Some Google Premier agencies began receiving a surprise message yesterday: they will no longer have dedicated contacts for their accounts.
We were made aware of this later yesterday by Jeff Ferguson via a post on Twitter:
What Information is Google Ads Providing?
Is This Happening to All Google Ad Partner Agencies?
According to follow-up questions, this will be happening to the majority of agencies, but not all of them.
The rep did not further clarify the criteria for which agencies are and are not experiencing this.
When Will Dedicated Service End?
When pressed as to whether an increase in spend would reverse this, there was no direct answer, just a reiteration that service will cease tomorrow, April 1.
Agencies affected by this can expect to receive these notifications today from their Agency Development team, if they have not already.
Why Is Google Ads Pulling This Service?
No reason was given, though the form letter stresses it has nothing to do with the upcoming changes to the Google Partners program slated to launch in June of this year.
They are encouraging affected agencies to rely on the support line moving forward, noting that “things may change in the long run.”
This indicates this may not be permanent, but currently it’s the direction Google Ads is going.
How Will This Change Likely Affect Agencies?
The hands-on relationship with assigned reps meant a dedicated person to contact for things like ad appeals, white listing into beta offerings, and a direct line for client questions.
This comes on the heels of Partner qualification changes announced in February, which included increased required spend levels, certification requirements for staff, and utilization of Google’s Recommendations in a given account.
We will continue to monitor updates as they become available.
UPDATE
A Google spokesperson provided Search Engine Journal with the following statement after publication:
“We recently made changes to Google representative support for our small and mid-sized agency partners. These changes are not related to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. They are part of a routine review where we evaluate our support level for all agency partners. Status as a premier partner does not impact their agency representative status.”
