Google's Support Hours (and lack thereof)

EVEN Yahoo has better hours!

[mortgagemax]

Here's my semi-annual rant!

Please explain why Google STILL only offers support for approximately 1/3 of the hours they provide a service. The support hours are pathetic. Their lack of hours allows cheaters to run free 2/3 of the time (not including time to resolve issues). Google's advertising clients advertise 24/7 with them but yet they can only get support for half a day (if lucky and they dont leave early) - and only 5 days a week. Yahoo even offers Saturday support hours. It is a slap in the face of their customers. There are people who cheat and cost us money (thru higher cpc and lost traffic) continuously and its been going on for years!

[...and yes Google does eventually remove repeat cheaters ... but they come back with new accounts and it restarts the whole process]

It so frustrating that Google can make the rules since they are the dominant player in the space and we all have to live by them. Google is a great company but I just wish that Yahoo, MSN or someone could get their act together so Google would feel some pressure and not have free reign to disrespect their advertisers.

[pageoneresults]

How about we change the title to Customer Support Hours in general? ;)

Since I work with mostly regional clients who have normal business hours at a brick and mortar level, its been a tough sell getting them to treat their online presence differently. The mindset is too focused on the 8-5 of life not realizing that there is no 8-5 on the Internet. It nevers sleeps, ever, not for one nano-second.

I feel for a company to really excel in online support, they need to offer real time live support 24/7/365. But, in Google's case, that probably is not an option. Can you imagine the sheer volume of requests they would be dealing with? Oh wait, I see another money making opportunity. Paid support. You know, Level I, Level II and Level III? < Snicker, snicker, snicker...

[ByronM]

If google actually provided support they may vary well see more people utilize the service and spend more. Lots of people pump and dump and feel the burn and run - if google had PEOPLE instead of machines do some of the human to human interaction i bet the investment from people would pay off.

It seems that google likes to play ignorant and have people migrate to managed 3rd party PPC services vs being the be-all end-all marketplace they could be.

[vphoner]

What sort of cheaters are you seeing? I have seen a lot of bait and switch advertisers dominating google, and many are owned by the same company (according to articles online). You sometimes see the whole front page dominated by their ads. The newest thing that they do is to have a fake price engine with only their companies on it and give fake 5 star reviews for their companies which of course are the lowball price on the engine. They sometimes throw a legitimate company or two on there for the high price. Certainly worth reporting these guys for removal when you see them. Anyone notice this?

[cabowabo]

Okay, so their hours aren't what you would like, but how is the support once you get it? I have never had an issue with the quality of support and they often answer within three rings and I don't get transferred, which is another plus, they handle it.

You may want better hours, but in today's world with awful to average support, I'd take the limited hours and top service.