I added a new listing to Google Maps and was directed to a free $600 trial google ad offer. The screen lead directly to a credit card payment that implied a small payment of $23 to activate the offer. Not so. When nearly $900 of charges appeared in my credit card / google ad statement I saw that not even one dollar of free advertising was delivered. It took hours online to find a customer service call number. They did call back after I registered a complaint email. I spent one hour on the phone to a google rep to find out what happened to my "free" offer. I think we were both speaking English, his explanations defied logic! After paying $600 - he eventually revealed - I was only eligible to receive small sums of credit - ie spend another $100, get $20 etc. Even their ad cancellation process could have had me locked into paying hundreds more. CANCEL FIRST - pay your outstanding account LAST! Google clearly applied misleading, manipulative, expensive sales funneling processes. Hundreds of "alleged" clicks, over months, just cost me money. Not even one sale.
