#GoogleFail #SalesStruggles #AdAgencyGatekeepers #AdvertisingNightmare
I’m a sales rep at Google and wanted to share my thoughts on the current state of Google…
Internally the company is going through a tough time.
Lots of pissed off, very well paid engineers that believe they are the blood of G are going to war due to being micro managed.
All kinds of PR issues arising every other week, and product launches like Gemini are laughable.
We have access to a lot of internal data such as hiring and headcount for each org/role, which I think is really cool. So I took some time to dig into it, and can say the numbers are mind-boggling when you notice the lack of hiring put forth to sales teams.
I can’t share what these numbers look like, but it’s wild.
Instead of treating our advertisers like clients, they treated them like average customers, and outsourced a lot of their support to teams in India.
This killed advertiser trust and rapport with Google, which allowed Ad Agencies to essentially become the unofficial sales team for Google. They looked for business, brought them to Google Ads, managed the relationship, etc.
Now as Google attempts to automate a lot of their UI in Ads, these agencies are discovering they will soon be out of a job. So they are gatekeeping advertiser dollars and the relationship to ensure this does not happen.
It’s wild to see happen, and a massive error on Google’s part. It should be used as a reference point for sales teams moving forward, as I believe it is one of the first of its kind.
I will try to add two graphs (publicly available data) to give rough ideas on how much Google has lost to these agencies, and also how quickly they scaled up alongside Google’s ad growth. Reminder, Google barely invested in their internal sales teams during this time.
## The Problem: Google’s Detrimental Outsourcing Strategy
Google’s decision to outsource support for advertisers had severe consequences on the company’s relationship with clients. Ad agencies ended up becoming the primary point of contact, leading to loss of trust and control over advertiser dollars. Google’s neglect of its internal sales teams further exacerbated the situation, causing a massive error that is impacting the company’s revenue and reputation.
## Solutions for Sales Teams: Taking Control Back
Here are some practical solutions for sales teams to navigate the challenges posed by Google’s outsourcing strategy:
### 1. Focus on Building Strong Relationships
– Instead of relying solely on Google Ads, prioritize building direct relationships with advertisers.
– Offer personalized support and tailored solutions to meet their needs and build trust.
### 2. Enhance Value Proposition
– Differentiate yourself from ad agencies by highlighting the unique value and expertise that your team brings to the table.
– Showcase your understanding of the industry and your ability to drive results for advertisers.
### 3. Invest in Training and Development
– Equip your sales team with the necessary skills and knowledge to navigate the evolving landscape of digital advertising.
– Stay updated on industry trends and innovations to stay ahead of the curve.
By implementing these solutions, sales teams can reclaim control over advertiser relationships and drive success in the competitive digital advertising market. It’s time for Google sales reps to rise above the challenges and set a new standard for client service and satisfaction. Let’s learn from Google’s mistakes and pave the way for a brighter future in the world of advertising. 💪🔥🚀
Remember, it’s not just about selling ads – it’s about building lasting partnerships and delivering value that truly resonates with your clients. #SalesSuccess #ClientRelationships #DigitalAdvertisingRevolution
Interesting 🤔
Here are graphs mentioned in post: https://imgur.com/a/wDgOYVM
Google is and has been absolutely cratering from within for at least a year now. It is apparent to anyone who even glances in the general direction. I think that future economic history books will be written about exactly such a spectacular and rapid implosion occurred. I have never seen anything like it. Never anticipated anything like it.
Could you clarify this bit?
> So they are gatekeeping advertiser dollars and the relationship to ensure this does not happen.
Are you saying that the Ad Agencies are spending money elsewhere and ensuring end clients don’t get access to Google Ads directly so they don’t get cut out of the equation?
I just resigned from an Ad Agency gig this week. We charged our clients double the money for Ads we’ve sold them – if they paid for $10k worth of ads we pocketed $5k for our services and bought $5k worth of ads from Google on their behalf. That additional $5k could have easily gone to Google if their UI and policy consistency wasn’t absolutely atrocious and they actually gave a shit about acquiring customers themselves.
The CEO makes $250mm a year why should he gaf.
Someone else can clean up his mess for $100 or $150mm a year.
Wouldn’t their acquisition of hubspot resolve part of this issue?
It’ll get choppy when X starts really eating YouTube.
AI though.. hard to bet against Google. More fun just to watch.
I wouldn’t touch the stock personally.
I think if it was looked within as a tool rather than a service it will improve.
Literally there isn’t a role who knows less about a company and how it works than sales
Can you tell the micromanagers to stop fucking with Bluetooth on Android?
I have been looking for a new role and started networking with several Google employees some of which have been there 5-10 yrs or more. Every single one basically said the good days were done and while they still liked working there it isn’t at all what it used to be.
Also they are all in product roles at sr. Manager or higher roles and it’s shocking how small of a tiny chunk of a product they own. Like how do you have thousands of very highly compensated people managing 1 second of an experience a customer has once every few months kind of thing.
I come from the agency side and I find this post interesting. And I know OP is just airing out frustrations. So I’m just gonna tell a bit of the agency side and leave it at that.
A lot of clients actually tried Google’s automated solutions but rarely does it deliver results and so they turn to agencies instead.
And sure the automated solutions could work for bigger companies who can invest setting up the data collection ecosystem to feed into the algorithm (and that’s IF they want to spend time and money to do this, because that is also expensive and tedious to do right). But what about the small businesses that are starting out?
Google is so out of touch of how difficult it is to use Google’s tools without much technical knowledge to get results, so instead of shitting on agencies, work together with us to close the gap. I think you have no idea how much agencies would like to work with Google, because my agency certainly tried but got almost zero support (and now I finally got my answer to why).
With the acquisition of Hubspot, you can see that Google is again being the monopoly that it is. So why not share some of the revenue to the rest of the world. It’s impossible to service EVERY client in the world so if anything, divide and conquer. Share the wealth.
Hush, Google fanboys don’t like it when their precious lil search engine gets criticized.
Google is somewhat famous for overdoing it on engineering talent and not putting enough into other important business functions. It worked well for them at cranking cool stuff out for a while but now they are very stagnant and few changes happen and the ones that do happen are incremental rearrangements of the deckchairs on the Titanic. Hopefully they will find their way again.
Have you tried to load any webpage lately without any ad blockers on your web browser? That’s where the fuck up lay. And it’s not the fact that people are using ad blockers, they’re forced to.
So where’s the stock price going?
I’ve been in the Google Ads agency space for 10 years and this gatekeeping narrative because we’re afraid of losing our jobs is 100% wrong.
The real reason is exactly what you said earlier in your post, Google support and “strategists” quality have degraded severely over the past few years. I now get these “strategists” reaching out to me on for every client yet these people have zero real-world experience and all they do is push the same automated recommendations in the UI that are designed to make you spend more while not necessarily increase sales/revenue. When you’ve become an expert in a field over a decade then start receiving the same copy pasta email from different recent college grads from Google telling you turn on search partner traffic, you develop a habit to just ignore all of them.
To this day I have yet to have a single strategist ever suggest something that would help my clients spent less while getting more sales (their ultimate goal), all they do is push shit advice to spend more.
Just curious… how do you get in touch with someone at Google if you wanted to pitch an idea?
This is similar to product companies who go channel first as a reason to a kill sales team off but then have no SME to actually facilitate sales from partners, charge for training, and push emails in circles.