We blog about Google a lot and up until now it’s all been positive.
We’ve run across a problem we can’t fix and it revolves around the way Google handles their products. Google is successful because so much of what they do is automated. For the most part this works great as Google excels at knowing what people need and fulfilling that need in a convenient and usable online format.
The problem is that even with Google’s technical capabilities some issues still require commonsense and a human touch. In our case several clients wrote glowing reviews of Network Velocity on Google Maps. That’s great and we really appreciate it, except the clients wrote the reviews under one of our competitors names. As a result this competitor is receiving the notoriety and benefit of our client’s goodwill.
When we approached Google to fix the issue we were told that the data (the reviews) belonged to the users. This meant Google could not alter the reviews according to their stated policy that users own their data.
We understand the policy. However, in our case it doesn’t make sense. The reviews mention our company explicitly by name but are credited to a competitor! Google holds fast in their refusal to correct the bad data.
We’re disappointed. Google is a great company but they must resist the temptation to be a faceless automaton. Use some commonsense!
Google experienced a backlash of a similar nature with the release of their Nexus One phone. Google completely skipped the fact that users may have issues and need to speak with a human being to find a resolution, initially offering only email support. Google lost the human touch and the result was a Public Relations disaster.
Google needs to stay human. Even though Google is great, no technology can replace humans.
Don’t believe me? Google it, or better yet, ask a human being and let me know what results you get.
