UNETHICAL GOOGLE ADS
February 22, 2021

UNETHICAL GOOGLE ADS

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Google Ads (formerly AdWords)

Google Ads works well around 7 months of the year, but then they arbitrarily cut your ads without telling you, and because you haven't changed anything, you don't think to check. But you do notice that your phone doesn't ring so often. The you find out that they have blocked your ads, but allow your competitors to advertise the same services. When questioned, the staff seem clueless as to why your ad is blocked but just recite back the notices appearing on the screen. This time around it took 5 days and 8 contacts to determine that Google suddenly doesn't like you to advertise what it terms as "addiction services." This includes helping people to quit smoking, which, as a hypnotherapist, I happen to be very good at. When asked why others can advertise this service but I cannot, they tell you to fill out a form.
I asked them directly if they take payments from clients to block the competition. As you would expect, they denied it. So now, even after deleting any reference to quit smoking, my ads are still blocked, and yet my competition prosper. I must be quite a threat! This recent experience has made me realise just how tenuous it is to rely on Google Ads, because they are UNRELIABLE. I also believe that they are UNETHICAL. So where does that leave me - TV, Radio, Street Signage - ANYTHING BUT GOOGLE.
  • Right now it has sent me broke because it did not inform me that it had cut my ads, and I made the mistake of relying on it.
Google Ads seemed like the most popular and the best exposed, and it is true. But if your competition doesn't like you, and they have more money, Google Ads cannot be relied upon to behave ethically.

Do you think Google Ads delivers good value for the price?

No

Are you happy with Google Ads's feature set?

No

Did Google Ads live up to sales and marketing promises?

No

Did implementation of Google Ads go as expected?

No

Would you buy Google Ads again?

No

The customer service is a joke.
No one spoken to seemed to have any insight into the problem until the 5th day of this disaster. I even had staff telling me there was no reason they could see for my ads to be cut. Yet they are cut. The issue is that, I suppose, the staff I spoke to are not involved in taking kickbacks. They are just the middle men and women, perpetuating the dishonest system.
Google Ads is not working for me AT ALL currently. Its customer service is appalling. It is unethical in its preferential advertising of certain clients over others, quite apart from the bidding that it is based on - I'm talking about competition blocking. As a small operator I guess I was getting too big for one of my colleagues, who seems to still be thriving with their Quit Smoking ads, while myself and many others have been cut.