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If Google suspended or disabled your Business Profile, or kept a review you reported, appeal first. If the decision stands, Article 21 of the Digital Services Act allows an independent review, businesses included: ODS, run by ADR Center (certified by AGCOM, Resolution 501/24/CONS), is free, rules on admissibility within 10 days and decides within 90, without binding either side.
ADR Center: out-of-court dispute settlement body certified by AGCOM under Article 21 of the DSA, Regulation (EU) 2022/2065.
Google says it may suspend or disable Business Profiles that do not follow its guidelines, and that the first step is the Google Business Profile appeals tool: you pick the profile, submit the appeal and, if prompted, add evidence such as an official business registration, a business licence or utility bills in the business's name (Fix suspended or disabled profiles). The same tool shows the appeal status: submitted, approved, not approved or can't be appealed. For businesses located in the UK or the European Economic Area, Google describes a separate route, with a chart showing which option fits each type of restriction (Appeal Business Profile content and profile restrictions). ODS is not part of Google: it is not a help desk, it has no access to your profile, and it cannot reinstate a profile or change reviews. It comes in after your appeal to Google, once Google has answered.
Many businesses turn to Google about a review they believe is fake, abusive or unlawful. Google asks you to report it through the Reviews Management Tool and warns not to report a review just because you disagree with it: Google does not get involved in conflicts between businesses and customers. In the same tool you can check the status of your report, and if the review stays up and you disagree, you can submit a one-time appeal, with the result sent by email (Report inappropriate reviews on your Business Profile). If the appeal changes nothing, the Digital Services Act treats the person who reported content as someone who received a decision they can challenge, and Google's page on the Act covers people who reported content that Google did not remove. The reverse happens too: if you wrote a review that Google took down, you appeal from your own Google Maps profile. ODS looks at Google's decision with the same impartiality towards the business and the reviewer.
Yes. Article 21 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, the Digital Services Act, applies to "recipients of the service", which the Act defines as any natural or legal person who uses an intermediary service, in particular for the purposes of seeking information or making it accessible. A company publishing its Business Profile fits that definition, like a person writing a review. Google says so on its Business Profile appeals page: if you are located in an EEA member state or territory, you can refer your appeal to an out-of-court dispute settlement body, with a link to its page on the Act (European Union Digital Services Act Resolution Options). Google also lists Business Profile and Google Maps among the services for which it explains what to give the body: the place of the content and the date it was posted (Content Identifiers Assistance). ODS is run by ADR Center, a body certified by AGCOM under Resolution 501/24/CONS. For business users Google also offers voluntary mediation under separate EU rules: that is a different route, with its own terms.
An ODS review of a Google Maps decision is free, and the form asks for no payment. Article 21 of the Digital Services Act requires the procedure to be free of charge for the recipient of the service, or available at a nominal fee, and charges the body's fees to the platform, here Google; if the decision goes Google's way, you reimburse nothing unless the body finds manifest bad faith. Once your file is complete, ODS decides within 10 days whether the case is admissible and within 90 days on the merits, with an extension possible for highly complex disputes. Independent experts decide, and AGCOM certification requires the body to be impartial towards Google, businesses and reviewers alike. The decision is not binding: the Act says a certified body "shall not have the power to impose a binding settlement of the dispute on the parties", and Google states it is not bound by these decisions. Both sides take part in good faith, and Article 21 keeps your right to challenge Google's decision before a court at any stage.
Before opening a case about a Google decision on your Business Profile or a review, you need to have appealed to Google first, because ODS steps in after the platform's internal complaint. You will need: the name of the Business Profile and its link on Google Maps, the status shown by the appeals tool or the Reviews Management Tool, the date of your appeal and the email with the result, the link to the review if the case is about a report, and screenshots. The ODS form also asks for your country of residence in the EU, a description of what happened, the reference code if Google gave you one, the email of the Google account that manages the profile, and your contact details. If you file on behalf of a company, attach a document showing that you represent it. Finally, you confirm that the information is true and that no other dispute settlement body is handling the same decision, and you confirm the request from the link we email you.
ADR Center: out-of-court dispute settlement body certified by AGCOM under Article 21 of the DSA, Regulation (EU) 2022/2065.
Last updated: 28 September 2026
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