Alert: Beware of Google Ads Reps
Nick Bennett — December 7, 2018 — December 7, 2018
I’ve been managing Google Ads (formerly AdWords) accounts for close to a decade now. I’ve witnessed the evolution of Google Ads. I have been through several expansions and helped clients navigate and manage what use to be a pretty simple PPC platform.
I begrudgingly forced myself to play with the new Google Ads dashboard as the old version slowly sank into the digital abyss. It was a fun ride with the old Google Ads dashboard. Thanks for the memories.
It took me some time to get use to the new dashboard as I was conditioned to using the old version for so many years. Google tempted me with having some exclusive features you can only use in the new dashboard, like call bid adjustments.
It worked.
Ultimately, I think the new Google Ads dashboard has a better user-interface and is an overall better experience than the old version. It does seem to be a bit slower for me, but I digress.
Changes like this can be good. It may take us a while to adjust, but change is necessary in an ever-evolving digital marketing landscape. Adapt or get left behind, right?
One change that I have noticed over the past few years that I will not get use to is the increased aggressiveness of Google Ads reps.
As a Google Partner who gets assigned a new rep every quarter, I get bombarded with calls weekly from reps wanting to help me with accounts. They send me emails with suggestions on specific accounts. Sometimes, these emails are exactly the same with only the date of the email and client accounts being different. When a new feature rolls out, the emails come in hot and heavy.
Increasingly, I have clients who will forward me emails from Google Ads reps asking me to review them and give my thoughts. I say increasingly because the number of emails my clients receive has been increasing. I’ve seen emails from Google Ads reps asking clients for permission to make edits in their account. This use to never happen and represents a pretty big shift in the role of Google Ads reps.
Google is increasingly trying to play more of a role in the day-to-day operations of Google Ads accounts. But, is this a good thing? Do we really want representatives from one of the world’s largest profit-driven companies to play an even larger role in how we run our Google Ads accounts?
For me, the answer is absolutely not. I say that for a couple of reasons
Conflict of Interest
I believe there is too much of a conflict of interest. Google Ads is the “cash cow” of Google. The more money we spent in Google Ads, the more money Google makes. Google Ads reps are a part of this and they have an incentive to get people to spend more money.
After speaking to many reps over the years (I have since stopped answering their calls), reading countless emails, it became clear that a bulk of the recommendations involved some sort of account expansion. Whether it was through keyword suggestions or bid adjustments, many of the suggestions centered around making sure you don’t “miss out” on getting your ads in front your target audience… or anyone who may potentially have some vague interest in your product or service at some point now or in the distant future.
Often times, these types of “recommendations” require you to spend more. This is why I say there is a conflict of interest.
With that said, I’ve seen good recommendations come from these reps, but it’s not enough for me to pick up the phone or recommend to clients to even listen to Google reps.
They Don’t Know Your Goals
I have yet to hear a Google Ads rep give me recommendations based on my client’s CPA or ROI targets. None of the emails my client’s forward to me have CPA or ROI-specific recommendations based on their goals. Increasing reach and clickthrough rates are nice KPIs to monitor, but at the end of they day people need to make money with Google Ads.
If a Google rep does not know your target CPA or ROI goals, then how can they give you proper recommendations that will help you optimize your account to meet and exceed your goals?
The answer is, they can’t.
One Last Thing
Without being aware of it, many people just give the reps the benefit of the doubt and an unwarranted level of trust.
“Well, they are from Google. They should know how best to help me. Right?”
Please don’t think like that. It can get expensive for you.
So, if you are a business owner who continues to get hounded by Google reps, I would think twice before picking up the phone. Don’t blindly implement their suggestions. Don’t assume they have your best interest in mind. And, don’t blindly trust them just because they are from Google.
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