However, while I am immeasurably relieved the suspended listing was reinstated, what has not been reinstated as of April 19, 2019, are the 118 reviews - not all good, not all bad - but each one reflecting our clients' opinions of the work we have done for them (our aggregate review score was 4.5, which we consider something to be proud of in our sector).

Our team has worked very hard over the past five years or so to achieve this GMB review score; we go the extra mile for our clients, and we are responsive to their complaints. We see every bad review as a teachable moment, and every good review as a marketing opportunity. In short, we value GMB as an insightful analytic tool to measure our customer relations.

It's extraordinarily frustrating that we are now in this position, and the reassurances I have received thus far from Google's GMB support team (it's a technical issue, we cannot tell you how long it will take to resolve, but your reviews are not lost) are not very helpful.

The fact we had no warning a suspension was coming was bad enough. Obviously if we had been afforded the opportunity to take whatever curative measure were required in advance, all of this could have been avoided. I suspect this lack of warning is because the suspension is algorithmic, and an essentially automated process (thinking through this, understanding the obvious need to police listings that violate policies or TOS, if the algorithm is about to strike, it could generate an automated time-sensitive warning affording an opportunity to cure before suspension). What really irks is the apparent disconnect between the GMB listing and the reviews. 

Reading prior concerns expressed by others in a similar posture, I understand reviews and listings exist on separate databases, and that re-connection can take some time, but giving us more transparency as to the speed of the re-linkage between the listing database and the review database hardly seems beyond reason, and would go a long way towards making those of us who are honest and diligent in our marketing efforts using Google platforms feel like we are respected and valued.

I suspect some of our competitors, who do a very high volume of business, engage in the purchase of GMB reviews using fake accounts from nefarious agencies. I've seen their review numbers rise in a way that is deeply implausible given the market segment we all occupy. When these dishonest competitors are effectively rewarded as a result of an algorithmic 'punishment' meted out without warning to those of us who toe an ethical line its a real kick in the teeth. 

Okay, enough venting. 

If GMB review re-linkage with GMB listings can be expedited after reinstatement of a suspended listing, it would be a very, very good thing. 

Thanks!