Google has taken punitive action to silence my colleague from editing trails in his local area to better help elderly and disabled people. Google seems to think they know the area better than him and reject his edits and have banned him. Please reach out to me so we can figure this out @Anonymoususer1 . Because we both know this is obviously an error that needs correction.
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Hi @MangoDonald
Google will need to hear from himself by using the appeals form found here.
Cheers
Morten
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Thanks for the help. We’ve tried this together and many days have gone by with no reply. A level 7 guide shouldn’t have to do this much digging to be notified why all their stuff was deleted. Unbelievable how Google treats its guides eh??? Unreal. Give us a reason why he was banned
I have studied hundreds of suspended profiles, and very rarely are suspensions unjustified. Adding paths is unlikely the reason but it depends on the methods used.
I can take a look at his profile. If you want this, please share the maps link to his profile and also, please explain how he has been adding walking trails.
Cheers
Morten
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It would be very helpful if you would use the tagging tool when replying to someone here on Connect. Type @ followed by the username. Type slowly. Then we get an e-mail notification and you are more likely to get a prompt reply. Just hitting Reply does not ensure we get notified by email.
Cheers
Morten
I seen this happen at Level 8+. One’s level doesn’t make much difference.
If a group of trolls flag your edits that may be just enough reason to ban or prevent future edits. So, in a sense these bans are both justified and not justified (in my experience) @MortenCopenhagen
Hi @SandmanT
Edits can not be flagged and they can not be undone. Maybe you meant reviews and photos?
Cheers
Morten
Hmm. I was actually considering edits rather than reviews and photos. I doubt Google gives much attention nowadays to flagging photos and reviews. I’ve flagged thousands, and they all remain, even years later. The most blatant ones are selfies, especially those taken at locations unrelated to the business. Regarding reviews, employee reviews praising their employer/business are among those I’ve flagged in the past.
I’m thinking when a group of trolls initiates alterations to new edits, Google’s algorithm might detect malicious activity against the legitimate editor. So, technically, users might not be able to flag and edit, but the system could flag a user whose edits were consistently reversed.
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Earlier this week, we noticed and reported a severe case of spam photos under a particular lake. The teams reacted swiftly and this morning they are all gone and one of the spammers changed his profile text to something like: It seems we all got shadowbanned. Sure they did. This was prompted by moderators escalating the issues manually.
I have the same feeling that in-app flagging is rarely effective. The best case is that this feedback is used to training or retrain the AI filters. There is room for at lot of improvements on this.
All the best
Morten
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You are correct that users making bad edits can run into heavy sanctions from Google Maps, but this can not be due to flagging as edits are invisible and can not be flagged. This is where the AI filters step in. In rare cases, staff will check and take action.
Cheers
Morten
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I sometimes let the trolls/spammers get under my skin. I’m trying to not let it get to me. It’s a work in progress. Lol.
Currently, I’m embroiled in a frustrating situation where an individual or group persistently alters the edits to a business name, rendering it in all uppercase letters, despite the officially registered name being otherwise. Despite rectifying the name on the storefront and awning and accompanying each correction with pictures, the alterations persist, creating a constant back-and-forth scenario.
Fed up with this ongoing issue, I’ve submitted direct feedback to Google. However, I’m apprehensive that if I persist, Google’s algorithm might penalize me by revoking my status. It happened once before and I successfully appealed.
I know that feeling. And often I suspect the business owners for reverting to ALL CAPS repeatedly.
Are you aware of the redressal form?
Cheers
Morten
@MangoDonald Did you want help?
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Yes, thank you. I was aware. I also used it and the business form link you provided in another thread!
In many parts of the world, particularly in Asia, there’s a common practice of using uppercase for English names. For example, 7-Eleven is often stylized as 7-ELEVEn, with a lowercase “n” at the end.despite the fact 7-Eleven originated in the USA.
@MortenCopenhagen Well. I received a reply as a result of the redress form. The person or bot, claimed they didn’t understand the issue about the name and all caps despite being very clear and attaching screenshots. They just included a bunch of irrelevant links and nothing more.
I was about to reply clarifying the issue when I realized it’s a non-reply email address. Perhaps this is a gray area (name issues) or whatever, but I don’t like this approach they’re taking.
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@MortenCopenhagen Here is the email address: googlebusinessprofile-noreply@google.com
He’s made edits on trails we walk every day. Google kept denying the edits and he kept adding them as that’s what was suggested on another forum post about the edits being rejected. Unban plz