Tell HN: Google bot suspended our startup's email with 0 human recourse
5 comments
My basic rule is this: Don't use cloud services if you're not big enough to have a dedicated account manager and can get customer service. This means spending like $10k/mo on the big clouds.
I don't use GCP, AWS, etc for these reasons. I had a similar algorithmic flag shutdown a previous startup running on GCP and it destroyed the business.
I do have GMail and GSuite for my current business, but I have everything backed up outside of Google and can switch to a new provider pretty quick by changing my MX records. I could use an alternative but I do like GSuite.
I don't use GCP, AWS, etc for these reasons. I had a similar algorithmic flag shutdown a previous startup running on GCP and it destroyed the business.
I do have GMail and GSuite for my current business, but I have everything backed up outside of Google and can switch to a new provider pretty quick by changing my MX records. I could use an alternative but I do like GSuite.
Not quite the same issue but we have had concerns about Google's business model and how it conflicts with ours. Google is a data collector and seller - that's where they primarily make money. You didn't mention why the bot flagged your account, maybe you don't even know, but I suspect in some way it was due to impacting the flow of data to Google. They protect this with a passion.
We're been moving away from Google dependencies for 6 months now - no regrets.
We're been moving away from Google dependencies for 6 months now - no regrets.
> As founders, we are encouraged to build infrastructure on top of massive ecosystems like Google
By whom? As founders, you should be making you own decisions and be entirely accountable for the results. Which means you should vehemently reject any vendor who has no customer service communication mechanisms. And if someone is encouraging you to do otherwise, they are working for their own agenda, not yours.
By whom? As founders, you should be making you own decisions and be entirely accountable for the results. Which means you should vehemently reject any vendor who has no customer service communication mechanisms. And if someone is encouraging you to do otherwise, they are working for their own agenda, not yours.
Google's bot-o-mation and lack of human response has been known for years.
It's not a bug. It's rather fundamental.
Your clients trust you. Build on a trustworthy foundation.
It's not a bug. It's rather fundamental.
Your clients trust you. Build on a trustworthy foundation.
This morning I encountered an issue that brings this exact scenario to light. I have been building a consulting agency and relying on Google for communication infrastructure. Today, when trying to access an account, I was informed that it was frozen. Not by a hacker, not by a server outage, but by a completely inaccessible automated bot at Google. While configuring API keys to launch a new service, Google's automated security algorithm flagged my admin account and instantly suspended it.
The danger isn't the automated flag... there should be safety checks to ensure there is not spam. However, the problem is when the system inaccurately suspends accounts AND there is NO NUMBER to reach a human being to fix it...EVEN as a paying Google one subscriber on another account, I was told that their siloed agents could not help and there was no LIVE support to fix this problem.
Thankfully, my engineering architecture runs on independent servers, so my actual SaaS platform and my clients remain 100% physically unaffected by this email lockout. But no small business should have to aggressively build redundant architectures just to protect themselves from an automated customer service failure. Interested to hear others experiences too!
As founders, we are encouraged to build infrastructure on top of massive ecosystems like Google... But when there is zero path to human support, a single algorithmic misfire can paralyze a small business, cutting off communications with vendors and clients.
Has any other founder experienced this void in customer service? The ethics around this should allow small businesses to get the same quality service as large enterprise customers. How does a founder protect their business operations when they are completely at the mercy of algorithms with no human oversight?
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7446948277373186048-a6YQ?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAkBjYQBHee6OYfbj9IrYz0nw6tFnsiNU-g