'Business is booming again:' Calgary's Mr. Steam gets his Google listing back

Bryce Gilbert says his Mr. Steam business profile has been restored by Google after mysteriously being removed in early October.

Mr. Steam got its online business listing back.

The Calgary-based company, owned by Bryce Gilbert, went public earlier this week after Google removed his business profile without warning, causing him to lose bookings.

Gilbert created a business profile in 2019, and has earned a 4.9-star rating and 130 positive Google reviews from customers, so why he would be removed was a bit of a mystery – and the digital behemoth didn’t explain what was behind their decision.

Google sent Gilbert an email on Oct..8 saying his business profile was suspended due a “policy violation."

"It’s kind of emotional," he said. "I just woke up and it said my whole profile has been suspended, and now when you look me up on Google I’m not there. It looks like I closed or something.

"A lot of customers have told me, 'Oh I thought you were closed,' which is definitely not the case."

An appeal was denied by Google on the grounds that Mr. Steam's business listing contained “content that violates our policies on deceptive content.”

Gilbert noted the de-listing was financially devastating for him, especially since his wife is on maternity leave with their six-month-old baby.

 

“It’s horrible,” he said. “I mean, I worked through COVID-19 and that was hard – but this is worse," he said.

Worst of all, the company has an automated system and Gilbert struggled to reach a human who could explain what it would take to get his business profile back online.

However, after CTV News shared Mr. Steam’s plight with viewers on Thursday,  he shared an update Saturday morning.

“Thank you again for bringing attention to my situation!” he wrote. “Shortly after the news article went live, Google called me and then reinstated my profile. Still no explanation of why it was taken down.

“Regardless, the reviews are all returning and business is booming again  -- I'm booked for three weeks!

“Back to normal! My family is a fan of CTV and your journalism for life.”

With files from CTV's Teri Fikowski