Google Ads is constantly changing and evolving. With these changes come fresh mistakes PPC advertisers make in optimizing and managing their campaigns.
This article examines the most common mistakes made in 2024 so you can avoid making the same mistakes in the new year.
Mistake 1: Inconsistent conversion tracking setup
Optimization decisions are made from conversion data. If your conversion tracking is inconsistent, then all your data is skewed across your account.
When your conversions have different attribution methods, count types, and conversion windows, the data can be inconsistently applied across your account, making it difficult to understand the value of any click.
Sometimes you override conversion tracking at the campaign level that your tracking can be accurate while looking inconsistent at the account level, but these exceptions are not common.
Ensuring your conversion data is consistently applied across your account should be a goal for all paid search managers.
Dig deeper: Accurate tracking data: The key to optimal ad performance
Mistake 2: Ignoring exact match
Between Google’s push to use broad match, interface changes to make broad match a default match type, and even new settings to make all keywords broad match, exact match usage has declined.
However, exact match still has many uses and consistently remains the highest-converting match type for the vast majority of accounts.
Everyone should be including it among their keyword match types.
Mistake 3: Ensuring campaign settings are consistent
There are many reasons you may have custom settings by campaign.
However, when you look at all of your campaign data and you see different excluded regions, inconsistent ad scheduling, and a large variety of bid strategies, it’s time to double-check your settings.
Whenever you conduct an account audit, ensuring campaigns are properly set up is one of your top activities.
Since campaigns are often created at different times, which may be years apart, not checking the consistency of your campaign settings has remained one of the top mistakes marketers make for many years.
Mistake 4: Caring about ad strength
Ad strength is directly related to Google’s ability to control your ad’s messaging. The lower the ad strength, the more control you have over your message.
The higher the ad strength, the more control Google has over how your ads are displayed.
Our research at Adalysis (Disclosure: I’m a co-founder) has consistently found that lower ad strength ads have higher conversion rates than high ad strength ads.
There is a common misconception that ad strength affects your quality score. It does not. Ad strength is a number that can generally be ignored.
Mistake 5: Not adding your top search terms as keywords
Your ad can show when a user’s search term matches your keyword.
As match types have gotten much looser over the past few years, if you don’t have a keyword that matches the user’s search term, then multiple keywords can end up showing ads for the same search query.
When these keywords are in different ad groups that use different ads and landing pages, your marketing can become very inconsistent since the same search term can show ads from multiple ad groups.
In addition, if you don’t have the user’s search term as a keyword, then Performance Max campaigns often trump your search campaigns.
Since PMax campaigns generally have lower CTRs and conversion rates than search campaigns, this can be detrimental to your marketing.
Always add your top search terms as keywords to ensure the searcher sees the correct ad group, ad, and landing page.
Mistake 6: Using broad match with non-target CPA/ROAS bid methods
I’m not going to rant against broad match. It has its uses.
However, your bid strategy can significantly impact how effective it is for your account.
With Max bidding, which could be revenue or conversions, Google wants to get the most revenue or conversions possible regardless of your cost.
With target bidding, Google focuses on hitting a specific target you set.
Since broad match can show for various search terms, it often performs OK with targeting bidding options and terribly with max bidding options.
You should also evaluate your match type usage as you change bid strategies. I did an entire session on bid strategies that includes broad match usage at SMX, and you can see the video here.
Dig deeper: Target ROAS in Google Ads: 5 key considerations
Mistake 7: Always using old negative keyword lists
Do you have negative keyword lists you always apply without even looking at the negative keywords in the list?
In almost every audit I conduct, I see negative keyword conflicts. These occur when you block your keywords from showing due to a negative keyword.
Some negative keyword lists are over a decade old.
Companies, products, services, and user’s search terms have changed over the years, and when you add new keywords, you should ensure you’re not blocking these keywords.
This issue can be tricky to spot since these keywords can receive impressions, clicks, and conversions.
This happens when the search term isn’t the same as the keyword so that you can show ads for a wide variety of search terms; you just can’t show an ad for your actual keyword.
Always check the negative keywords you add to your new campaigns to ensure your new keywords can be displayed.
Mistake 8: Blindly accepting Google recommendations
Google’s recommendations are sometimes in your best interest. They are always in Google’s best interest.
Many recommendations are controversial, and some can even cause declines in account performance.
Some recommendations are useful, so do not completely ignore them. However, you need to consider what the recommendation will do to your account before accepting it.
Dig deeper: Google Ads best practices: The good, the bad and the balancing act
Mistake 9: Having auto-apply turned on
Did you know that Google can automatically add new keywords, add broad match versions of your keywords, and even change your bid strategy without you doing anything?
This can only happen if you have auto-apply turned on. I’ve seen Google’s auto-apply settings wreck accounts before.
All of these settings should be turned off.
If you have auto-apply turned off, you’ll see the suggested changes as recommendations so you can make an informed decision before accepting or rejecting them.
Dig deeper: Improve your Google Ads performance: 3 simple setting changes
Mistake 10: Believing AI is wiser than you
AI is like a child who wants to please others. It will give you an answer, even if it’s wrong.
It’s like a teenager who always knows everything, and you will never understand how it works.
You are the parent of your own account and ultimately responsible for its success or failure.
AI has many uses, but it is not infallible. It is excellent at math and spotting patterns, but it does not understand people, have empathy, or work well with outliers and anomalous data.
While we could consider AI smart, it has access to much data. Wisdom comes from experience.
Your brain remains your best marketing tool. It has been your best tool for years and will be again in 2025.
As long as your brain, knowledge, and wisdom evaluate your account and ensure it doesn’t make this list of mistakes, you should achieve productive results in optimizing your Google Ads accounts.
Dig deeper: AI and Google advertising: What’s next?
source https://searchengineland.com/google-ads-mistakes-avoid-449288
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