Why Google Shopping AdWords Support is a Gamble
For Q4 2012, Google Shopping beat the other comparison shopping engines (CSEs) in almost every metric, and overall for the quarter as the number one CSE:
Our co-founder Tien Nguyen even notes that “It’s no surprise that Google is still the comparison shopping king given that it’s not only such a high driver of traffic, but a high driver of quality traffic.”
As the number one comparison shopping engine, the undisputed king of CSEs, it is unexpected to see that Google Shopping had the worst rating across the board for Shopping Engine Responsiveness:
Why Does The Best Comparison Shopping Engine (CSE) Have The Worst Support?
So what gives?
Why does the CSE with the higher traffic, revenue and the best cost of sale (COS) for the 2012 holiday quarter have by far the worst responsiveness rating? Well mostly for two reasons:
1. Google Shopping Product Listing Ads (PLAs) are still new for AdWords Support.
Google Shopping is still very new for merchants. But what we sometimes forget is that this is the case for AdWords support as well. Q4 is the first quarter that Google Shopping transitioned to a fully paid product listing ads listings, the first paid quarter in over 10 years.
2. AdWords Support is misinformed a lot.
I’m not trying to hate on AdWords Support here, they are very amicable people overall. AND there are some reps who are amazingly helpful and informed.
However, many Google AdWords support individuals just don’t have a good handle on best practices for managing product listing ads, and troubleshooting issues in the AdWords login. This is not always the case, its just the luck of the draw as to whether support will actually be helpful.
3 Tips For Dealing with AdWords Support
Overall I’d advocate that you avoid contacting AdWord Support unless you have an issue. If you want to learn about strategy, or best practices and tips, like how to use AdWords labels do some research.
But if you do need to contact AdWords Support, here are a few quick tips:
- Call AdWords Support
Don’t rely on email or chat if you don’t have to. It’s much easier to clarify and walk through issues over the phone. When you do call, have a really clear idea of what your issue is and make sure you understand the basics of PLA management.
- Use Screenshots
When you’re writing to AdWords support troubleshooting issues with PLAs, it is imperative that you use detailed screenshots to outline what your issue is, and where you’re seeing it.
If you are having trouble validating Ad Groups, it is also very helpful if you can show AdWords support exactly what your AdWords Labels are in the product data feed for different Ad Groups with images.
- Be Clear
This is super important. If you are vague, or if you don’t really understand what the issue is, where you are seeing it, etc. then the likelihood of support correctly addressing your issue decreases significantly. If you don’t understand what the problem is how can they fix it?
With either email contact or over the phone, make sure you follow up frequently as well.
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