I’ve noticed a pattern appearing of late when speaking to new potential clients and it’s one that slightly concerns me.

A large percentage of these people tell me they are okay because they have a Google Account Manager who tells them everything they need to know about AdWords.

Now this got me thinking, why do people who are in business believe that a mighty corporation such as Google have their best interests at heart? Let’s be honest unless you are a huge corporation yourself like Amazon or eBay then chances are your interests are a very low priority.

Google’s revenue last year exceeded $50 billion, a 10% increase from 2011! $50 billion, that’s an astonishing amount and that was in a global recession? Now the interesting part is – do you think they increased their turnover by 10% by giving you (the advertisers) tips on how you can reduce your spend??? Yep I think the answer is obvious, a short sharp NO! They made this huge increase by “improving” their service, bringing in the likes of product listing ads and dynamic advertising, which generally coincides with an increase to everyone’s spending.

For many years now it’s been obvious that Google’s interest lies with the user, not the advertiser and logically as a business this makes sense. Google provides over 66% of all search engine results which means that it returns approximately 1bn searches every day. Because of this, Google knows that they are still the primary source of customers for any business looking to gain new clients on the internet. They know that if an advertiser was to stop advertising on Google, that there are more advertisers waiting to take their place and give Google their money. If Google was to begin losing their large percentage of the search market then advertisers would follow with no one to replace them.

So you have to ask yourself a question; is my “Google Account Manager” really there to help me make money or are they there to make Google money? If it was a Yellow Pages Manager would you have such trust? When you’re looking for a second hand car do you really think the salesperson has your or their interest at heart? We both know the sales person has their interests at heart, but the really good ones appear to be on your side! It’s the same at Google – just read a Google account manager’s job description – their bonus is earned by increasing their sales not yours – terms such as consultative sales and grow revenue are key terms that appear. Cost reduction and strategy are not terms associated with your account manager.

I myself have a “Google Strategy Manager” due to the high level of spend we manage, who is apparently a high level expert in advanced AdWords. Few companies in the UK have access to this level of support. I’ve told him directly that he just tells me about strategies’ he cannot implement them, or once you dig into the detail they are nothing but marketing hype. On too many occasions when I have technical queries he is unable to help. The front line call centre staff you deal with are far less capable. Nearly every call I’ve had with them turns into me teaching them about their own product! And yet you call them for advice?

Now many of you may think I am scare mongering or just trying to badmouth Google; I am not. As is with many of you, without Google I wouldn’t have a business and I wouldn’t get the opportunity to work with so many great people. Google love business like us because they know that they don’t have the staff in place to truly support, improve and understand each of their clients businesses. They also know that to train enough staff to support advertisers’ needs would be phenomenally expensive.
Think about it if companies such as Click Convert advise you on Google AdWords correctly and you see an increase in your ROI then you are more likely to put more resource towards Google advertising and therefor Google make more money! Simple isn’t it.

So here are a few questions to ask your “Google AdWords Account Manager” next time they call to advise you on your campaigns;

1. What strategies can Google recommend to you directly relating to your individual market place? (the answer will be none as they don’t know anything about your market and cant advise on “strategy”)

2. How can the “sky lining” technique help and how does it work? (Almost all of Google’s Account Managers have not heard of this technique). Or ask them about Jet Streaming a wider know approach.

3. Why are you advertising overseas when you are targeting the UK? Surely Google wants you to have the most targeted audience? Or does it just want to show it to anyone willing to click your ad?

4. Why, when I input a negative keyword into my campaign does it often come up with an error message and the negative keyword disappears? (It’s funny how Google seems unable to prevent network issues when it’s in its favour!)

Once you’ve asked these questions of your Google Account Manager and have heard their answers, ask yourself this – Do I want someone at the company who makes massive profits from my desire for new customers, but has even more desire to earn themselves money – to advise me on one of the most important components of my business or, do I want a company whose interest lies in your ROI because the more successful you are the more you will recommend their business to others?

I think the answer to this is obvious?