A year ago, Google began offering email support to AdSense publishers, which was a big deal. They have even tested phone support but that didn't work out. Now they are offering live chat support to some AdSense publishers between certain business hours.
A WebmasterWorld thread has publishers, a bunch of them, claiming they see the new chat feature. I do not see it this morning, but it is only 8am EDT and I doubt the support hours will start until at least 9am EDT or even maybe 11am EDT because Google is on pacific time.
That being said, some publishers are being notified about the enhanced support while others are not but are seeing the feature.
Here is the email some publishers have received:
New! We now offer direct chat consultation for our publishers. You can chat with a support representative Monday through Friday from 11am to 12pm (PST).Help us categorize your issue using the choices below. With this information, we'll quickly guide you to a solution. If the resource we provide does not resolve your issue, you'll see a button to Email or Chat with a member of our support team directly.
It isn't exactly new, I spotted a blog post from May about chat support with screen shots to prove it.
I am sure this will be liked by publishers who have access to it.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
