diff --git a/src/errors.rs b/src/errors.rs
index 610898f..8805778 100644
--- a/src/errors.rs
+++ b/src/errors.rs
@@ -7,3 +7,15 @@ use anyhow::Error;
 pub(crate) fn display_causes_and_backtrace(err: &Error) {
     eprintln!("{:?}", err);
 }
+
+/// Given a [`hyper::Error`], return a human-readable description.
+///
+/// This description _should_ be "low-arity", i.e., limited to only a handful of
+/// values. We use it when reporting error metrics.
+pub(crate) fn hyper_error_description_for_metrics(err: &hyper::Error) -> String {
+    // HACK: We know that the current version of `hyper` puts a low-arity
+    // description before ":", but follows it up with variable text.
+    let display_err = err.to_string();
+    let cut_at = display_err.find(':').unwrap_or_else(|| display_err.len());
+    display_err[..cut_at].to_owned()
+}
diff --git a/src/geocoders/smarty/client.rs b/src/geocoders/smarty/client.rs
index 08a4437..eb62402 100644
--- a/src/geocoders/smarty/client.rs
+++ b/src/geocoders/smarty/client.rs
@@ -6,12 +6,13 @@ use std::{env, str};
 use anyhow::{format_err, Context};
 use futures::stream::StreamExt;
 use hyper::{Body, Request};
-use metrics::{describe_histogram, histogram, Unit};
+use metrics::{counter, describe_histogram, histogram, Unit};
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use tracing::instrument;
 use url::Url;
 
 use crate::addresses::Address;
+use crate::errors::hyper_error_description_for_metrics;
 use crate::geocoders::{MatchStrategy, SharedHttpClient};
 use crate::unpack_vec::unpack_vec;
 use crate::Result;
@@ -130,7 +131,16 @@ async fn street_addresses_impl(
         .uri(url.as_str())
         .header("Content-Type", "application/json; charset=utf-8")
         .body(Body::from(serde_json::to_string(&requests)?))?;
-    let res = client.request(req).await?;
+    let res = match client.request(req).await {
+        Ok(res) => res,
+        Err(err) => {
+            // Errors that occur here are being reported by our local HTTP
+            // stack, not the remote server.
+            let desc = hyper_error_description_for_metrics(&err);
+            counter!("geocodecsv.selected_errors.count", 1, "component" => "smarty", "cause" => desc);
+            return Err(err.into());
+        }
+    };
     let status = res.status();
     let mut body = res.into_body();
     let mut body_data = vec![];
@@ -149,6 +159,8 @@ async fn street_addresses_impl(
         let resps: Vec<AddressResponse> = serde_json::from_slice(&body_data)?;
         Ok(unpack_vec(resps, requests.len(), |resp| resp.input_index)?)
     } else {
+        // This error was reported by the remote server.
+        counter!("geocodecsv.selected_errors.count", 1, "component" => "smarty", "cause" => status.to_string());
         Err(format_err!(
             "geocoding error: {}\n{}",
             status,
diff --git a/src/key_value_stores/bigtable.rs b/src/key_value_stores/bigtable.rs
index 7669ec7..c691d14 100644
--- a/src/key_value_stores/bigtable.rs
+++ b/src/key_value_stores/bigtable.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 //! Support for using BigTable as a key/value store.
 
 use std::{
+    borrow::Cow,
     collections::HashMap,
     time::{Duration, Instant},
 };
@@ -8,7 +9,7 @@ use std::{
 use anyhow::{format_err, Context};
 use async_trait::async_trait;
 use bigtable_rs::{
-    bigtable::{BigTable as BigTableClient, BigTableConnection},
+    bigtable::{self, BigTable as BigTableClient, BigTableConnection},
     google::bigtable::v2::{
         mutate_rows_request::Entry,
         mutation::{self, SetCell},
@@ -16,7 +17,7 @@ use bigtable_rs::{
         MutateRowsRequest, Mutation, ReadRowsRequest, RowFilter, RowSet,
     },
 };
-use metrics::{describe_histogram, histogram, Unit};
+use metrics::{counter, describe_histogram, histogram, Unit};
 use tracing::{instrument, trace};
 use url::Url;
 
@@ -205,7 +206,14 @@ impl<'store> PipelinedGet<'store> for BigTablePipelinedGet<'store> {
             ..ReadRowsRequest::default()
         };
         trace!("bigtable request: {:?}", request);
-        let response = client.read_rows(request).await?;
+        let response = match client.read_rows(request).await {
+            Ok(response) => response,
+            Err(err) => {
+                let cause = bigtable_error_cause_for_metrics(&err);
+                counter!("geocodecsv.selected_errors.count", 1, "component" => "bigtable", "cause" => cause);
+                return Err(err).context("error checking BigTable for cached values");
+            }
+        };
 
         histogram!(
             "geocodecsv.bigtable.get_request.duration_seconds",
@@ -300,10 +308,11 @@ impl<'store> PipelinedSet<'store> for BigTablePipelinedSet<'store> {
             app_profile_id: "".to_owned(), // Dave says this is what we want.
             entries: self.entries.clone(),
         };
-        client
-            .mutate_rows(request)
-            .await
-            .context("error writing cached values to BigTable")?;
+        if let Err(err) = client.mutate_rows(request).await {
+            let cause = bigtable_error_cause_for_metrics(&err);
+            counter!("geocodecsv.selected_errors.count", 1, "component" => "bigtable", "cause" => cause);
+            return Err(err).context("error writing cached values to BigTable");
+        }
 
         histogram!(
             "geocodecsv.bigtable.set_request.duration_seconds",
@@ -312,3 +321,24 @@ impl<'store> PipelinedSet<'store> for BigTablePipelinedSet<'store> {
         Ok(())
     }
 }
+
+/// Convert a BigTable error to a "low-arity" string describing what went wrong.
+///
+/// For reporting with metrics. This does not replace detailed logs, but it
+/// should give some quick ideas about what to look for.
+fn bigtable_error_cause_for_metrics(err: &bigtable::Error) -> Cow<'static, str> {
+    match err {
+        bigtable::Error::AccessTokenError(_) => Cow::Borrowed("access token"),
+        bigtable::Error::CertificateError(_) => Cow::Borrowed("certificate"),
+        // `std:io::ErrorKind` is low-arity, and Rust can at least turn it into
+        // a `Debug` string.
+        bigtable::Error::IoError(err) => Cow::Owned(format!("{:?}", err.kind())),
+        bigtable::Error::TransportError(_) => Cow::Borrowed("transport"),
+        bigtable::Error::RowNotFound => Cow::Borrowed("row not found"),
+        bigtable::Error::RowWriteFailed => Cow::Borrowed("row write failed"),
+        bigtable::Error::ObjectNotFound(_) => Cow::Borrowed("object not found"),
+        bigtable::Error::ObjectCorrupt(_) => Cow::Borrowed("object corrupt"),
+        bigtable::Error::RpcError(_) => Cow::Borrowed("rpc"),
+        bigtable::Error::TimeoutError(_) => Cow::Borrowed("timeout"),
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 66cad90..0f2614b 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ use geocoders::normalizer::Normalizer;
 use geocoders::smarty::Smarty;
 use geocoders::{shared_http_client, Geocoder};
 use key_value_stores::KeyValueStore;
+use metrics::describe_counter;
 use opinionated_metrics::Mode;
 use std::path::PathBuf;
 use std::str::FromStr;
@@ -158,6 +159,13 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
     }
     let metrics_handle = metrics_builder.install()?;
 
+    // Describe our global metrics. Other metrics are described in the modules
+    // that use them.
+    describe_counter!(
+        "geocodecsv.selected_errors.count",
+        "Particularly interesting errors, by component and cause"
+    );
+
     // Choose our main geocoding client.
     let mut geocoder: Box<dyn Geocoder> = match opt.geocoder {
         GeocoderName::Smarty => Box::new(Smarty::new(