The Day Google Called


Even the big boys make mistakesHere’s a true story.  One day about two months ago Google called: 

One day not long ago we got a call in the office. My husband looked at the caller ID and said, “Hey, this says Google is calling. Can that be? Or is it some telemarketer spoofing Google?”

In fact, it turned out to be Google. Calling me.

Yes, I really got a call from Google. Out of 300 million people in the United States, Google had chosen to call li’l ole me.

Google called to admit an error — something that even the smallest tech startup might experience.  Yet, even though they were admitting a problem, I ended up being impressed.  Read:   Google Called. Really!


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Anita Campbell Anita Campbell is the Founder, CEO and Publisher of Small Business Trends and has been following trends in small businesses since 2003. She is the owner of BizSugar, a social media site for small businesses.

8 Reactions
  1. I can’t believe this. Is google really calling people to admit their errors. It’s something very interesting and I wish one day I also get a call from the SE giant.

  2. Hi Navtej,

    I assure you, this is for real. This is a 100% true story, and it happened a few months ago.

    We were rubbing our eyes when we saw the caller ID. We couldn’t believe it at first, either.

    I doubt that Google would have called if it had been an ordinary mistake. It was only because the mistake left a website open to a security breach that they called.

    Also, they had first sent a number of emails and put a big red alert on my Website Optimizer / AdWords control panel.

    We had actually removed the code, but had not closed out the Optimizer test in the control panel. That is why they kept escalating their attempts to reach me, finally on the phone.

    Anita

  3. That is very impressive. Not only to admit a mistake on their part but to protect the security of your site. It’s nice to know they are on top of things and will take action to correct problems.

  4. Very impressive indeed. Google has built up a great reputation. Hope they can keep it this way!

  5. I wish Google would call me! Now about those rankings, Google …..

  6. Anita,

    What a great story! I laughed out loud at the part where you think they’re getting ready to “lower the boom.”

    I wish Google would call ME and tell me where my Adsense PIN went off to. I’ve tried to reach them to no avail!

  7. Yes, Dina, it was interesting getting the call from Google. But again, I think they called because it was a security issue. I don’t think they call for other purposes. 🙂

  8. Hi Anita,

    Yes, I got that. 🙂 I was making a joke that contained a bit of truth (I’d really love to get my PIN thing resolved).