Google does Google Ads wrong

Google is quick to offer PPC account optimisation advice – but is it worth following? Guess what we think…?

Don't get us wrong. We love Google.

Google makes the world go round. It shows us how to get from A to B, sniffs out great shopping opportunities and teaches us how to make potato pave at three o'clock on a Wednesday morning.

Google is priceless. But it's not perfect – especially when it comes to its own pay-per-click (PPC) management tools.

That's right. Google is bad at Google Ads.

We don't mean the suite itself is buggy or bad or hard to use. It is – sometimes. But that's a story for another day.

No. We mean Google gives bad advice to its PPC customers.

At best, this advice can lead to poor performance. At worst, it can cause serious budgetary headaches for the businesses that follow it.

Here's why.

1. Google recommends broad match keywords

When you set up a Google Ads campaign, you can select from a wide range of keyword-matching options.

These affect when your ads appear for customer searches. Effectively, Google asks, "How strict should I be when serving ads for this keyword?" In response, you can answer, "broad match", "phrase match" or "exact match".

Without getting into the nitty gritty, exact match is the most restrictive and broad match is, well, the broadest.

Say you sell sausages. You've got your eye on the keyword "free range sausages" – but which matching option should you choose?

If you choose exact match, your ad will only appear when a customer searches for "free range sausages" or very closely related terms like "free range sausage" and "sausages free range".

Broad match, on the other hand, is a free-for-all. Your ad could appear for searches like "meat free sausages", "sausage dogs" and "how do I remove a sausage from my ear".

Google is quick to recommend broad match because, in its own words, it "helps you reach a wider audience without requiring you to build an extensive keyword list".

But from your point of view, broad match could mean casting a wide net and catching nothing but flotsam. After all, there's not much use in trying to sell pork sausages to vegetarians.

To make matters worse, you're paying through the nose for the privilege. Broad match means your ad gets served more often. This means more clicks to pay for – and less targeted (and thus less valuable) clicks at that.

So, Google recommends the option that helps Google get paid. Coincidence? Hmm…

2. Google's automation is awful

Google really, really wants you to use its automation tools.

On paper, it's hard to fault the company for it. Automation means saving time and unlocking efficiencies. Isn't that a good thing for users?

Sure. But you shouldn't trust a bot that makes bad decisions.

Some of Google's automation tools can be quite dangerous if you give them free rein over your account. Automatic keyword generation, for instance, can have similar effects to broad match if left unchecked.

(And somewhere in California, Google's wallet just got fatter.)

Of course, this can all be avoided if you manually sign off everything the robots try to do. But doesn't that kind of defeat the point of automation?

3. Google's optimisation score is about as useful as an igloo in Istanbul

Your optimisation score is not to be confused with your Quality Score.

For one, Quality Score is useful. It tells you how your ads compare to other advertisers and gives you actionable feedback to help you save cash and win clicks.

Optimisation score, meanwhile, is meant to act as a holistic overview of your account's expected performance. Your account is assigned a percentage, with 100% meaning "You're doing great – no complaints".

Google provides recommendations to help you improve your optimisation score. Some of these, like adding relevant keywords, constitute sound advice.

But most of the time, your optimisation score only goes up when you do things Google wants you to do. Things like adding more budget. Things that, frankly, make Google more money.

With optimisation score, Google has effectively gamified Google Ads. You see a number. You want to do things to make that number go up. It's human nature.

Unfortunately, it's also bad for your bank balance.

Why does Google give bad advice?

Let us stress, again, that we don't have a problem with Google. Google is great. We love Google. Wrap us up in Google and post us to Google in a big envelope marked "Google". Please.

But faced with the evidence, we can draw only one conclusion: Google gives bad Google Ads advice because it wants you to part with your hard-earned cash.

Google wants you to add more budget and broaden your reach. It wants you to accept its automations and target as many keywords as there are definitions in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Google wants you to take its advice in good faith. But, frankly, it's not offering this advice in good faith. It wants your money – pure and simple.

You can see this in the way Google appoints ad managers to help with your account.

It seems like a nice gesture. An expert from Google reaches out and promises to help you optimise your account and drive ROI. How thoughtful.

The problem is that these experts offer the same bad advice that Google peddles online. Increase your ad budget. Choose broad-match keywords. Switch on every automation option, cover your ears and go "La, la, la, la, la".

To make matters worse, these experts aren't even Google employees. They're employed by third parties and they get paid on commission. If they can convince you to increase ad spend, they get a bonus. Simple.

If you ever needed evidence as to where Google's priorities lie, this is it.

How should you manage Google Ads?

Google's recommendations focus on breadth of reach and scale of spend. It's big on promises and short on details.

Here at My Digital Hero, we take the opposite approach. We are extremely detail-focused because we believe this is the best way to get the biggest bang for every buck.

This means ditching broad match, for a start. We want complete control over every keyword and every penny spent. Automations are all about relinquishing control, so they can get stuffed too.

In fact, our approach is so detail-orientated that some might consider it a little old-fashioned.

We use a management method called SKAG, which stands for "single keyword ad groups".

Long story short, this method gives us granular control over every aspect of the account and allows us to achieve a great Quality Score for each ad. By keeping everything on a short leash, we can stay on top of budgets and easily control overspending.

You can't say the same for Google's approach, where a rogue broad match keyword can quickly drain ad budget and leave you swimming up Search Creek without a paddle.

Is it old-fashioned? Maybe. But our clients have entrusted us with their budgets – and this isn't a responsibility we take lightly.

So, while our approach demands a little extra time and effort, it's worth it. It consistently delivers impressive results and means we can sleep soundly at night knowing we've done the best possible job for our clients.

Do you need an expert eye to help you get more from your Google Ads budget? Our paid search optimisation specialists are ready to swoop in and help. Get in touch to get the ball rolling.