Google: We Can't Have Customer Service Because...

Aug 24, 2011 - 9:19 am 139 by
Filed Under Misc Google

Google Webmaster Help Groups TeamGoogler, DeWitt Clinton, shared his "thought of the day" on why Google can't technically do customer support.

He shared it on Google + saying:

If you have a billion users, and a mere 0.1% of them have an issue that requires support on a given day (an average of one support issue per person every three years), and each issue takes 10 minutes on average for a human to personally resolve, then you'd spend 19 person-years handling support issues every day.

If each support person works an eight-hour shift each day then you'd need 20,833 support people on permanent staff just to keep up.

That, folks, is internet scale.

Now, of course, many people are thinking for a company that has more cash on hand than most governments in the world, what is the big deal with hiring a few more people.

But truth be told, Google has tons of Googlers who are out there just to help others. They can't do phone calls but they are in the support forums, they do spend time on blogs, they do go to social media sites and they do respond to emails when possible.

Here is a picture of some of those Googlers from 2008:

Google Webmaster Help Groups Team

Anyway, if you want to rant about it, the Google + post is public for all to chime into.

Forum discussion at Google +.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
- YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: June 20, 2025

Jun 20, 2025 - 10:00 am
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Search Volatility, AI Mode in Search Console, Audio Overviews and ChatGPT Search Quality

Jun 20, 2025 - 8:01 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google: Larger & Longer Issues Can Take Longer To Reverse In Google Search

Jun 20, 2025 - 7:51 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Troubleshooting On Blocking Content From AI Mode & AI Overviews

Jun 20, 2025 - 7:41 am
Google

Google Video Search Tests Speaker Icon With Language Label

Jun 20, 2025 - 7:31 am
Google

Google Investigating Search Clicks Leading To Translated Results

Jun 20, 2025 - 7:21 am
Previous Story: Google Webmaster Tools & GoDaddy Linkage Broken