Google Live Video Verification: Explained

Welcome to Local SEO in 10. This is your GoToPodcast for answers about how you can grow your local business online, easily and quickly, brought to you by Local SEO Experts' magnified media in Walnut Creek, California. In each 10-minute episode, our digital marketing expert Adam Durand answers your questions on how you can get more leads for your business fast. Remember, if you're not taking care of this part of your business right now, you can bet your competitors are. And now, here's our host with the questions, Jamie Durand, and our expert with the answers, Adam Durand. Hello, Adam. Woo! Hey, Jamie, how are you? All right. How's your week on? It's going good. I just got back from a live Google video verification. So I thought, hey, that'd be a great topic for an episode. All right. Yeah, I have you. So what happens when your Google business profile gets suspended, many times Google will require a video verification. And that's one where you just go through your office and take one continuous video. You submit it to Google and then they can approve it or not approve it. If they don't approve it many times, they will schedule or they will put a notice on your Google business profile that you as the owner only can see. And it'll say you need to do to click here to schedule a live video verification with a Google person. That's what we did this morning. And so today, why this is important, obviously, because once if you are in one of the industries that Google has is known to be very careful with, like, say garage doors or whatever locksmith or today was a mold remediation company. These kind of companies, many times Google will force them to do these kind of advanced verifications. And so it's really important that you prepare for this call because you only get a couple chances to do this and it can be pretty stressful, especially if you don't have everything lined up and you're mentally prepared because you have a lot of pressure, right? This could break your businesses online presence before it's even started. Okay. All right. So if you want to pass this test at the first time and avoid any delays, this episode is exactly what you need. All right. Here we go. So what we had to do before we set up this call on our phones, you know, I have a, we have an iPhone. You have to have or I, these are all things that you don't have to do, but I recommend you do. Okay. So I recommend you get the Chrome browser. I recommend that when you do that, you log in to your Google business profile on that Chrome browser. Make sure you're logged in because it's important. The other part is you're going to have to download Google Meet on your phone, another app that will allow you to kind of like zoom, that'll allow you to do the video verification that call that live call with that Google rep. You must also log in to that app using the same login that you're using for your Google business profile. Okay. Yeah. This can be a major stumbling block. It can be a non starter if you don't have this. So the other thing you need to have on your desktop computer, you need to be logged into that Google business profile as well. So at the end of the verification, they're going to ask you to do that. So you should get that ready because once again, if you can't remember your password, we're going to have a problem. Okay. So I've done these before and all of these password things when the owner is going, I don't know. I don't know. And we're on the call with Google. Yeah. Little stressful for everybody because we're at the finish line. Okay. Anyway, first thing during the call, Jamie, they're going to, you're going to log in to your Google business profile. You're going to click on start this video call now. You're going to get into a queue that queue could be 10, 15, 20 minutes long. It'll tell you your position in line. It'll tell you when that's going to, you know, as the, your position, just like if you're buying concert tickets or something, it'll tell you how when you're, you know, at the poll position, when they answer, they're going to say, they're going to ask you some questions to verify who you are. And then they're going to say, okay, here is a link to the Google Meet link that we're going to, this meeting that we're going to set up. Click on that link. Open up in Google Meet and right away, the person on the other end is going to be asking you for to turn your camera around. So that way it's pointing outwards. And then they're going to tell you to go to certain places in your office. So the first thing they're going to say is go outside, show us your sign that's outside of your business. We're going to take a screenshot of that date. I can imagine anyway in Google had HQ where they're back, this person is back there. They need to be able to drag and drop these photos into whatever verification, you know, document they are creating for you. So that way they can backstop what they're doing. So they're going to ask you, okay, hey, how is that sign attached? So you should have an answer. You shouldn't say, you know, chewing gum, say something like, you know, some super strong adhesive that if I try and rip that sign off, it's going to destroy whatever it's on. Something like that, just to show that it's permanent, okay? So make sense, I think make, they're going to ask you to line your, your video camera up. So it's looking at it face ahead on. Let them do that. The next thing they're going to ask is take us to your office where you have your tools or some kind of stock room where maybe you have buckets or garage door parts or whatever. Go there and then they will do the same thing. They're going to say, okay, let us pan around the room and then they'll say, okay, we're going to take a photo of what you just showed me. So step back. So we'll do that. Then they're all the next thing they're going to say, okay, show us your break room. Boom. The break room, it's a, I guess, yeah, it's a vital component of every office. And yeah, so they're going to want to see that break room. So show them that. That was a, that was a curveball today. That was the first time I've been asked to see a break room. Luckily no problem. We had one next bathroom. What? Yeah. Yeah. They want to see the bathroom. They didn't want to see inside the bathroom. They wanted to see a, you know, private restroom or men or women or whatever. They want to see at least the door to the restroom. They didn't ask for a screenshot of it, but just understand that, yeah, you, you know, you're going to have to show them your bathroom. Crazy, right? Yes. I thought so too. But whatever. I am the messenger here as I tell my kids on the daily when they're younger. All right. They're going to say, okay, show us the desk of an employee and an employee working at that desk. So you're going to go, oh, hey, Sheila, sit down there, act like you're at that, you know, working. And then you're going to take a screenshot or they will take a screenshot of Sheila, busy at work at the desk. Okay. This sounds all, sounds like you're going to do it all in AI. I don't know because you're talking to the person. It's your face on the phone. And yeah, you can't, I guess an AI could be the person on the other end of the phone call was not AI. She was very not sure. All right. So understand that this is, you know, they're building a case, right? They want to backstop that you're actually doing business out there. The business exists. People are working there. It's not a fake setup. So every screenshot or place that they're taking screenshots, that supports that. All right. So finally, they're going to say, okay, now take us over to a computer and log into your Google business profile. And we're going to make an edit on that Google business profile together. And so then for us today, they just updated our address. We click submit and then she said, okay, give me a few minutes and then I will be right back. So that was a few tens of minutes because of course, at any moment, these phone calls can be disconnected. And that's why I had to go in today and do this one was because that's what happened to the client. Like they got halfway through and we're disconnected. And then they went back to restart the call and it said, this option is no longer available. It's just pretty stressed. All right. Not that kind of me. Anyway, all right. So what actually got us approved? So it was a real location. Obviously we had permanent signage. We have an active workspace. We had a store room. We had tools of the trade around there. We had staff present. We had signage inside the actual location. And we also showed the ability to access-- to access, sorry-- access and update the Google Business Profile. What probably would have caused failure, obviously, if the call cuts out, or the signage wasn't permanent looking, the office was completely empty. There weren't any employees present. There wasn't any real equipment, or they couldn't even-- they had problems accessing the Google Business Profile and desktop. I think all of those-- any of those could have failed us. And that would have sucked, right? So biggest takeaways, right? This is not just a show your office call. It's kind of a credibility audit. Are you really doing business there? And they're documenting everything. So before you do this call, make sure that you have these check boxes that you're able to check all of these boxes beforehand. So that way, you're not floundering. Google's trying to confirm that you're a real business in a real place, doing real work. So if you can prove that clearly, then you're going to pass this. It's not that big of a deal. However, like I said, things happen. So preparing for this, show me your bathroom one. That threw me for a curved ball because I was like, I don't know where the bathroom is. You're hold on. And so that-- but we had a bathroom, obviously. So no problem. Wow. All right, Jamie, any questions? Who? Why the bathroom? I don't know. I'm a messenger. Whatever. Next up to that, and I mean, wow. And then so many businesses are distributed, right? So it's so odd that these are the type of businesses that are getting approved. But when you do any Google search and then the free businesses that you'll have of them have been approved by Google, and there's no way that there was a real businesses. Or at a real location. Real locations, exactly. Once again, Jamie, I am the messenger in this situation. I know there are tons of UPS stories and post office box stores on Google. They're not supposed to be in a-- Or in a middle of a field. Yes, I've seen those too. I have no answers for you other than when you are singled out for this kind of live video verification. For the owner, it is super stressful, right? This is not their wheelhouse. They need to spend time actually working their business, not working on their business. So I know it can be really frustrating, but definitely it's something that when it happens, you should take it very seriously. Because if you're not on Google, that means you're also not going to be on chat GPT. These other places, they all key off of that Google business profile. So that is-- it is vital, absolutely vital. And just understand that once you do this in all likelihood, you will never, ever, ever have to do it again. Until you move. As long as you're at that address-- For you, you have to do location. You'll never have to do it again, which is awesome. So-- Interesting. That's all, Jamie. All right? Yeah, that was really good. And thank you for taking us through your walkthrough. Are you able to post any short videos on this so people can see? No. All right, can you be able to put all of the different photos that they asked for in the show notes? I can. Yes. OK, great. I would be very-- Gotcha. We got to. Thank you very much. Very informative and very helpful. Because yeah, there's nothing-- nothing more frustrating than doing all of that. And they said, yeah, you're not approved. So-- Oh, yes. We don't buy it. But where you get disconnected in the middle-- Oh, my god. That's intense. OK. If you enjoyed this podcast and you have a business, feel free to give us five stars wherever you are listening to it. And then also go to our website-- Magnum-- I'm sorry-- [email protected]. Go to the podcast button, click in this search term of Google, on-site videos, and James's are. There's two or three podcasts. Each one has different information because Google keeps evolving. And so Adam keeps updating the information. And then also, if you know of any other business owners, share this podcast out with them. It's really helpful information that they can use to get more out of their internet presence. And then lastly, when you're at [email protected], go ahead and subscribe to our newsletter. Adam's putting a lot of work into that. And the membership is growing. And you don't want to miss out on anything that Adam has to say in there. So very, very helpful. With that, we'll talk to you next week. Thanks, Adam. That's all for now. Thanks for listening to this episode of Local SEO in 10, with Google Local Marketing Expert, Adam Durand. Join us each week for answers to your questions on how to best harness the power of the internet to grow your business. Speaking of questions, got some? Messages us through our Facebook page, Local SEO in 10. And we'll be sure to give you your answer on an upcoming episode. This episode of Local SEO in 10 is brought to you by Magnified Media, the leading online marketing agency in Northern California, who invite you to grow your business by magnifying your online visibility and credibility. Visit them on the web at www.magnifiedmedia.com. Magnify your business. Magnify your profits.