Google Account Suspension
Just the other day, I had been changing my logo and was trying to add the new one to all my social media accounts. Who would have though it would have ended with a Google account suspension?
I feel I should tell you about the events leading up to this just to make sure you know where I had been coming from during this escapade.
Bing Sitemap XML
I had been listening to a training video for our 4th month of task for the Super Wealthy Affialte Challenge and realized I hadn't set up a Bing sitemap XML.
I proceeded to Bing to get it set up. No matter what I would do, I received an error each time I submitted it.
I contacted support, sent them pictures and everything. I had been advised to delete it and start all over. I would do, this several times.
After continuing to get this error message I contacted support again. This time they deleted the site map and issued another one. YAY! Bing is now set up with no errors.
Could It Have Been 404 Error?
In my attempt to update my logo on my social media sites I must have had the wrong sizes for them.
In order to have the logo fit right on each social media page I had been having to crop and resize the image.
I made it through updating one of my Facebook pages and was working on my Google + account.
Having to crop and resize it to fit was really aggravating, especially when I had discovered what I thought to be the sizes to have perfect fits.
I used custom sizes in Canva in order to create the logo for each social media site. That is it became aggravating.
Why am I having to redo them when they are supposed to be the right size, right of the bat. Now that I had been already aggravated, all of a sudden this message that says "error 404 oops this page can't be found, that's all we know" pops up.
I automatically go to my email to look and see if I got an email. I opened it and clicked on the link to fix the issues it says that it found,
The picture below shows a little of what I seen.
Right after I go into my Google + account I get a message saying my account had been suspended. No email about it either.
At this point I am livid. I am one of the most honest individual and would never purposely break any policy, rule or law.
I of course asked around in Wealthy Affiliate and was advised to check with Google forum. I had been not able to get any answers.
I assured them my account was compliant with their policy and that I have never even received a warning from them.
I was lucky enough to come across a link to where I was able to submit an appeal, while I had been searching for answers in their many forums.
Back To Site Support
I am not a technological person by any means. So I of course turn to site support once again. Hey they were able to fix my issue with Bing, maybe they can help.
I messaged them and let them know what was going on and asked if the site map might have caused the issue.
The answer was no and that I needed to discuss my account suspension with Google. Hmm been there and tried that.
Now it was time for me to go to bed and I have no answers. I have just been told that cropping mages shouldn't create a 404 error and that my Bing sitemap wasn't the cause.
I had dealt with this issue ALL DAY and couldn't believe that I happened and I don't even know why.
Early Morning Surprise
I get up the next day, get my girls up for school and get them on the bus. The first thing I do is grab my laptop and try to log in to my Google + account.
And guess what? It works. I don't know if I am excited or pi$$ed off. How the heck is this possible?
What the heck just happened and how or why? I had no answers but yet my Google + account was working and so was my Bing sitemap.
I wasn't sure if this was the way I wanted to start my morning or not. Being excited and mad at the same time wasn't a good feeling.
I have no clue what caused my account to get suspended or what caused the cropped pictures to produce a 404 code (or even if they did) or why my original sitemap wouldn't work.
What I do know is that even though I don't have the answers, everything is working properly and I am back on the good side of Google.
Moral of the story?
I wasted an entire day on something not in my control, all because I wanted answers. Was this wrong of me? Probably.
Would I do it again? Probably not. Anytime we are faced with issues beyond our control, we should accept it and move on.
I didn't do that. I wasted valuable time trying to find answers to something that was evidently out of my control.
I could have finished adding my new logo to the other social media accounts as well as on my website. Instead, I spent the day chasing my tail, so to speak.
I would love to know your thoughts on this as well as if anyone else has had an experience similar to this.
How did you deal with it? How would you deal with it?
Best Of Luck In All You Do
Lee Ann
If you are creating your logo for your Google + account, you need to get it RIGHT the first time.
My account has been suspended once again for trying to fix my logo. They are conseidering it spam. I have a few words to say about this but I am keeping this PG.
How do we NOT have the right to fix our own image/Logo? I made no changes to my name url account. It Is my IMAGE I created it. It doesn't fit my entire logo. I want to fix it as it is my reputation in that profile. EEERRRGGGG I am so #%^(*^$## right now!
Have a great day : )
I just wanted to let y'all know in case you decide to try and change your image or logo.
Lee Ann
Recent Comments
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Hi, Lee Ann. I understand how frustrated you must have been. I had a situation when I was working on the first level of the certification course.
I had my article written and the images added, as directed by Kyle, but Site Content just would NOT allow me to publish the edited posts.
I went around and around with Site Support because I am so low tech, I did not understand what they were telling me to do.
Finally, they gave up and told me to edit my already published posts in WordPress instead of Site Content. That worked perfectly.
Glad you got your problem solved.
Carol
I haven't had similar situation in WA but dealing with things that are completely out of my control doctor's, insurance, government. These are things that DIRECLY effect me, they play with my income, my health, and life yet I'm supposed to do nothing. I agree with you that just sitting back and waiting patiently for the mess to straighten out is hard but spending all day trying to straighten it out is sometimes useless also. Long story short, I feel your pain. I am glad it worked out for you!!
Tried and True
Elaine
I.m sorry Elaine. You have it worse than I do. That is for sure.
In your case I think the phrase "you have to pick your battles" best fits.
There are times when we have no choice but to sit back and wait then there are times when we have to fight tooth and nail.
I hope you win more of the battles that you have to fight.
I'll keep you in my thoughts and prayers my friend.
Bet Of Luck In All You Do
Lee Ann
It`s frustrating and you are helpless any way you look, contacting google well, if the answer ever come at all, it comes when the frustrations and anger is gone.
Keep your head up, this too shall pass and you find a solution in the internet world, I have come to learn and accept that there are frustrations almost every single day, if there is NONE then maybe I`m not doing something new that day.
Thank you Roamy.
You are right actually. It had all been resolved by the time I got up the next morning.
So I recon I made it worse on myself trying to get answers. I just couldn't help it. I needed to know exactly what it was that I supposedly did that would cause my account to get suspended.
I really hope that I nor anyone here have to experience that when they/we did nothing to deserve it.
I am just RELLY glad Google solved it and gave me my account back : )
I like it better than Facebook.
Thank you for your time my friend. It means a lot to me that you read this and commented.
Best Of Luck In All You Do
Lee Ann
I have yet to encounter such task but I am fortunate to read your blog as I continue on my journey. I am barely a month in on the memebership and I must admit I find it difficult to put in the required energy but I am successfully incorporating my website into my daily routine.. the message I take from your experience is stay focus on the task not the coding. Thanks so much!
Aww Whitney,
You almost made it worth me going through the horrible ordeal.
Hang in there. When you get a routine that works for you, you will see how much easier it becomes.
If you become overwhelmed, walk away. Taking a break can help out a lot.
If you are struggling with something, ask for advice. That is HUGE. Most of us want to try and figure it out for ourselves. In the mean time we could have had it solved in less time by getting advice.
You will get there. I know you will. If I can do this, you can do this.
Have faith and if I can ever be of help just let me know : )
Best Of Luck In All You Do
Lee Ann
Ooooh ever so frustrating. I felt every bit of your anguish as I read this post because I have been there too. You wrote the post in such a natural way It seemed almost as if I had written it too.Hopefully smoothe sailing from here on in.
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Judy.
I am sorry to have put you through that anguish : )
I am also sorry you have experienced it before. It isn't fun at all.
Thank you for you kind words about my writing. I really appreciate it :
Hopefully it is smooth sailing for us all.
Best Of Luck In All You Do
Lee Ann
It is crazy because you can feel helpless. How can you reach Google? It is like the silver tower far away. Today I looked for keywords on Google, and it asked my few times to check a box that I am not a scammer. I work at home, on my computer.
Great to hear that everything solved out for you in a right way.
Thank you very much Nemira.
I could not find a way to get a straight answer from any of the forums at google.
And you are right. Having the feeling of helplessness was a horrible feeling.
Thank you for your kind words : )
I don't think this was something to regret doing. If I had a google account suspension, you can bet your top hat that I would be doing everything in my power to get it fixed. It is more than likely that Google got your appeal and took care of it.
You didn't know it was out of your control, and I can't tell that it was to begin with. Not enough data to make an accurate conclusion here. You did everything right.
Thank you Jacob for taking the time to read. I love your Profile pick by the way.
The frustrating part was that I followed their rules and had no idea why my account was suspended. They could have given a warning if I had done something wrong.
I think it was some type of fluke and it was caught when they received the appeal and took another look, maybe?
Who knows. I just hope it never happens again, for sure. I am not sure I can go through it again : )
I get what you mean. Maybe I just have a bit more patience for these kinds of things because my dad has been in IT for many years.
Needless to say, he would troubleshoot one issue for hours on end, often with other people.
When I told him I was frustrated after troubleshooting a problem online for an hour or two, he laughed. XD
I have never looked at online problems the same again.
That is awesome.
It seems what he would have to go through enabled you to have a better understanding and more patience.
I am sure he would laugh at you.
Having to see him spend that much time with something/someone definitely had to have had some type of affect on you. Whether it was good or bad.
I am glad you came away with the patience and tolerance. You definitely need it in this line of work : )
Yikes Lee Ann! I'm beyond happy to hear this is straightened out.
I have not had this come up yet as I STILL do not have Bing or Yahoo set up. I need to and will do. I'll certainly have this bookmarked.
I would definitely be going for answers.
How would I deal with this?
Ummmm, I would definitely have to have a 'screaming fit' first, say a few words' then calm down. All issues can be resolved.
On the serious side,
I'm glad you were able to find the Google appeal.
I try to analyze my procedures by writing them down. If I still can't figure it (them) out, I ask here and if no solution then I check with Site Support. Much the same as you.
Glad you persevered thru it all.
Best,
Monica
Thank you Monica.
I definitely had a few choice words that were said many times throughout the whole ordeal : )
I skipped the whole writing it down. It all seemed to happen so fast.
But then again when we are really into getting a task done online the time goes quicker than we think.
Thank you for you response and for your kind words. I really appreciate it.
If it were to happen again, I might have to get you to help me calm down after the screaming match : )
That is a great post and very interesting on how things turn out. I would have handled the same way because I could not go bed knowing that something was wrong I would have been up all night working on it until it got fixed. But you are right it was out of your control but I am happy that everything is okay and back on track.
I know Mary and thank you for reading.
I had already stayed up the night before this happened and wasn't doing it a second night in a row : )
But it is definitely something I hope to never experience again.
You are very welcome and I don't blame you for going to bed I would not have stayed up either if I did it the night before. I am glad that everything is fixed and it is alright now.
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The same thing happened to me with my Google + account. After I changed my logo, I immediately got a popup that said my account was suspended. On that same popup was a link to go to for an appeal. I did that & a couple of hours later I had my account back. Well the picture didn't fit right, so I decided to resize it & change the logo again. Same thing happened, my account was suspended. This time it took to the next day to get my account back. It still doesn't fit properly but I'm scared to change it again. I did use the proper size. The bad thing is, I have no idea what I did wrong.
OMG!! Thank you . I love you!
I bet that was it for mine too. I had been working on the logo for a couple hours before this happened. I still don't have it right on Google +.and I just received another error code while trying to fix it.
That is just RETARDED. It is my logo for crying out loud. Why are we NOT allowed to get ti right?
Not everyone is technical savvy and gets it right the first time.
I leave it the way it is. I recon I don't have a choice, which I find to be VERY ridiculous.
I guess you and I will not have the correct logo for our Google+ account.
Best Of Luck In All You Do
Lee Ann