From The Trenches
What We're Seeing Right Now
Patterns across our accounts. What's changing. What's getting harder. Common misconceptions we encounter.
Updated regularly.
Last updated: Q4 2024
Monthly Series
Things We Learned This Month
Each month, we publish what contradicted expectations, what looked good but won't hold, and what "worked" because of distortion. No spin. Just what happened.
Cross-Account Patterns
What We're Seeing Across Accounts
These patterns are emerging across multiple clients and verticals. They're not isolated incidents. They're trends.
Performance Max is eating brand budget
Across accounts, we're seeing PMax claim 40-60% credit for what would have been organic or brand search conversions. The incrementality is far lower than Google reports.
Implication:
Audit your PMax with brand exclusions. The 'great performance' may be cannibalisation.
CPCs are up 15-25% YoY across most verticals
It's not just you. Competition has increased, auction dynamics have shifted, and Google's AI is optimising for their revenue as much as yours.
Implication:
Efficiency gains now come from better targeting and exclusions, not just bid optimisation.
Smart Bidding struggles with low volume accounts
Below 30-50 conversions per month, automation is guessing more than learning. We see better results with enhanced CPC or manual strategies for smaller accounts.
Implication:
Don't force automation because Google recommends it. Match strategy to data volume.
Returning customer ROAS is inflating new customer economics
Brands with strong retention are seeing blended ROAS that looks healthy, but new customer acquisition is actually underwater.
Implication:
Segment your reporting. Know what you're paying to acquire vs. retain.
Increasing Difficulty
What's Getting Harder
Some things are genuinely more difficult than they were 12 months ago. It's not your agency. It's not you. The game has changed.
- Profitably acquiring new customers in competitive verticals
- Maintaining impression share without CPC escalation
- Getting useful data out of Performance Max
- Scaling spend without diminishing returns kicking in earlier
- Competing with vertically-integrated DTC brands
Deprecated Tactics
What's No Longer Working
Approaches that worked in 2022 are now producing mediocre results. The platform has evolved. Your strategy needs to as well.
Set-and-forget Smart Bidding
Requires active signal management and regular target recalibration
Broad match with minimal negatives
Query matching has loosened. You're paying for increasingly tangential traffic
Generic product feeds
Custom labels and product segmentation now drive most of the alpha
Monthly reporting cycles
Market dynamics shift weekly. Monthly is too slow to catch problems
Common Misconceptions
Common Misconceptions We See
These beliefs are understandable but costly. We see them repeatedly in discovery calls and inherited accounts.
Belief: "Google Ads should work immediately"
Reality: Learning periods are real. Expect 2-4 weeks before stable signals. Judging too early causes thrashing.
Belief: "Higher ROAS is always better"
Reality: ROAS and scale trade off. A 10x ROAS on £1k spend might mean less profit than 4x on £10k.
Belief: "The algorithm knows best"
Reality: It knows what you tell it. Bad conversion setup leads to misguided optimisation.
Belief: "We just need the right agency"
Reality: Agency quality matters, but product-market fit, margins, and creative are bigger factors.
See How These Trends Apply To You
Book a 30-minute discovery call and we'll show you how these patterns are affecting your specific account, and what to do about it.