Small businesses rely on Google to acquire customers, but struggle to reach the tech giant when they need it.

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Arborist Scott Gardner of Vista Tree Management helps a team member up a tree by securing a rope in Toronto in June. When the Toronto-based company's Google Business profile was suspended, owner Michael Kenins suffered about $61,800 in lost sales, based on sales for the same period before the suspension. Christopher Katsaroff/The Globe and Mail

Canadian small business owners struggle to receive timely support from Google when issues like misleading reviews, suspended profiles, and expired business hours make it difficult to reach customers.

Trapped in a maze of drop-down menus and email forms, and in a competitive online marketplace where maintaining search visibility and positive reviews is key, some entrepreneurs say the lack of in-person customer support available through the big tech companies' platforms is holding them back.

Michelle Auger, senior policy analyst at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said there's no easy way for small businesses to ask Google for help. Based on feedback from members of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Auger said complaints reported by small business owners across the country are widespread when it comes to getting quick, non-automated responses.

They're really at the mercy of whatever Google gives them, she said.

Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

The rapid growth of giants like Amazon.com and Walmart, as well as factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, are forcing more small businesses to invest in building their online presence. The Canada Consumer Finance Institute (CFIB) reports that between 2018 and 2020, the number of Canadians shopping online increased by nearly 50%. In 2023, more than half of small business owners surveyed said they intend to continue to increase their online sales.

But Google's near-monopoly on online search continues, meaning that growing an online presence means small business owners are more reliant on search engines to ensure a steady stream of income. Vas Bednar, executive director of McMaster University's Master of Public Policy and Digital Societies program, said not being able to be found affects a business' discoverability and often calls into question its legitimacy.

If a business doesn't have its own website, it's like, “Does it even exist?”, she said.

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Michael Kenins works to tie down and cut off dead branches from an oak tree in Toronto on June 26. Christopher Katsaroff/The Globe and Mail

Toronto-based arborist Michael Kenins said his small company, Vista Tree Management, lost about $61,800 in sales when its Google business profile was suspended, based on sales for the same period before the suspension.

Kenins said that after spending three years building his company's online presence, his battle with Google began suddenly at 5:30 a.m. on June 5. After unsuccessfully trying to merge his company's duplicate listings with his current listing, he woke up one day to a notice that his business profile had been temporarily removed.

“I thought, 'Well, I better dispute it,' which was obviously a mistake. I'd never heard of a Google suspension and we've been doing it for years, changing addresses and all, and never had any issues,” he said.

Kenins said he quickly submitted the necessary dispute documents and was told he would hear back within three to five business days. His company profile wasn't reinstated until 22 days later. Meanwhile, Vista received only 53 of the 125 quotes it expected, Kenins said.

Kenins is proud of the profile his company has built on Google. Several other arboriculture companies compete for work in the Greater Toronto Area, but Vistas' 4.9-star rating from 71 reviews sets it apart, he said. When Google suspended Vistas, he worried that its positive online image would be damaged forever.

Kenins said there was no Plan B. Vista is searchable on the neighborhood networking site Nextdoor, and Kenins said he has paid for advertising on Bing, Facebook and Instagram, but none of them have had the same traction as Google.

“We don't have the financial muscle or expertise to leverage other marketing channels to make up for the losses that Google brings,” he said.

Kenins said not being able to reach a human voice at the tech giant throughout the ordeal left the company in a vulnerable state.

He said he literally has no idea how long it will take, no way to contact Google to fix the problem, and no ability to change the situation.

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Kenins said that after spending three years building his company's online presence, his battle with Google began suddenly at 5:30 a.m. on June 5. After unsuccessfully trying to merge his duplicate listing with his current one, he woke up one day to a notice that his business profile had been temporarily removed. Christopher Katsaroff/The Globe and Mail

The loss of the ability to speak to a live person on the phone isn't unique to Google, Bednar said. Phasing out this kind of customer support is becoming a more common trend in some markets. Flair Airlines and WestJet, for example, charge customers a $25 fee if they want to book a flight over the phone rather than using their websites.

The decline in customer support is happening in the broader context of pushing everything back onto consumers, she said.

Despite his profile eventually being restored, Kenins said he expects to receive better support from search engines that publicly acknowledge their dominance in the online world.

“It's shocking to me how much we depend on Google, yet the company appears to have no care or concern about stewardship of its own products, which have such a profound impact on the lives of the people it serves,” he said.

Auger said part of Google's problem is that there is no industry watchdog to which it can lodge complaints. After the federal government amended the Competition Act on June 20 to broaden the scope of abuse of dominant positions by large companies, Auger said he hopes an ombudsman-like role will be introduced next.

There's no one policing the online space to make sure these giants are competing fairly. There's no one monitoring what Amazon or Google are doing with their business models, Auger said.

Similar to how the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission acts as an administrative tribunal for the industry, Auger said it might be beneficial to have such a body for the online world to improve the speed at which problems can be resolved.

I believe there needs to be a level playing field in the online marketplace and that small businesses have a fair chance to compete.

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