Google Ads

One of four search campaigns posted a $25 average CPC in a day — $400 on 16 clicks, zero conversions — while its siblings held at $10. The difference was the bid strategy: value-based Smart Bidding exposes no maximum-CPC field, and with almost no conversions it chased $100 pricing-page views up to a $63.73 click on a competitor brand term.

Two networks, one campaign, $455 and zero conversions — both on by default. Why unchecking Display and search partners doesn't stay fixed, and the recurring check that does.

On one real Search campaign, search partners ran a 15% click-through rate — five times its Google-search rate — at $1.70 a click, and converted nothing. What search partners are, why the clicks look great and convert badly, and how to turn them off.

A real keyword audit where nearly every served keyword rated "Below average" on expected CTR — a QS-2 keyword sending masking searches to a generic page, a QS-3 keyword that spent $357 for zero conversions. What Quality Score's three ratings measure, why the score doesn't set your CPC, and how to fix the rating that does.

A "search" campaign sent 59% of its impressions — 42,622 of them, $337, zero conversions — to the Google Display Network. Why Search campaigns serve on Display by default, and the one network setting that stops it.

Ten days, six match-type changes in one real account: exact-match keywords leaking money through close variants, phrase keywords spraying into vendor queries, and a cleanup that nearly killed the best lead source. What exact, phrase, and broad match actually do to spend.

A $200/day search campaign spent $350 in one day and nothing was broken. Why Google Ads overdelivery is by design, the two spending limits Google actually enforces, and the bid-ceiling change that triggered this real incident.

In one real campaign, 68% of spend ($441 of $648) went to queries hidden inside the "Other search terms" row. What that row actually is, why the hidden share gets so large, and what still works against queries you can't see.