For my PPC management clients I have always touted the fact that because we are a Google Adwords Certified Partner Company we have a direct phone line to speak with a human being at Google.  Google has recently put a huge emphasis on local search and in more ways than one. Rather than go into the details of all of the changes, I will stay focused on the one change that to me is HUGE!  Google is giving out their phone number. They are reaching out to the meager budgeted, small businesses in small town USA.  We help a client show up on the Google Map in Salem, Oregon.  Just to day I got the following email from Google reaching out with a special offer they have been pushing for a few months now:

So what’s the big deal, you ask? Well, do a Google search for “Google’s phone number.”   You will see that their number is buried about 7 results down, and the phone number is provided by Yahoo!  And not even directly from Yahoo, it is from Yahoo Answers where a guy shares a number he has been given by Google.

I am personally very excited that Google is being more proactive about Local Search and the little guy in small town America.  I don’t blame them for dealing with all of the deep pockets in big, corporate America first, just refreshing to see them reach out and give out the phone number to Google.

By the way, I called the number, you do get an operator, not a live human (so it is not as cool as the phone number they have given us permission to call), but with patience, you can get through to a Googler.