Google Clarifies Phone Numbers Are Not Allowed in Google My Business Posts
Joy Hawkins

Many of us in the local search industry know that including phone numbers in Google My Business posts often results in the post getting rejected.  However, as of today, Google has finally added this to their guidelines.

In the help article on Google Posts policies, Google has added the following:

Phone stuffing
To avoid the risk of abuse, we do not allow your post content to include a phone number. You can make your phone number available on your Business Profile or website.

Instead, you can attach a “Call now” button to your post that uses your verified Business Profile phone number.

I have to say that the term “phone stuffing” is hilarious and I need to start using it regularly.

Although this addition doesn’t technically change anything (phone numbers were always problematic in posts), it’s great to see Google adding more clarity for the general public that isn’t aware of this.

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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, 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.