Google Clarifies that Sharing Confidential Information is Against GMB Guidelines

Google just added a paragraph under the “Business Description” section in the Google My Business Guidelines that reads:

Note: We do not allow content that contains private or confidential information such as personal financial information, government-issued IDs, contact information linked/associated with a name, sensitive records, images, transcripts or links that contain personal information. We also do not allow solicitation of the above information through local posts/merchant description other than user’s own name, email and phone number.

This isn’t really a new policy change since I’ve seen multiple cases where Google removes this type of information from reviews, posts, and Q&A.  Regardless, it’s always great to see them clarify and help users understand what content is against their guidelines.

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Joy Hawkins

Owner at Sterling Sky Inc

Joy is the owner of the Local Search Forum, LocalU, and Sterling Sky, a Local SEO agency in Canada & the USA. She has been working in the industry since 2006. She writes for publications such as Search Engine Land and enjoys speaking regularly at marketing conferences such as MozCon, LocalU, Pubcon, SearchLove and State of Search. You can find her on Twitter or volunteering as a Product Expert on the Google My Business Forum.

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