Google Leaves Small Advertisers to Make it on Their Own

Everyone from the largest CPG players to the pizza shop down the block have leaned heavily into online advertising. And in the online space, Google remains by far the largest provider of both paid search (PPC) and online display advertising. Back when the Google Search platform was called Ad Words, even the pizza shop owner could count on online assistance from a Google Ad Words rep for help managing online campaigns. If they were spending enough, they might even get phone support. 

Today though, Google is leaving all but the largest advertisers to manage campaigns on their own. Apparently Google has looked hard at the cost of providing hands-on, person-to-person support for all those small and medium size advertisers. The company has decided they can’t sustain that level of support and have now left the pizza shops and other small to medium advertisers to figure things out on their own. Gone are the days of phone calls and emails to and from Google Ad reps. Even if you are a certified Google Partner, you may no longer enjoy direct contact with support personnel. As one Google sales executive noted off-record, “I’ve spent most of the last year telling clients I can’t talk to them anymore.”

Is this the way it will stay? Time will tell, but the pressure to post continual profit growth would indicate that this is the way it’ll be from now on.