Google Ads customer service has sunk to an unacceptable low, according to search marketers.
From wrongful account suspensions to awkward sales calls “aggressively” pushing automation to confusion about the platform’s products, advertisers have told Search Engine Land they’re exasperated by the lack of help their representatives
And the problem only seems to be getting worse.
A ‘brutal’ process
Mike Kelley, director of marketing at Sylvan Learning, has been in marketing for nearly 20 years. He contacted Search Engine Land after trying to buy YouTube reservation ads, but was told by his Google representative that they had never heard of them. Explained:
“I’ve been trying to buy these ads for three months – surely it can’t be that hard?” “I’ve called over a dozen times – they say someone will call back, but they never do. They don’t respond to emails either. The whole process has been brutal.”
No one on his team seems to understand what Instant Reserve is or have an understanding of YouTube ads, Kelley said, adding that this is “an all-time low for Google Ads customer service”:
“I actually reached out to two agencies that spend $100,000 a month with Google for help and used their resources and contacts. But even they haven’t had a response to this query.” “Recently, I posted a job on Upwork that pays a $500 reward to anyone who can reach us and set up instant booking TV ads for our account. That project is underway.”
‘disappointing’
Justin Lincoln, digital advertising manager at Closed Loop, reported a similar experience.
Google announced in December that advertisers could temporarily opt out of the Search Network. To do this, they should talk to their representative. But when Lincoln contacted his representative, the person knew nothing about this and was unable to help.
Puzzled by the response, Lincoln sent his Google representative a link to the Search Engine Land article to demonstrate that there had been an update that temporarily allowed marketers to leave the Search Network.
Despite this evidence, the representative maintained that this was not the case, but assured that they would escalate the issue to their manager. However, it would later emerge that even senior staff had not been informed of the upgrade, despite the limited duration of the offer until the end of February.
It wasn’t until a different representative stepped in that confirmation appeared: Google had updated its rules to allow advertisers to leave the Search Network. However, the representative confessed that this crucial information was not widely known among the team, highlighting a communication gap within Google’s support structure. Lincoln told us:
“I was able to speak to another Google rep. They confirmed that my other rep only needed to look for the update in MOA – I guess that’s where they host their processes.” “He also mentioned that the update probably hasn’t been widely dispersed yet, which is why my primary rep hadn’t heard about it. I’ll be contacting my original rep shortly to see if he can find it” . “Overall, I’m a little disappointed that this prevents us from testing Performance Max for a customer.”
“We have no one to talk to”
Menachem Ani, founder of JXT Group, said a lot has changed in terms of Google support over the past decade. While he acknowledged that Google’s agency representatives were once “very helpful,” he admitted that there was a steep decline in the quality of customer service after the agency’s restructuring of agency teams Google last April.
The result of these changes? His agency did not have a dedicated representative at the agency level.
Instead, individual reps began to be assigned to specific accounts, leaving many without support. The level of customer service has been so affected by the changes, Ani has claimed that accounts with representatives are not necessarily in a better position than those without support. Explained:
“The reps can no longer help with some of the things they were able to help with in the past. For example, we have a customer whose account has been suspended, but our reps can’t do anything to help us” . “While I think Google’s intentions are good, the reality is that many accounts are wrongly suspended with no recourse.” “We have been working to recover a customer account for over four weeks. We know the account is a legitimate business and the suspension is a mistake, so we appealed the suspension only to receive automated responses that the appeal ·lation was denied”. “It’s not very helpful and we don’t have anyone to talk to.”
“Ludacris Scare Tactics”
Marketing Labs CEO Matt Janaway told Search Engine that he has several ongoing issues with his Google representative.
When he recently asked for insight to explain a “random $90 click” on a campaign, the rep couldn’t come up with an answer. Nor could they shed light on a sudden reduction in ROI that had affected another campaign. Janaway called Google’s lack of help frustrating.
However, for your Google Ads rep, the biggest issue he’s been struggling with is persistent spam calls urging him to adopt more automated features. He elaborated:
“We get calls every day from representatives who have been assigned to our customer accounts. It’s very convoluted and when we don’t engage, because we can’t get them all involved, they try to go directly to our customers! “This happens regularly. And the scare tactics they use are pretty ridiculous.” “They also contact my personal mobile phone number which is not on the account except for 2FA purposes, which must violate the GDPR.” “These calls often happen before and after business hours, too.”
Is AI the solution?
Complicating matters further, amid what appears to be an unprecedented surge in customer service complaints, Google is planning a major restructuring of its ad sales unit, putting a staggering 30,000 jobs at risk.
The cuts have convinced some vendors that Google plans to quietly drop support. But Google Ads liaison officer Ginny Marvin said that’s not the case, explaining that Google Ads is aware of negative feedback from advertisers and hinting that big improvements are on the horizon , with AI ready to lead the way.
In another hint at the possibility of Google Ads support becoming an AI-based feature in the future, a Google spokesperson told Search Engine Land:
“This is one area where we are experimenting with AI as an additional component to improve the customer experience.” “We’ve also made significant improvements to the content of our Ads Help Center, which helps customers resolve issues more quickly and reliably.”
Google tip
While it appears that Google will rely heavily on AI to address marketer concerns, the company has not confirmed a specific timeline for the rollout of these improvements.
So what can sellers do when they’re not satisfied with the customer service provided by their Google representative? A Google spokesperson told Search Engine Land:
“We strive to provide the best experience for our customers when they engage with our sales and support teams.” “But if we miss the mark, we encourage customers to do so provide feedback through our Ads Help Center so we can make improvements.”
Delayed responses (and in some cases no response at all) from Google representatives remains a concern for search marketers.
Google told us that while response times can vary based on volume and complexity, your representative should get back to you “quickly.” If you find that this is not the case, report your experience to Google.
As for more specific issues such as unfair account suspensions, the spokesperson stressed that advertisers should appeal any decision they feel is unfair through the Help Center.
“There has been no change in this process,” the spokesman added. “Our customer service representatives are not involved in filing these appeals on behalf of a customer, or in reviewing or deciding the outcome.”
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Keep Google in the loop
If you are not satisfied with the level of customer service provided by your representative, Google encourages you to file an official complaint when appropriate through the Help Center. The spokesperson explained that the feedback is necessary to “improve our sales and support processes as we strive to provide a first-class customer experience.”
However, The Reach Group’s SEA / Amazon team leader, Georgi Zayakov, said it might not be a solution that works for all sellers. The constant phone calls from Google representatives trying to force automated solutions on their customers have been shocking, he said.
The reps have allegedly been so “aggressive,” the phone calls have almost become offensive. Despite this, he admitted that he is unlikely to press charges:
“I recently submitted some negative responses in a survey, but given the fact that I try to be as nice as possible to their representatives, I will probably never proactively write a complaint.” “And that’s true for most PPC professionals. We don’t want reps in trouble, even if our experience with them has gotten significantly worse.” “I think we’re also afraid that a particular representative will see our comments and that will hurt the partnership.”
While Zayakov’s concerns are understandable, Google’s commitment to improving support through automation could mean they become obsolete sooner rather than later.
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