Dealing with Google Ads frustrations: Poor support, suspensions, rising costs
Google Ads is a powerful platform – but not without its headaches. Here’s why advertisers are frustrated and what needs to change.
Topic: Customer service
How to handle negative Google reviews: Remove, respond, recover
Frustrated with negative reviews from unreasonable customers? Here’s how to respond to negative Google reviews related to your business.
How to reappeal a Google Business Profile suspension
Follow these steps to appeal your GBP suspension and increase your chances of getting reinstated on Google Maps and local search results.
Yelp rolls out live support consultations for advertisers
Advertisers no longer have to wait on hold for a support representative to become available, as they can now schedule appointments.
Google Ads support is at an ‘all-time low’ – we asked Google why
We reached out to Google to address your concerns regarding Google reps — here's how they're planning to fix the problem.
First look at Google Ads’ enhanced customer service for small businesses
Brands can book one-on-one phone consultations with a Google rep for $50.
Google Ads trials enhanced customer service for small businesses
This level of one-on-one support has historically only been offered to Google Ads' biggest clients.
Google Merchant Center adds customer support feature
Providing customer service information helps brands to build trust with shoppers, increasing the chances of them becoming loyal customers.
How to respond to negative reviews harming your company’s reputation
Here's why responding to negative online reviews matters, plus tips for addressing dissatisfied customers' concerns.
Meta starts refunding advertisers for overspending glitch
Meta blamed the April bug on an automated system. A month later, many advertisers are still waiting for their refunds.
How to create a helpful FAQ page (with 7 examples)
Answering your customers' frequently asked questions is foundational for business websites. Follow these tips for creating a good FAQ page.
Google adds automated messaging through Business Profiles frequently asked questions
For small businesses, this can help reduce necessary resources to respond to customer questions in Google Search and Google Maps.
Twitter adds keyword search to Direct Messages
Good news for brands and businesses who use Twitter for customer service: you can now find DMs by searching for keywords.
How to use Google Business Messages to talk to your customers
Google's Business Messages is one of the best ways to connect with your customers and future customers.
Shoppers may soon be able to message merchants via Google Shopping
Google is running a messaging pilot program that would enable customers to send messages to your customer service email.
Choosing a Web Host
For some, choosing a web host might just be a case of finding a web hosting company with the cheapest pricing plans. However, if you’re looking for a web host that’s actually decent, and is going to guarantee your website has a solid host with a good reputation, then you’ll need to know a few […]
What clients need from your marketing agency today
Learn where SMBs want agencies to step in and help – and why they're willing to pay agencies more.
An old-fashioned retailer’s modern marketing approach
The Vermont Country Store revamped its business and kept employees safe with these three initiatives.
Google call history report begins to show data in Google My Business
Several months after showing a "preview call history" feature, Google is now showing some data in this report.
Google testing new ‘call history’ feature for Google My Business
The missed call log will remain available to businesses for 45 days.
Social Media Scheduler Recommendation: StatusBrew
StatusBrew is the best value social media scheduler out there bar-none. It comes with bulk uploading and a suite of reporting tools that tell you what you need about your social media efforts quickly and easily. They also have outstanding customer service (which always helps sell things to me). In short, they are great. So […]
Small and mid-sized Google Ads agency partners to lose dedicated ad rep support
The change is "part of a routine review," according to the company said.
SMX Overtime: Creating great content, FAQs and how to navigate approval limitations
Digital marketing strategist Ashley Segura answers questions from SMX West about how retailers and brands should be thinking about content and more.
Tripadvisor’s new ‘Review Hub’ lets restaurateurs manage reviews from multiple sources in one place
The subscription-based product can also be used to identify review trends across sites.
Google Ads to end customer support via social Jan 1, 2020
Advertisers will be directed to the online form.
Google My Business discontinues toll free phone support
This will impact how quickly your Google My Business issues can be addressed.
Social listening: what it is, why it matters, and how to do it
What is social media monitoring? Why is it important? What are the best social listening tools? Find out with this quick guide for 2020.
Google bringing call intelligence and automation to SMBs, for $39 per month
The virtual agent builds upon existing technology and represents a new direction in local monetization for Google.
Google Q&A: More than 90 percent of questions unanswered by business owners
The answers that are there are mostly coming from Local Guides, who may or may not provide accurate information.
SEO agencies – Important questions to ask before choosing one
Have you ever had a negative experience using a search engine optimization agency? If so, you are by no means alone. It seems like just about every business owner has heard SEO horror stories or has one themselves. This article is not an exposé of bad agencies, nor is it to “name and shame” any […]
Let’s make 2017 the year of honest reviews!
Reviews can be an important part of a local SEO strategy, but columnist Greg Gifford warns that overdoing it can make your business look shady.
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AdWords Glitches? Google Says Shopping Campaigns Access Issues Have Been Fixed
Paid search management is demanding enough without platform connectivity issues. Over the past weeks, several AdWords users have taken to Twitter to complain about ongoing issues with what’s come to be known as the “red bar of death”. The red banner looks like this: Last week, there was a widespread issue that affected user’s ability […]
How Google’s Lack Of (Re-)Consideration For Local Businesses Makes Life & Listings Difficult
For local business listings, ranking well in Google search results is highly important. So, many proprietors attempt all sorts of things to get their businesses to rank well, and they often unintentionally break Google’s rules in the process. Yet, there’s no real means to get forgiveness once their listing is burned. Confusion surrounding this further […]
5 Areas Where adCenter Beats AdWords
To be honest, there isn’t much about adCenter that I like. Their UI is more ‘cool’ than functional. Their editor tool isn’t worth the space on my desktop, and their keyword research tools sometimes seem to be from the Stone Age. If I never had to login to adCenter again, it might be too soon. […]
Nuance’s Nina Is Siri For Enterprise Customer Service
Although there were so-called “virtual assistants” before Siri, consumers had only limited experience with them and may not have even realized what they were dealing with at the time. United Airlines’ “virtual agent” Alex is one such automated assistant, though it doesn’t use speech and currently doesn’t work on mobile devices. At least a dozen […]
SMM 2011: Keynote Roundtable: Real Social Media Stories From The Field
Keynote Roundtable: Real Social Media Stories From The Field Presentations from SMX Social Media Marketing, December 2011 So many social media channels. So many social media challenges. Are you there for customer service, to boost your brand recognition, to boost sales and transactions? How do you integrate your efforts into other business units at your […]
All Sales & No Service: Google’s Small Business Priorities Are All Messed Up
Google is, again, wiping the egg off of its company face this week after the New York Times exposed yet another way in which some users are manipulating Google Places to the detriment of unsuspecting small/local business owners. The latest issue involves unscrupulous individuals/companies marking other businesses as closed in Google Places. It’s a process […]
Google Customer Support Surprise: Phone Reps Handling 10,000 Calls A Week From 60 Countries
Google has long received mixed-to-negative criticism for its customer service — or lack thereof. But Francoise Brougher is changing all that. Perhaps the least well-known senior executive outside Google, the VP of Global Advertising and Product Operations has quietly built an impressive telephone customer support organization for Google AdWords advertisers. Telephone support for AdWords was first […]