How much time? It's not like Google is new to the advertising game.

It makes you wonder how much more money Google could make if their customer service were good, or whether it makes any difference. It's also an interesting point given the emphasis they place on user interface design - they take great care over their (non-paying) users but apparently not so much over their (paying) customers.

• Posted by: James MacAonghus
• May 4, 2005 12:59 AM

I understand that I may be whistling in the graveyard here, but my recent experience with Google customer service has been nothing but pleasant. Time was, Google CS was non-existent. However, nowadays, I get a call from my Google rep almost every day, whether I have an outstanding issue or not. Gotta stand up for the G$ on this one.

• Posted by: JayF
• May 4, 2005 10:47 AM

It's actually not a customer service problem from what I gather from the article and also from what I understand of the market. The problem is that Google is in performance marketing and the question is what kind of value do agencies ad.

If an agency takes up a 15% fee from the budget their customer (the real advertiser, as the agency is just an intermediary) spends, then there is less money for Google and in this case also 15% to be paid for the performance placement itself. A customer could pay $1 directly or the agency will pay $0.85. Then comes the question what kind of value does the agency ad in the question of Google AdWords. Could the company be doing it themselves? They don't need to book 5000 sites. They book a keyword, look for profitability, and be done with it (to exagerate a little bit).

It is therefor logical for Google to approach the advertiser directly if they perceive that no value is added through the agency. If Amazon spends $5.000.000 on AdWords in a year, and can handle it themselves, especially through an API, then they might not want to go through an agency, giving them maybe $150.000 (the margins would likely be less but let's just stick with the 15%). Google knows that, but they are in the dillema that they know and still don't want to cut out the agencies.

So this is a general market play and not a play of Google against the agencies. It will be interesting to see how it works out.

• Posted by: Oliver Thylmann
• May 4, 2005 12:21 PM

you have a seller george baxley-- selling stamps--- who refuses to fill an order that came to 33.50. in tryiny to get the order right he said it wasnt worth his TIME. if this is the way you allow sellers to deal with buyers it the LAST time i am using google.

• Posted by: jcsunburst
• November 12, 2006 9:27 PM

I have spent almost three days trying to get Google support to no avail. When I did reach someone they didn't work for Google and knew nothing about the problem. Google is the worst at customer service I have ever in my 59 yrs. encountered. It's no wonder they don't have a contact button. I still haven't found a support for Google and the problem still exist. They are by far the very worst to exist in todays market, bar none.

• Posted by: Alvin Burt
• June 19, 2007 8:16 AM

I have spent almost three days trying to get Google support to no avail. When I did reach someone they didn't work for Google and knew nothing about the problem. Google is the worst at customer service I have ever in my 59 yrs. encountered. It's no wonder they don't have a contact button. I still haven't found a support for Google and the problem still exist. They are by far the very worst to exist in todays market, bar none.

• Posted by: Alvin Burt
• June 19, 2007 8:18 AM