Mr. Steam retrieved his business listing online.

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 a 4.9 star rating and 130 positive reviews on Google from customers. So why it would be removed was a bit of a mystery – and the digital giant didn’t explain what was behind its decision. .

Google sent Gilbert an email on October 8 informing him that his business profile had been suspended due to a “policy violation.”

“It’s pretty emotional,” he said. “I just woke up and it told me my whole profile had been suspended, and now when you Google me, I’m not there. It looks like I closed it or something.

“A lot of customers have said to me, ‘Oh, I thought you were closed,’ which is definitely not the case.”

An appeal was rejected by Google on the grounds that Mr Steam’s business listing contained “content that violates our policies on misleading content”.

Gilbert emphasized that this delisting has been 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 during COVID-19 and it was hard – but this is worse,” he said.

Worse still, the company has an automated system and Gilbert had difficulty reaching a human who could explain what it would take to get his company profile back online.

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

“Thank you again for bringing attention to my situation!” » he wrote. “Shortly after the article was published, Google called me and subsequently reinstated my profile. Still no explanation as to why it was removed.

“Anyway, the reviews are all coming back and business is booming again: I’ve booked for three weeks!

“Back to normal!” My family has been a lifelong fan of CTV and your journalism.

With files from CTV’s Teri Fikowski