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Google Business Profile Now Penalises Misuse of Its Support Channels

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The Google character, in its four-colour cap, holds up a red card like a football referee towards a worried plain white character carrying a tall stack of forms, the top one reading COMPLAINT.
Repeated unfounded complaints through Business Profile support channels can now get all further complaints rejected. Illustration: AI-generated.

Google has added a “Misuse of support channels” section to its Business Profile third-party policies. It names “False or misleading reports” and “Reports made in bad faith” as unfounded complaints, and warns: “Repeated unfounded submissions can result in rejection of all further complaints without assessment.” The section addresses “all Google Business Profile users”, not only agencies. Search Engine Roundtable reported it on 29 September 2026.

Google does not say which forms the policy covers. Its documented support routes include:

  • Reporting a review that breaks Google’s content policies, with one appeal if the report is rejected. A negative review alone is not grounds for removal.
  • The Business Redressal Complaint Form, for business names, phone numbers or websites on Maps that suggest fraud.
  • The appeals tool, for a suspended profile or rejected content.
  • An ownership request, when someone else holds the verified profile for your business.

Submit each complaint once, with the evidence attached, rather than resubmitting until something sticks. Google does not define “repeated” or “unfounded”, or say whether a rejection applies to one profile, one user or a whole agency account, so assume the broad reading.

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