.

Then it was verified today by this blog post . Yup, somehow I was being penalized. Shoot, I can’t even advertise one of my store locations.

And as for adwords. It is clear that SEO companies and competitors click these ads till your budget is exhausted. Places is the new organic search, adwords unreliable. Places needs to sell sponsor placards. Places allows reported spam to remain for months on end.

Data does not merge. Data splits into two or more listings. Account can be suspended for claiming Google created listings. No clear answers. Very frustrated Panzermike today.

Why if Google Places haS decided that they do not ‘support my location’ and have now suspended my account but I can still synchronise my listing with my Google Adword campaign?

It doesn’t make any sense.

Something stinks with this whole setup. What Google are basically saying is that as long as I’m paying for the privelege I can get my listing available on Google maps, but since Google Places is free I can GTF?

Anyone have any views on this blatant hypocrisy being orchestrated by Google?

The thing that drives me crazy with the Do-Not-Support message is that I’ve had to conclude that Google has this text set as some type of default error message, almost like a 404 error page. I encounter it frequently just looking up businesses that are definitely supported…sometimes even claimed. I’ll be looking for the phone number of some local business I’ve previously found in G Maps, only to be given this message. Then, sometimes, if I keep inputting my search, the listing magically appears again. It’s mighty buggy. And yes, the vagueness of the copy irks me. One customizes one’s 404 error page to be as specific as possible. Wish Google would do the same with their own error pages.

On the other hand, maybe the cities and counties would be willing to pay Google for such a solution. How many non-licensed operators would have to get a city license were this the case. lol

“This message does not comply with our policy of allowed terms” – and listings get disapproved, while others, exactly the same (because of feed data) do get approved. It looks like the ones being disapproved are in conflict with (non validated) listings of the business already in maps.

Googlespeak indeed