Update (04062011):

Called Google AdWords Support (866.246.6453). Was connected to a customer service rep almost immediately. Faster than I had anticipated. “Andrea E.” confirmed that my particular issue was atypical. Words to the effect that she hadn’t come across this particular issue before. She also addressed the perpetual “Under Review” issue. She mentioned the 1-3 day promise, but when she accessed my account she saw that these ads had been “Under Review” for weeks.

email response:

Hello David,

Thank you for calling regarding ad scheduling and your ad reviews.  I do
have an update on both issues for you.

Ad Scheduling:

I talked to a specialist on our team and they have reset your time zone to
Pacific Time as it was before.  If you could please try using the Ad
Scheduler again and let us know if it works.  

If you continue to have issues we can investigate this further but we
would need your permission to try to recreate this problem in your
account.  This would require making some changes to the Ad Scheduler in
your account. If this is the case and you would like to give us
permission, simply respond to this email stating so.

Ad Review:

I have submitted a request to the Ad Review team to let me know the status
of your review process. As soon as I have an answer from them I will let
you know.

Sincerely,
Andrea E.
Google AdWords Team

Let’s see

Is Google Too Big To Care?

I’d been a Google fan for years. I had set it as my homepage, tried all the apps, talked it up to my friends and when I began transitioning into SEO work, I gobbled up as much of the voluminous free info that my pea brain could hold.

There are a multitude of reasons why Google has become the financial behemoth it is today, not the least of which is AdWords. AdWords, of course, is the Pay-per-Click web advertising tool Google offers.

Earlier this month I started a new ad campaign. I’d been working with AdWords for years. It took maybe an hour to create the campaign and come up with approximately 15 text ads.

Is It A Bump In The Road, Or A Rod In My Spokes?

Six of the Ads are “Under Review”, no problem I think, so I head over to the help page and read that Ads typically take 1-3 days to get approved. I can live with that I think…

1 WEEK LATER…

I wasn’t rushed to get this campaign online, so I figured before I spent anymore time on it, I’d let the ads get approved. Still “Under Review”? Okay, a little disappointing, but I’ll tweak the campaign a little and get started anyway.

First thing is to schedule when I want the ads to run.

No go..

The message says I can’t schedule ad placement until I set my time zone in billing preferences.

So I figure, “damn, how’d I miss that”, scratching my head…

I DIDN’T MISS IT!!

Over the course of the next several hours I begin the arduous and ultimately unsatisfying task of trying to get an obvious Google screw up fixed.

Typically you’d expect a “Contact” page would provide you, the paying customer, an opportunity to actually CONTACT the business. Especially if it’s a technical issue in which the customer has no control.

Not so…

Google’s “Contact” (in the loosest possible sense) page does not have email addresses, phone numbers, instant chats nor even a stupid form to that goes directly to Google.

No, instead they have a “Forum”. Now granted, I acknowledge that most of the time this method to solve simple problems is sufficient.

BUT NOT IN MY CASE!

2 WEEKS LATER….

Still “Under Review”?!? What? Really?

Now I’m getting angry. The putrid answers I received to my “Forum” queries directed me back to the beginning of the Help gauntlet. Huh?! Are You Not Listening? Did you not read what I asked? It was fricking Rod Serling-esque.

With a little digging, you can find a number to call, check out this post:

http://www.semreportcard.com/how-to-contact-google-customer-service/

And I’ll update this post after I attempt to contact this horrible example of American business customer service.

PROGNOSIS

Google WILL DIE if it continues to treat it’s customers in this manner. I have begun using BING and YAHOO, although heretofore I’d abhorred using anything Microsoft-related because of the inherent frustration due to their forced proprietary strategy.

But at least they run my ads.