Google reps contact me for accounts I've never seen

dusting

Lately, I've been getting more invites from Google reps-mostly overseas, some US-based-for accounts that aren't mine. Sometimes they even include the CID in the email. this hits my inbox three or four times a week now. i know it's fairly harmless since you can't really get anything useful from those calls anyway, and you do need to verify ownership. plus their advice is generic garbage. But it's still unsettling. How do they have my email tied to accounts I've never touched or even heard of? A colleague pointed out it might be a data leak or just mass scraping in the hope someone bites. I'm leaning toward ignoring them like everyone else. Still, it makes you wonder about the broader data hygiene in the ecosystem-like a poorly organised directory where your name is attached to entities you never agreed to manage.

growthgeek

Standard take, but I'd argue it's even more broken than that. Google reps scrape any email that's ever touched a MCC - doesn't matter if you haven't logged in for years. It's not 'probably', it's certain. their system's a mess.

wordweaver

Oh, bless their hearts. Google reps sniffing around unsolicited is like a seagull spotting a dropped chip-they're not there to help you, they're there to make sure their beak gets fed. Their "optimisation" is just a fancy way of saying we jacked up your spend on our favourite channels.

I've had them ring me up about accounts I barely remember setting up, promising the moon. Every single time I've ignored them and stuck with my own data, I've come out ahead. Can they show me one actual improvement tied to my conversions? Never. Just a lot of vague waffle about "account structure" and "audience expansion."

Trust your gut, trust your numbers. If they want to help, they can start by proving they understand your business, not just their bonus targets.

metricsmadness

I've been getting these too. Strange how your email gets linked to accounts you've never even looked at. Smells like a data scrape or some automated outreach net being cast wide. I treat them as background noise now - the advice is the same surface-level fluff across the board. Like someone handing you keys to a car you don't own and telling you to take it for a spin. Pointless

sophiasaas

The funniest part is Google reps pretending they're your dedicated strategist, but it's all just scripted fluff. had one pitch me 'optimisation' that was basically their standard onboarding template - didn't even ask about our churn rate or LTV:CAC.

24fire

I've seen this pattern play out more times than I'd like. They frame it as a free optimisation audit, but really it's a scouting mission - mapping who owns which accounts so they can cold-approach your clients directly later. the intent isn't advisory, it's territorial. in my experience, an agency-ran account is a black box to them, they want the key. feels less like partnership and more like a fishing expedition dressed up in Google's hospitality.

bouncekiller

lucky you. google's just handing out free "help" to anyone who's ever glanced at an analytics dashboard. Weird doesn't cover it

splittester

their desperation has this frantic, almost haunting quality - chasing ghost accounts i stopped managing years ago

masoncollab

Same here - I get these emails several times a week now. Honestly feels like Google's internal sales system is just spitting out CID info from agency MCCs. not necessarily someone being malicious, but definitely sloppy with data.

What i do is forward the email to whoever I already know at Google and ask, "Is this person legit on your team?" Never grant access to a CID you're not already managing. If you want to make a difference, report the email through the Google Ads abuse contact form - helps log the pattern. the advice they give is rarely worth the privacy risk anyway.

prpro

That would make me uneasy too. even if it's just reps being sloppy, getting account IDs for businesses you don't manage points to a process that's broken somewhere.

my advice? don't engage beyond maybe forwarding the message to your actual Google contact if you've got one. Definitely don't click around or confirm anything. The unsettling part isn't the bad optimisation advice-that's par for the course. It's that your email somehow ended up linked to random accounts in the first place

analyticsjunkie

Oh, classic Google. Their "systems" are held together with duct tape and broken dreams. Had the same thing happen: some random account from 2018 pops up on my dashboard, and a rep emails me like I'm the CEO. They read off a script, have zero clue about the actual account structure, and get huffy when you say "that's not mine." Honestly, they're just working through a CRM list that's probably been recycled since the Obama administration. Confidence without competence - Google's favourite combo.

dusting

i think the nuance got buried. The point isn't about optimising accounts i own - it's that these reps are contacting me about accounts I have no access to at all. It's like being asked to manage a store you've never set foot in. Misses the entire problem

24fire

it's gotten so absurd that even the legitimate ones just get ignored now. Sort of like that noise floor you stop trying to filter.

dusting

Been down that road. Booking the call just to tear into them feels cathartic, but honestly it's like shouting into a void - the rep is just the messenger. the real target isn't listening

24fire

I've watched this dynamic play out across multiple accounts. The reps will reach out to your client directly and begin working around you - it's almost predictable. Best to have a candid conversation with the client early, laying out exactly how these people operate. Fundamentally, they're salespeople dressed as partners, and their default suggestions can quietly undermine a stable account's performance.

dusting

Given the client in question isn't even mine to begin with, I'd say that's a fairly safe bet. It's like being asked to advise on a house you've never set foot in - maybe the fundamentals are fine, but you're missing the lived experience. google reps can be useful, but without ownership of the account history, optimisation feels more like guesswork dressed as data.