Google announced yesterday that businesses that have not logged into their "Google My Business" account risk losing their verification status.
Google’s representative, Jade Wang, stated:
"In some cases, we may contact Google My Business users via email to confirm that they are still actively managing a business page. If a user is unresponsive to our attempts to contact them and has not logged into Google My Business for a significant length of time, we may unverify pages in the account. We’re doing this to continue to provide users with the best experience when they’re looking for local businesses. If you find that a page in your account has been incorrectly unverified, please contact support to restore verification.
It’s a good idea to keep an eye on the inbox associated with your Google My Business account. It’s also wise to regularly log into Google My Business to confirm that your business information is current and accurate."
Additionally, Matt McGee reported that Brian Barwig of Integrated Digital Marketing shared a phone conversation with Google, during which a representative mentioned that pages with no "action" for six months can become unverified. Barwig discovered this issue when several of his business listings were disconnected.
Brian also noted:
"I think anyone managing listings in Google My Business accounts needs to make sure to log in and update and/or post at least once every six months, or the account will be unverified by Google. Once the listing is re-verified, the Google representative told me the listing was good to go. Typically there’s a six-month process after verification where Google wants to ensure the account and business are real. The account shouldn’t revert to this status once already verified, though I can’t be sure."
The takeaway? Though many marketers are hesitant to use Google+ as a marketing channel, it remains important to keep your business information up-to-date and engage on the platform.
Feature image screenshot taken June 2015
