In-House vs Third-Party Reps
Turn the clock back 5+ years and most advertisers spending over a certain threshold would be allocated a dedicated Google Ads rep. Someone helpful with whom you could discuss your account and they would work on understanding the business goals and objectives.
Google has an extremely high spend threshold for you to be assigned an in-house Google rep, the higher the spend, the more important your account is to them. However, even if your account is spending over $1m per week and you are assigned a Google rep, this may not be for long as this is decided by Google every quarter and your in-house Google rep may no longer be allocated to your account in month four.
If you are lucky enough to get a Google rep, then you are likely to benefit from valuable strategy sessions where your business goals are at the centre of the discussion.
If you’re running Google Ads campaigns and not spending above their in-house rep threshold, and let’s face it, that will be the vast majority of advertisers, then you will probably have had contact from a ‘Google Account Strategist’ to discuss the performance of the account.
Many third-party marketing firms are working on behalf of Google and what they don’t tell you is that this is a sales call. Ultimately, they want you to increase how much you spend on the Google Ads platform.
If the representative you speak to is experienced in Google advertising and can provide recommendations that are fully in line with your campaign objectives then increasing your spend could be a good thing, more spend = more leads or sales. But be careful.
You know your business better than anyone else, so if their recommendation doesn’t feel like the right thing for you then you need to ignore it. Trust your instincts. Whilst some of their recommendations may have some legitimacy, always remember that their priority is Google’s bottom line, not yours.
Who Are Third Party Reps?
Third party reps from multiple companies are contracted by Google to manage client relationships, all of which are incentivised based on KPIs that ultimately increase how much you spend with Google.
In the best Twitter (X) thread we have read in months, Boris Beceric (@BorisBeceric), a freelance Google Ads consultant, applied for a position at Teleperformance, one of these third-party companies that work on behalf of Google to manage client relationships.
In summary, Boris found during the application process that:
- No Google Ads experience is required for the role.
- Whilst there is initial training, this is mainly sales related.
- As a rep with Teleperformance, you have a portfolio of over 300 accounts to manage.
- The wage is 24K per year with an additional bonus of 4K per year based on hitting KPI targets.
So, let’s break this down and explain what that means for your account to have someone like this managing the relationship between you and Google…
- No Google Ads experience is required for the role.
These are likely to be junior roles for people who have no experience with Google Ads whatsoever. They will be told about ‘best practice’ methods but will likely not know how the recommendations they implement will impact your campaign performance or the goals that you are setting for your campaigns. - Whilst there is initial training, this is mainly sales related.
They are essentially employing sales staff for Google; they are being trained to influence the amount you are spending in your Google Ads account. They are making money for Google, not for you as an advertiser. This can lead to pushy ad reps and challenging conversations between agencies and clients. - As a rep with Teleperformance, you have a portfolio of over 300 accounts to manage.
Over 300 accounts! How can they possibly understand the business objectives and goals for multiple campaigns for that many accounts? - The wage is 24K per year with an additional bonus of 4K per year based on hitting KPI targets.
Their target is a significant part of their salary, so they have a clear motivation to hit these targets and make more money for Google. No matter what the cost to you.
The full thread from Boris is here:
What Should You Do?
Some recommendations could be useful. There may be something not working in your account that could’ve been missed and it’s good to have another pair of eyes look at it at least.
The Google reps will often ask you to schedule a call, that way they can make the adjustments with you live on a call. Instead, we would recommend that you have the representative email their recommendations to you. This allows you to spend more time reviewing the suggestions and also gives you the opportunity to ask others for a second opinion if needed.
Do not let them make any changes to your account. Review them yourself and apply, if necessary, when you are ready. If you’re applying more than one recommendation, then don’t make all of the changes at once. If you do, you will have no idea which of the changes has made a positive or negative adjustment to the performance of your campaigns.
Our Experiences
A lot of PPC management agencies (ourselves included) have experienced these account strategists going directly to the clients, even after the agency has dismissed the recommendations.
In one example, a client has reported to us that their Google Strategies was noticeably forceful in their attempt to have the client apply the recommendations that would lead to budget increases and more irrelevant traffic.
When optimising the campaigns for another client, we noticed some drastic changes very quickly, when investigating we found that a Google rep had switched ‘auto-apply’ on for all possible recommendations stating [with user permission]. Our client had no recollection of emailing or speaking with anyone at Google during this time.
Check out more insight from Ashwin at Optmyzr in this great article, there are clear examples of some good and bad experiences with Google reps: https://www.optmyzr.com/blog/google-ads-reps/
Final Thoughts
In summary, the ugly truth about Google Ads Representatives reveals significant concerns for advertisers. While having a Google rep may promise valuable insights and advice, it often comes with a hefty price tag.
Third-party reps, often from companies contracted by Google, manage client relationships, but their large portfolio, lack of Google Ads experience, and sales-driven training only hinder their ability to understand individual advertisers’ campaign goals.
Our experiences, alongside those of other PPC management agencies, reveal the relentless drive by Google strategists to increase budgets, sometimes using underhand tactics that may not benefit our clients. Despite these practices, Google maintains its domination over the search market arena, with advertisers relying on the platform for sales and lead generation. This power dynamic highlights the importance of vigilance, independent decision-making, and regular account monitoring of your Google Ads campaigns.
As an advertiser, you should make sure that you are either in control of your Google Ads strategy or have a reliable and trustworthy agency managing this for you. Also, with the news of Google being on trial for antitrust allegations from the US Justice Department (link to https://searchengineland.com/google-search-antirust-trial-hearing-updates-431977 for more information), now more than ever it is vital to ensure you are generating leads from multiple channels. Not only Google but also utilising other digital channels such as Meta, Microsoft Bing and Amazon, as well as backing this up with email marketing and direct marketing where possible.
If you need support in any issues related to your Google Ads campaigns or a digital marketing strategy, Get in touch or call 0115 880 0211 Our experts are on hand and willing to help.
