Most agencies have experienced the onslaught of calls, texts, and emails from Google Ads reps. If you manage dozens, even hundreds of Ads Accounts, by now you know to tune that noise out. Still though, you’re left to deal with responding to clients who also get those messages, talking them down from many of Google’s recommendations (for the purpose of maximizing ROI from clients’ campaigns). Obviously, I’m speaking to Ad Accounts that are properly managed, to the extent that Google’s recommendations are 99% focused on Google’s revenue and not necessarily that of the advertiser.

Normally, any info is good info, especially around platform changes or campaign suggestions. Also, having a rep’s contact info handy in case something needs to be escalated is always a good idea. We log that contact info, and the list is long, they also change frequently. Each Ad account has someone different assigned, often overseas, and they switch accounts every few months. I’m certain that most of them have never managed an Ads Campaign, but they’re remarkably similar in the scripts that they recite. Still though, when you’re out of options and you’re arguing with an AI Bot around punctuation or otherwise legitimacy of your ad content, it’s nice to have someone who can help.

All that said, most of the recommendations they lend for our clients are horrific ideas. Nearly always, it’s about spending more, increasing budget, or limiting the “wasted opportunity” that is our currently insufficient budget settings. This is where I see a problem; incessant calls and emails is merely a symptom of the problem. Consider that most consumers see Google as a search engine and an email service, with some extra tools like Docs or Drive. I’ve only been a digital marketer, going back to transparent CPC landscapes in Yahoo! Search, so I shouldn’t guess as to how accurately the average consumer links YouTube and Google. What I see is Google being a publisher (of your ad content), using a black box pricing model, while also representing a huge swath of content producers (upon whose sites your ads might be placed) to sell space on those websites with a black box pricing model. Google is going to recommend changes that are good for Google, one way or another. Some of them could help the advertiser, but some will not. Further consider that Google is years into a push toward fully automated ad creation and management to the point where many advertisers simply give Google their domain and let Google build their ads, construct ad copy, and completely build campaigns without user input. All of that responsibility in the hands of the company that determines what your costs are.

Google is a business. That’s the single best way I know how to remind people, without preaching or exposing a degree of nerdiness that might soil a social interaction. It’s true, and as long as it’s true, small advertisers really need help navigating the BS that gets slung their way by people who literally get paid for every minute they get an Ads Account owner on the telephone. It’s genius, from a business perspective, how easy it is to spend money in Google Ads and how easily their contract sales force can seem like a free lifeline to critical information. Any info is good info, but be mindful of the source of recommendations, and be well aware of the impact of any recommended changes.

–

We’re always looking for problems to solve, and we’re happy to show you how we do it. Drop us a line here or email us directly at info@whitelabeldigital.co for more info.