Google Gets a Barely Passing Grade with the BBB – For the Want of a Nail…
Like many other SMBs, I have no love lost on the Better Business Bureau. Paying them to vouch for what I always considered my basic responsibility of being honest seemed inappropriate. They strike me in the same vein as our current political system: you have to pay to play.
But they do sit in the middle of the swirl of complaints about companies and can provide the consumer with some sense of whether a particular company has an unusual number complaints or perhaps has settled with the government . Thus while I refuse to pay them, they are not completely without merit. The BBB can spot trends and provide some relative idea about the quality of customer service that a company offers (how many complaints) and how the company handles them when they do get them (resolved or not). Google has also “blessed” them as a citation source for local (although an expensive one).
So when a reader sent me the link to Google’s BBB rating I approached it with my typical objectivity towards Google ( 
) and the aforementioned caveats. I decided to compare Google to a range of tech companies (Apple, Hewlett Packard & Microsoft) and several companies in mobile (Verizon, ATT) to see how they faired and so you can put Google’s customer service level in perspective.
Drum roll please… Here are the results in order of the BBB grade:
| BBB Listing | Company Rating at the BBB | |
| Yahoo! |  |
|
 |
||
| AT&T Mobility |  |
|
| Hewlett Packard |
 |
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| Apple Computer |
 |
|
| Verizon Wireless |  |
|
| Google, Inc. |  |
Here is what the Better Business Bureau had to say about Google:
Our complaint history for this company shows that the company responded to and gave proper consideration to most complaints. However, more than one complaint is unresolved meaning the company failed to properly address the complaint allegations or their response was inadequate.
The bulk of the issue apparently is the fact that Google has not responded at all to 47 complaints. They were not judged on whether they satisfied the complaint, not whether they complied with their agreements… to a large degree, just whether they have responded. To put Google’s score of a C- in perspective, it is lower than Merchant Circle’s was (C+) until their recent campaign to upgrade their image.
Google has made a science out of making it difficult to get a problem looked at let alone solved. They have saved millions of dollars by not providing support. Most of the unhappy folks either do what I do (stamp my feet etc etc ) or they go away. But obviously, a very small percentage file a high profile complaint with the Better Business Bureau. There were 637 over the past 36 months and all Google has to do is respond to every complaint. How friggin’ hard is that? The bar has been set very low here, and yet they can’t get over it. It is hard to find too many companies, rated in the BBB, that rank at this level with Google.
The situation reminded me of a quote from my favorite philanderer Ben Franklin:
“For the want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for the want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for the want of a horse the rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the enemy, all for the want of care about a horseshoe nail.”
If Google represents the best of the “new economy” God save us and them.
Update: for a view of the reporting on Google’s previous and even worse scores see Barry’s article here.
Google Places Reviews Being Lost – Houston We have a Problem!
Google Places seems to have again misplaced reviews in significant quanties. The forums are loaded with complaints particularly during the past 24 hours with 5 of the last 10 postings in the forums being about missing reviews (here, here, here, here, and here).
Reviews for a small business are a very sensitive area. Initially most SMBs are hesitant to engage in the process for fear that they won’t be liked and their warts will be visible for all the world to see. Once they do engage in the review process they become the ultimate proud mother hen, protecting their reviews as if they were the palace guards and the reviews were the crown jewels. It in area of great angst for many and Google’s poor handling of them brings down a stream of complaints and insults like no other area in the forum.
Google Places has a long history of loosing reviews. It usually occurs when there are large changes occurring. Often times they return after several weeks although in my case it has been 3 months without seeing them on my listing.
Exactly why reviews are lost but business listings are not, implies that the information is kept in a different index. When there is a major upgrade they end up needing to be reassociated with the cluster. (At least this my theory and for what it is worth, publicly embraced by Google).
Regardless of the cause, it appears to be a systemic weakness in the architecture of Places. It is also a weakness that is noted by many a business who readily point it out. It is strange to me that Google would leave such a weakness so visible if for no other reason than a fix would quiet the rioting hordes.
So, what exactly can a business do if their reviews go missing? What tactics can help in this situation?
1- Google Places and Maps is a frustrating arena because of problems like this. The main thing to do is to take a breath and realize that usually, sooner or later, they will return. Don’t waste your time lamenting the fact that they are missing. Oh, ok lament a little but don’t put any real energy into the problem as the issue does not appear to affect ranking.
2- Keep an eye out for listing replication in the index. Many times, particularly in the medical and legal fields, a second record will appear in the index and “steal” some of the reviews. This creates a whole other set of problems that I won’t address here but at least you know where they went (see #1).
3- Be sure that you are getting reviews from a range of sources. Usually Google doesn’t seem to lose both in house and 3rd party reviews at the same time. If you have taken the time to get reviews at CitySearch, Yahoo, etc etc, they will still be there when your Google reviews disappear and vice versa.
4-Don’t be mucking with your business name. Changing your name can cause your cluster to become disoriented leading to a host of problems from mergings to lost reviews. Name is one of the critical glues holding your cluster together.
5-Read #1 and take a deep breath. You worked hard to deserve and get those good reviews but at least your favorite aunt isn’t dying. It is important but put this in perspective.
Good luck!