Google Support Goes Dark

Here at Mash Media, we manage a LOT of Google Ads accounts, and while we’re certified professionals in that regard, sometimes Google throws us a curveball. For global issues, it’s as easy as chatting to other Google Ad managers or checking the extensive help documentation and community forums. Sometimes, if there is a new product roll out or update to a product, we need someone from Google to walk us through it.

Well, today, this happened:

Eep.

Following the support link provided takes you to the support dashboard, clicking on each product takes you to very basic support, such as ‘setting up an account’ and step by step info for new users. There is a contact us button at the bottom of the page, alongside the community forums button.

Going through the form is easy enough, you select the product and the issue (For Ads, you then select the account you are working on) and you can then opt to call Google, receive a call back or start a chat. At my time of testing, the chat was unavailable, but receiving a call back was available. I added some information in, and without much hope, clicked ‘submit’.

I was surprised receive a call back within 4 mins of testing the form, however the support officer that I was connected to, had no knowledge of Google Ads, Conversion tracking or Google Tag manager.

Don, the support tech explained that he was available for basic queries only and that I could log a support ticket for more complicated matters but there was a backlog.

This confirms reports from other staff members that certain products, such as Google My Business, no longer had active support staff – some manual verifications and issues had taken months to be fixed.

Google’s support page has a lot of information about Covid-19 related assistance. Tips on updating your hours, turning smart campaigns on and off, and advertising credits available to small business (which expired on Dec 31 2020) are on the top of the list. We can only speculate that the reduced support team is a result of Covid restrictions around the world, and we may have to just be patient with them while they get on top of it.