(Newswire.net — Aug 21, 2013) Santa Clara County, CA — Google has gone beyond merely a tool. For many, it’s a philosphy and a way of life. It’s a verb. It’s a trusted source. Their unofficial motto from the beginning has been “Don’t Be Evil,” designed because founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page thought it was possible to build a company that was completely transparent with it’s customers and yet profitable.
That image, however, has been tarnished a few times, and most recently and severly by an accidental voicemail left by a “Google Account Manager,” who thought he had hung up. “Why did you upgrade your account without talking to me . . . ,” he laments, an then begins to show his anger. “They went to enhanced campaigns and did not talk to me, I’m [upset] . . . This would have been easier . . . Now I gotta like pitch Call Extensions, and Sitelinks . . . and THEN leave . . . .”
There are a few implications behind these words accidentally left, that give one pause as to whether these “account managers” are really seeking to help manage the accounts, or simply push them to spend more money.
Justin West, the CEO and Founder of Hundreds of Customers, LLC., a local marketing company that specializes in pay-per-click management had this to say: “Evil or not — and I don’t think that they are, by and large; I suspect this was an overall rare situation — you can’t ignore Google if you want to survive these days.” Mr. West shared a few tips for people who are concerned about being taken advantage of.
- Step One: Have your pay-per-click account independently audited. Talk to a reputable firm that has knowledge of Pay-Per-Click, and have them audit your account. A good audit should cost around $150 to $300, although some companies may provide it for free.
- Step Two: If you have an account manager, ask them point blank whether you really need certain services that they’ve sold you or not. They should unhesitatingly give you an answer, and if they don’t, then they are acting more as a sales agent and less as an actual account manager.
- Step Three: Remember that, at the end of the day, many of these “account managers” really are sales reps put into place to boost sales and answer basic questions.
Mr. West concluded, “95%+ of Google’s profitability comes from pay-per-click advertisements, so they have a vested intereste in increasing your adspend; I just hope that they realize that they need to ensure a good ROI for every customer first. In all other aspects of what they do — and even in their guidlines, which the above representative balked at — they’re aiming at making a better user experience (their users being the searchers). So long as they do that, and do that well, they’re the 900 lb gorilla, and if they occassionally make things difficult, c’est la vie!”