Google Makes Mistakes Too
I don't know about you, but pay per click campaigns have dominated my time this month. In a single day, Google made 4 unique (large!) debits to the credit card associated with our AdWords account, practically draining our entire business credit flow for September.
Due to an internal technical error with Google's billing system, (revealed to me by a Google staffer), our AdWords campaign had not been auto-charged for 3 full months, meaning we were racking up huge amounts of click-debt, which they attempted to clear in a single hour via multiple debits.
They would've charged even more on our card, but it was eventually tapped of funds and declined. THEN, Google had the hide to switch off all our ads and send me an email telling me that our credit card had been declined and we should arrange payment via alternative methods.
As you can imagine, I was confused and very pissed off. I sent a long, detailed complaint to Google and first I received a standard reply defending their decision to switch off our ads and explaining how I could add a backup credit card to our account so it didn't happen again. I replied that my complaint had nothing to do with our ads being switched off, but their inadequate billing cycle and their failure to follow their own published billing protocols and that perhaps they should re-read my complaint.
That seemed to do the trick. Next thing I knew, my complaint was escalated and I had received an apology and a substantial offer of click credit to be applied to my account immediately.
It just goes to show that Google can get it wrong. Their staff are only human and they make mistakes. They also program the software, so it can make mistakes too. If you run pay per click campaigns, don't trust the search engines to always have your best interests at heart. Mistakes can be made and click fraud is apparently rampant. Keep a close eye on your campaigns for errors and don't be afraid to complain if you notice something suspicious!
Due to an internal technical error with Google's billing system, (revealed to me by a Google staffer), our AdWords campaign had not been auto-charged for 3 full months, meaning we were racking up huge amounts of click-debt, which they attempted to clear in a single hour via multiple debits.
They would've charged even more on our card, but it was eventually tapped of funds and declined. THEN, Google had the hide to switch off all our ads and send me an email telling me that our credit card had been declined and we should arrange payment via alternative methods.
As you can imagine, I was confused and very pissed off. I sent a long, detailed complaint to Google and first I received a standard reply defending their decision to switch off our ads and explaining how I could add a backup credit card to our account so it didn't happen again. I replied that my complaint had nothing to do with our ads being switched off, but their inadequate billing cycle and their failure to follow their own published billing protocols and that perhaps they should re-read my complaint.
That seemed to do the trick. Next thing I knew, my complaint was escalated and I had received an apology and a substantial offer of click credit to be applied to my account immediately.
It just goes to show that Google can get it wrong. Their staff are only human and they make mistakes. They also program the software, so it can make mistakes too. If you run pay per click campaigns, don't trust the search engines to always have your best interests at heart. Mistakes can be made and click fraud is apparently rampant. Keep a close eye on your campaigns for errors and don't be afraid to complain if you notice something suspicious!
Labels: google, google adwords
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