The King William Hotel, formerly the Ambassadors Hotel, has been in the Adelaide CBD for over one hundred years, but technical issues with Google have meant that until last month the pub did not exist online.
Owner Darren Brown, who has been running the King under the new name for the past 18 months, fostering live music through its new basement hotspot Velvet Underground, says he tried every avenue he could think of before going to the media.
Brown told ABC Radio Adelaide that the pub was “basically invisible” as most consumers now rely on the search platform.
A search on its previous name showed the pub as permanently closed, while a search under its current moniker found only similar business names at other locations.
Without being visible on Google, he realised any further marketing activities would likely be redundant.
“The impact to business is immeasurable, because how do you put a dollar figure on the fact that people haven’t been able to find you, or, the worst thing in the world is they are confused on the basis of when they try to search for you,” he told ABC Radio Adelaide.
For ten months, navigating Google’s automated system had been a nightmare for the proprietor.
Tild Ricort, director of Purpose Digital Marketing said this was a common issue, with almost ten per cent of her clients facing similar challenges.
For any business, not having a visible profile can be detrimental, as both potential customers and services such as Uber rely on Google.
“It’s very possible he could have lost a lot of money just by not existing on Google,” she told ABC radio Adelaide.
Ricort believes Google needs better processes for dealing with problems when things go awry.
While Brown had lodged a dispute with the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO), and considered legal action, it was not until his story made the news that any action was taken by Google.
Within hours the King William Hotel was visible through the tech giant, and the following day Brown received numerous calls from its representatives.
Ombudsman Bruce Bilson reported to the ABC that the number of small businesses experiencing similar issues with Google has been steadily increasing.
“Digital platforms need to urgently lift their game and provide clear, appropriate and easily accessible help for small business — with a real person they can talk to,” he stated.
In a similar vein, former SA Health researcher Janice Duffy, who won defamation cases against the tech giant twice, said she also found it difficult to communicate with the company.
She believed the only way to elicit a response from Google was to involve the media.
“Google has the ultimate power. Absolute power. Businesses live and die by Google,” she added to ABC radio.
“If someone is not on Google, then they don’t exist.”
