Google isn't always No. 1

Google isn't always No. 1 - May. 3, 2005: "A new study of national advertisers and interviews with a handful of marketing agencies indicate that the Internet giant could have a customer service problem.

"Google has always been bad -- worse than bad even," said Dana Todd, the president of the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO)...

Independent media analyst Jack Myers, in his fourth annual 'customer satisfaction' survey of online sales groups, also found that advertisers aren't entirely happy with Google's service... as Google looks to broaden its services beyond paid search, Myers suggests the company first has some work to do with advertisers.

Google finished a solid No. 5 overall, better than its seventh-place finish in 2004. Yahoo! was No. 2. Of the nine categories measured, Google's sales team edged out Yahoo!'s crew in one category: product knowledge. Google finished third. Yahoo! ranked fourth.

What caught Myers's attention was Google's ranking in one of the most important categories: "responsiveness and accessibility." Google was No. 18, down from 11th place the year before...

Todd, the SEMPO president, attributes Google's poor image to the fact that the company has viewed itself as and acted like a technology company. Google has tried to automate as many processes as possible and that, according to Todd, doesn't work in the advertising world."