Can you set and forget PPC?

…

NO.

“But Justin, the platform told me I need to let the campaigns run so they get out of learning.”

(insert eyeroll here)

Guys.  I’ve been doing this a LONG time.  And while it’s true, optimizing is based on data.  And sometimes you need MORE data, meaning, you need to let campaigns run so the variables you have in play can perform, and you get “statistical significance”.  That said, the “learning period” is largely an excuse for the platform to ask you to run losing ads longer than they should run.

You see, the the platform is only viable when they sell ALL of their inventory, regardless of quality.  That is why they are pushing SO HARD for advertisers to adopt broad match, AI max, and performance max.

This doesn’t mean you are in your campaigns making constant changes, or haphazardly changing things constantly without having data.  No.  In fact, you WANT to make data-driven optimizations.  But no, the AI isn’t going to magically make your campaigns work, at least not now.  The Google and META AI regularly butchers ad formats, and targets spam traffic.  It has largely been a hinderance to performance so far, and not something that has actually helped advertisers.

So to better help you maximize your campaign ROI, and protect you from drinking the koolaide, here are 7 “warnings” you should largely ignore in your accounts:

1. “Not targeting relevant searches” – This is a new one.  They insert these next to campaigns to try to manipulate you into adding broad match keywords.  This is all this is about.  It’s just another trick to try to get you to adopt JUNK traffic.

2. “Limited By Budget” – Basically saying, “If you don’t spend more, your campaigns won’t work.” – Oh yes, since the campaigns are not profitable now, let’s increase budget!  That makes sense!  The platforms literally think you’re stupid.  The premise behind this is that if you don’t have enough budget, you won’t get enough traffic, and while it is true that optimization will go slower if you spend less, that IS true, it doesn’t mean the traffic converts lower.  Now if have a VERY restricted budget, and therefore can’t bid high enough, there can be some bit of truth to this. But this warning is PLASTERED across many accounts with larger budgets.  They just want you to spend money on low intent traffic.  That is what this is about.

3. “Add search partners” – The fact they actually recommend this, just destroys ANY credibility the platform has around recommendations.  This network is pure JUNK.

4. “Add display network” – Same as point 3.

5. “Add performance max” – similar to points 3 and 4, but a necessary evil to test.  Google is pushing AI max and performance max hard.  The products are still horrible for lead generation but there have been SOME improvements.  Therefore, test it, on a limited budget, and utilize offline data, strong creative, and relevant signals, to ensure the traffic quality is strong.

6. “Add broad match” – need I say more?  We all know broad match traffic is generally JUNK.  The only possible solution to this is combining offline data with very aggressive negative keywords, but even then, it does not stop the system from playing “whackamole” with your budget and forcing you to pay for some junk.

7. “Fix enhanced tracking” – While we are a proponent of offline conversion tracking, don’t automatically give Google all of your customers data, unless they have given you PERMISSION to do so.  Google wants ALL of their personal details from your CRM so they can collect a giant pool of 1st party data similar to what META has.  This is why they are pushing so hard for enhanced conversions, because they do not have the depth of 1st party data that their main competitor has, and they need your permission to take it.