Google Call Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan?
Being reported in several places today is Google’s stated intention to open a “research center” in Ann Arbor, Michigan. According to the NY Times (reg. req’d) the project will house the Google Print initiative (book digitization) and roughly 1,000 employees.
But here’s what caught my eye:
Google has been scouting the city for up to 240,000 square feet of office space, according to a report last year in The Ann Arbor Business Review. Ann Arbor was among a handful of potential cities chosen from an initial list of 50, the report said.
Most of the space would be used for a technology and call center, with about 40,000 square feet needed to house the library digitization project, which has been hindered by court challenges over copyrights.
Call center? Hmmm . . . Customer support? AdWords sales/support? There are myriad uses of call centers obviously. I’ve never called Google (other than individual Google employees) but I know that Google AdWords setup has phone support. And I know that Google has done some occasional outbound sales calling. And I know the company has account executives and phone support for top accounts.
But I wonder what this call center will be doing . . .
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Greg Sterling is the founding principal of Sterling Market Intelligence, a consulting and research firm focused on online consumer and advertiser behavior and the relationship between the Internet and traditional media, with an emphasis on the local marketplace.
