As a majority of the world now knows, President Donald Trump has contracted the coronavirus or COVID-19. There is a lot of speculation that Trump and countless others were exposed to COVID at a superspreader event held in the Rose Garden at the White House on Saturday, Sept. 26. At this writing, there are 25 affected individuals — and counting. To say that this should never have happened is a massive understatement. The Trump administration has played a dangerous game of Russian Roulette by repeatedly ignoring the guidelines to wear a mask and keep a six-feet distance between individuals. It is believed that Trump knew that he was sick but continued to travel to Minnesota and come into contact with many others along the way.
Trump and the White House getting COVID-19 is a perfect metaphor for Google My Business and the suspensions it imposes. A lot of people also like to play fast and loose with Google’s TOS. I have witnessed internet marketers refer to bending the rules by adding keywords to the business name or create fake listings as marketing. While Google doesn’t always catch and suspend a GMB listing, there are times that they do. Businesses continue to break the guidelines daring to be caught and suspended. Google eventually catches up to them. A business can be reported by a competitor, a marketing company, or caught in a Google sweep.
Business owner Ivan Kasozi recently had his GMB listing suspended, and Google is preventing his reinstatement until he fixes the business name. Kasozi argued it was not fair that he got busted when his competitors had not. Just like COVID-19 and the Rose Garden superspreader event, not everyone gets hit. Mr. Kasozi now must adhere to Google’s TOS, fix his name, or he will not be able to get reinstated. Time will tell if Kasozi properly updates his GMB title and is able to get reinstated. Ignoring my advice or continuing to agrue, won’t work in this case.
Not all marketing advice is sound
While there are many people instructing businesses on how to stay safe and adhere to Google’s TOS, there are others that continue to advise their clients to break the rules. These people are doing their clients a significant disservice and are placing their client’s businesses in harm’s way. We all know that when we drive in our car that we need to obey the speed limit. A vast majority of people do. Others don’t. Those drivers run the risk of getting a speeding ticket. The difference is, Google may suspend and remove the listing until the infraction is resolved or make it permanent — and it can have a devastating effect on the businesses’ ability to make money. Just like COVID, a vast majority of people get better. Not everyone is as lucky, and they are killed by it.
If you are a business owner or a marketing company, it is imperative that you read and fully understand all of Google’s TOS. You also need to know the laws governing deceptive marketing. The business in question will ultimately be on the hook in case of a lawsuit, redress from the FTC, or GMB suspension. That is no different than wearing a mask or practicing social distancing. A GMB suspension could hurt a business or, worse, prevent the company from ever appearing on Google again. If you are a marketer, don’t be like Trump and put others in your care at risk.