According to reports at MediaPost (and elsewhere), Chad and Ryan Steelberg, the sibling duo that founded dMarc Broadcasting, have left the company.  dMarc was purchased by Google last year in an attempt to combine technologies into an automated radio advertising system similar to Google's AdWords service.  So far, Google Audio Ads (the name of the integrated system) has yet to really do much.

The slow performance of the company since Google's acquisition is one of the reasons being cited as a determining factor in the brothers' decision to leave.  As part of the deal, the compensation the founders received from Google would be based on performance.  While over $1 billion in performance-based dollars were offered, MediaPost reports that the brothers are more likely to take about $200 million out of the deal.

The other, and arguably more significant, reason for the departure seems to be based on differences between the two groups on the way the company should be run.  dMarc traditionally employed a staff of representatives to help explain the product to potential and existing customers.  Google, on the other hand, prefers to keep their "representatives" behind computer screens and let the product sell itself:

I can't really say I'm surprised.  Google does business in a very different fashion that most companies.  They're very hands-off in their approach to customer service.  Instead of giving people a place to call or a person to talk to, Google prefers to publish pages of documentation and let folks figure things out for themselves.  It's hard to really argue against the approach, though.  It's worked pretty well for them so far.

But that doesn't mean Google couldn't benefit from that "human touch".  The dMarc guys were used to providing customer service in the traditional sense of the word.  Most companies that offer products or services have representatives that assist customers with the use of their product.  But Google doesn't.  Sure… you can leave messages in forums or send emails.  They even have a local number published on their contact page (note the absence of a toll-free number).  I've never called Google.  But I seriously doubt I could call them up, ask for help with one of their products, and get anything more than a referral back to documentation and support forums.

A lot of things about Google's business is different, and that's fine.  But looking at their customer support from a psychological standpoint shows that being "different" isn't always a good idea.  People want interaction.  Especially when they're having a problem.  If you're stuck, and you need help, do you want to write an email or a forum post… and then wait for a response… only to get answers like this:

That was the response Google gave to one media source who contacted them about this story.  What does that even have to do with the issue?  It's hard to confront a company about something when you can only really do it through the Internet.  There's no guarantee they'll even respond.   But when you can call them up, or stop by, and have a human-to-human conversation with them, it's easier to get answers.

Google wants the entire world to be digital.  They want to store and catalog all the world's information.  They're allll about the Internet and digital technologies.  But they've taken it too far.  I don't blame the dMarc guys at all for jumping ship.  As far as major companies go, Google offers terrible customer service.  And when you come from a company that's used to offering good customer service, that shift has to be frustrating.

Other companies out there hoping to be snatched up by Google… take this incident as a warning.  Google does things their own way.  That way might work.  But it doesn't mean you'll be happy with the results.