I wish the modern world wouldn’t send me into a panic quite as often as it does. I was just out having a relaxing dinner when I got an email from Google with the scary subject line: “Your Google Ads account was canceled.”
And that subject line was followed by several paragraphs of information that I didn’t understand at all. And it kept repeating that I had cancelled the account, and because I had cancelled it, there were various consequences and things I needed to do. Yet, I hadn’t cancelled it. I hadn’t done anything. I didn’t even know that I HAD a Google Ads account. It’s not like I would deliberately cancel something I wasn’t even aware I had.
So my body instantly goes into panic mode, like I’m being attacked by a grizzly or a great white shark. I think my Google account has been hacked and I’ve lost control of my Google account and YouTube channel. This panic is worse because the email talks about how I’m still responsible for any billing or outstanding payments. My heart rate goes through the roof, and now I can’t do anything, can’t even eat, until I race back to my laptop so I can go online and figure out what is happening.
It turns out that it probably wasn’t anything at all. Google Ads is separate from Google Adsense. They’re two separate things. You use your Google Ads account when YOU purchase ads to put on the Internet. And I don’t ever do that, so it’s not an important account. Of course, that doesn’t explain why I got an email saying that I had cancelled it. And when I went to my Google Ads account, I found a few buttons that indicated that I could reactivate this account if I wished. So I did. I didn’t understand what I was doing or even why, but the scary red buttons and notifications eventually disappeared. So I guess it ended well.
But this happens to me at least once a week. I get a steady flow of these notifications and emails, genuine or fake, that seem like huge emergencies, and my body goes into fight or flight panic mode. I feel stressed out all the time because my entire online existence feels like it is under constant attack. Something goes wrong and needs to be fixed weekly, if not daily, and I generally don’t understand any of it. I’ve started to wonder if all this stress is leading up to a giant heart attack or is at least taking years off my life.