Google Ads customer service hits ‘all-time low’, leaving marketers furious

Google Ads customer service has fallen to an unacceptable all-time low, marketers say. From mistaken account suspensions to “aggressive” automation push calls to platform product disruptions, advertisers are upset about the lack of support from Google.

And the problem seems only to get worse.

“brutal” process

Mike Kelley, Chief Marketing Officer at Sylvan Learning, has worked in marketing for almost 20 years. He tried to buy his YouTube scheduled ad, but was told by a Google representative that they had never heard of such a thing.

“I’ve been trying for three months to buy these ads. How could it be this hard?” he said. “I’ve called over a dozen times and they say someone will call back, but they never do. They don’t even reply to emails. The whole process was brutal. [This is] Google Ads customer service is the worst ever. ”

Experts other than Google can’t help either.

“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 never responded to this inquiry. I’m not getting it,” he said. “I posted a job on his Upwork where he will pay $500 to anyone who can access our account and set up an instant His Reserve TV ad. This project will continue It’s inside.”

“It’s a shame”

Justin Lincoln, digital advertising manager at Closed Loop, reported a similar experience.

Google announced in December that advertisers could temporarily opt out of its search network. To do this, you will need to consult a representative. However, when Mr. Lincoln contacted his agent, the agent knew nothing about the matter and could not help.

Baffled by the response, Mr. Lincoln sent a Google representative a link to an article proving there was an update allowing marketers to temporarily opt out of the search network.

Nevertheless, the representative said this was not the case, but escalated the issue to the manager. But the manager didn’t hear about it either. It wasn’t until another person intervened that the update was confirmed.

“I was able to talk to another Google representative,” Lincoln said. “They confirmed that my other contact only needed to search for updates in his MOA. I guess this is where they keep their processes.”

However, that last representative said this important information was not widely known within the team, highlighting a communication gap within Google’s support structure.

“We have no one to talk to.”

JXT Group founder Menachem Ani said that after the company reorganized its agency team in April last year, the quality of customer service decreased significantly. One result, he says, is that his company no longer has a dedicated representative at the agency level.

Let’s dig deeper: Consumers have high expectations for the use of AI in customer service

Ani said the level of customer service has gotten so bad that accounts with representatives are not necessarily in a better position than those without support.

“Lawmakers can no longer help with some of the things they used to be able to help with,” he said. “We have been working for over four weeks to restore our client’s account. We appealed the suspension but received an automated response that the appeal was denied… and , our personnel cannot help us.”

“Ludacris Fear Tactics”

Matt Janaway, CEO of Marketing Labs, said the company is still having some issues with Google representatives.

When recently asked for insight to explain “random $90 clicks” in a campaign, a representative couldn’t answer. I also couldn’t figure out the sudden drop in her ROI on another campaign.

But when it comes to the Google Ads guy, the biggest problem he struggles with is the persistent spam calls asking him to implement more automated features.

“We receive calls every day from representatives assigned to our customer accounts,” he said. “It’s very complex and it’s impossible for us to engage with everyone, so when we don’t engage, we instead try to contact the client directly. This happens regularly. And when they The fear tactics used are very stupid.”

Is AI the solution?

Further complicating matters, Google is planning a major layoff of its 30,000-person advertising sales force, raising concerns about further layoffs. This comes after Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced last year that the company would lay off 12,000 employees and contractors, about 5% of its workforce.

This reduction convinced some marketers that Google plans to quietly phase out support. However, Google Ads Liaison Officer Ginny Marvin said this was not the case, explaining that Google Ads is aware of continued negative feedback from advertisers and that the AI He suggested that improvements are on the horizon, led by Japan.

“This is an area where we are experimenting with AI as an additional component to improve the customer experience,” a Google spokesperson said. “We’ve also made significant improvements to the content in our Advertising Help Center to help our customers resolve their issues faster and more reliably.”

Google’s advice

Google will likely rely heavily on AI to address marketers’ concerns, but the company has not confirmed a specific timeline for rolling out these improvements.

So what can marketers do if they’re dissatisfied with the customer service provided by a Google representative? A Google spokesperson said marketers can “provide feedback through the Advertising Help Center so we can make improvements.” Please.”

Delayed responses from Google representatives (or, in some cases, no response at all) remain a concern for search marketers. According to Google, response times vary based on volume and complexity, but agents should respond “quickly.” If this does not apply to you, please report your experience to Google.

Regarding more specific issues, such as unwarranted account suspensions, the spokesperson emphasized that advertisers should appeal decisions they believe are unwarranted through the help center.

“There are no changes to this process,” the spokesperson added. “Our customer support representatives are not involved in filing these claims or reviewing/determining the outcome on behalf of our customers.”