February 2026 marks a turning point in the GBP suspension crisis. With rates dropping to 36.8%, we're seeing the most consistent month-over-month performance since tracking began, alongside emerging positive signals from Google's new verification systems.
February showed the most consistent week-over-week performance since tracking began, with only a 3.1pp spread between highest and lowest weeks.
February marks five months of consecutive decline from October's historic high. The 46.2 percentage point improvement means suspension rates have dropped by more than half since the crisis peak.
At the current rate of decline, suspension rates could reach pre-crisis levels (~25%) by Q2 2026.
In mid-February Google rolled out changes to the business verification process. Early data suggests the new flow reduces false-positive suspensions by approximately 18%. Businesses in regulated industries (healthcare, legal, financial) reported the biggest improvements.
If your verification was rejected before February 15, consider resubmitting — the new process may handle your case differently.
While overall rates declined, review-related suspensions increased 12% month-over-month. Google appears to be cracking down on review solicitation practices that violate their policies. Approximately 8% of all suspension threads in February mentioned reviews as the suspected trigger.
Audit your review collection practices now. Incentivized reviews, review gating, and bulk review requests are being flagged more aggressively.
The gap between single-location and multi-location suspension rates narrowed significantly. Multi-location rates dropped from 52% in January to 40% in February — the fastest single-month improvement for this segment. Agencies managing multiple profiles report that Google's bulk verification tools have stabilized.
Multi-location businesses should take advantage of the current stability window to verify any pending locations.