How $150 Google Ads credit turned to a $557.16 bill

I don't usually make such mistakes, but I learn from them and alert others when it happens. This article is a kind of case study for those about to start or who recently started their online advertising journey using the Google Ads platform. I hope this will prevent you from any unexpected losses and help you understand how it works and what to expect. In the end, I'll share the $557.16 campaign outcome. ??

I also wish it will reach the Google Ads team, and they will improve the user experience and customer service for new clients. 

Intro

Receiving another invitation from Google Ads, I decided to give it a go, considering that this time they were offering $150 instead of the usual $100. I've always been cautious about ads platforms because I've inbuilt them into my projects (games, mobile apps and portals) and saw the number of clicks they generate. However, I haven't done much online advertising myself, so I didn't feel very confident. But having $150 in credits, what could go wrong, right? ??

From Google's message, you may read that if you spend $150, you will be compensated up to $150. If that was your assumption, as was mine, keep reading... ??

My "Hello world!" in Google Ads

I started the campaign on 1 March, followed all initial instructions and reading "Google Ads for dummies". The plan was to run it for a month or till I use $150, then analyse the results and plan future campaigns based on my findings. My setup was two callout extensions (for two different services) to generate leads and $10 as the initial daily budget (yes, yes, I was too cautious ??). Initially, I focused on QLD, Australia, and my group was a managing level for industries I identified as Ideal Clients. Here how the ads look like:

Hi-tech Dashboard and G Suggestions

My dashboard showed some impressions and even 1 click for the first two days. And then the traffic stopped. Every time I opened the URL, I saw the same numbers. 

And the costs of $1.18, assuming I still have $150-$1.18=$148.82 balance. Google suggested the campaign improvements, which I honestly followed day by day, similar to this one: 

But nothing changed, I saw the same numbers on the board, and my Google Analytics doesn't show any spikes. Sometimes I got weird calls, though. My daily routine was literally: 1) Check GAds dashboard, 2) Check GA dashboard. No spikes on Google Analytics, same numbers in Google Ads.

Where is my traffic, Google???

If you didn't spot the issue, here's the answer: every time I opened "ads", I saw the dashboard for the past period... ???♂?

Was that the case that I opened the URL with encoded dates? Nope, after some testing, I found that they probably store the dates somewhere (cookies, local store or backend?), and these dates get updated if you change the filter once. Because I didn't change them, I always saw the same period.  

I don't have a great vision, but I do have a large screen, so although I visited the dashboard every day, I didn't see this filter. Time to book an appointment with my optometrist? ??

A love message from G

One lovely morning (31 March), I got a notification mentioning that Google kindly withdrew $500 from my account. ?? That was a surprise. ?? While trying to find which service made the deduction, I accidentally made the Ads dashboard alive (after logging out/in), and finally, I found my budget, which is 2 clicks away from the dashboard, just saying ???♂?. As I mentioned, I thought the "Costs" field on the dashboard is my actual expenses.

Let's do some math

Costs vs Budget

Anyway, let's get to the numbers. According to the dashboard, my current expense is $507 (and it's still changing). Google already took $500, then I owe them $7, right? ?? Nope, my balance is $-57.16. What the.. ??

It looks like google adding GST (GST is the Australian version of VAT or similar tax) without telling you about that. Here in Australia, GST is included in the service/product, so what Google does is quite unusual. Wondering if $150 of the credit comes with GST? ?? Btw, where is the promised credit? ??

Budget Per Day

I mentioned that my daily budget was $10 per campaign for 29 days, and I followed another Google's suggestion to set the limit to $70 for the last 2 days before I cancelled my account (beliving that I still got plenty of credit, of course). Hence, 29 * 10$ + 2 * $70 = $430. How did it end up with 507 (+50GST), ~18% more than the monthly budget? As the famous meerkats say, "Simples", it looks like the daily limit got some different meaning, have a look at a few snippets from the dashboard:

Please note, the budget is not real-time. It may take a few hours before it shows the actual number.

Google, why did you charge me $500?

Over the phone, I was told that $500 was the threshold that I set myself. But because I still cannot find this option, you may assume that I didn't put anything like $500. 

I asked this question to confirm that it doesn't matter how much you spend; they will withdraw this threshold amount (deducting GST, etc.), so ensure you set the proper amount. And the other reason, if it was $400, I assume the credit would cover the leftovers. Speaking about the credit... 

Where's my $150 credit, Google?

Yep, it doesn't work as I naively assumed when signed up. Google doesn't give you dollars to try their platform. Instead, they are topping up your account with the amount <=$150, depending on how much you spent. So if you paid, let's say, $500, you may receive an extra $150 next month, which you cannot withdraw, of course.

I currently owe Google Ads $57.16, and when I asked the operator if this money can be deducted from my credit, he answered, "I don't know; the credit works differently for each account." Ok... ???♂????♂?

Campaign results

Let's speak about the most exciting part: what I purchased for $557.16 (the amount greater than a new pair of glasses for my kid...).

Google shows that there were >16,300 impressions, 72 clicks and 15 conversions. 

Calls

In fact, during the campaign, I only received 8 unrelated calls: (a new number was purchased):

• 3 calls from scammers
• 2 calls from a company that installs blinds (they probably don't communicate inside the company)
• 1 midnight call from a guy who was so drunk he couldn't speak
• 1 call if I can fix a roof (on Saturday)
• 1 call if I can help with subdivision documents

Emails

I got 0 new emails.

What about web traffic?

Google Analytics shows 58 total (not unique) users for this period.

As the campaign was only for Australia, the total amount is 36 users then. Our team was posting on social networks and sending emails to prospects, generating some traffic. So, I'm not sure if the campaign generated any traffic at all.

In the end, I got 0 relevant calls, 0 emails and no traffic for our web site. 

Would it work for my business if I add more ??

I don't think Google Ads any good for a small IT outsourcing company with a limited budget, specialising in not web-development. If your speciality is Integration, Automation & Data, Whale Hunting would be the best strategy. There are more effective ways to invest this money. 

Would I use Google Ads in the future?

Do we have other options?... And secondly, I think it should work better for product-oriented companies. Service companies should allocate a better budget, prepare different ad types and catchy websites. It doesn't work on spikes, so a smooth marketing strategy should be implemented as well. In other words, invest more ?? in a complete marketing solution, and you should be fine.

My thoughts

Being completely honest, all this experience was a disappointment. Because of the dashboard glitch (showing the exact date numbers) and GAds unwillingness to send any notifications, breaking the daily limits, etc., I lost $557 without any outcome. Was that my fault?

Huge agencies, corporations, gov, mid, large businesses utilise the platform. These guys don't care about $150 credit, and they spent ?????? on ads. So the credit promo we receive is to attract small businesses and individuals, right? In that case, shouldn't you expect these customers have a limited budget, cannot afford SEO consultants and probably don't have time/qualification to study your platform? This is especially true for small businesses which struggle most with the COVID restrictions and extra work they have to manage. So, Google, why don't you build the happy-users base by providing guided tutoring, describing the conditions clearly and developing a better user interface and customer service?

Speaking about customer service. I received a call back from google at the end of the day; thanks for being so prompt. However, the talk made me more stressed. The representative was rushing to end the conversation and wasn't supportive. I had no chance to explain the issues, and I didn't get a contact to send the details via email, no explanation about extra charges, not how the credit works. So, he could simply send me an email, "It is your fault; you should read everything properly", saving time for both of us. ??

For new customers

So what was my mistake?

I am an early user of Google products and was spoiled with user-friendly and intuitive services. I expected some alert notifications, no hidden conditions, and a properly working interface. Google Ads is different, and I shouldn't rely too much on the platform. 

If you're new to the platform:

• If you don't control it, the only update you will receive would be the bill. 
• Check your balance often; it differs from your costs.
• Change your allocated threshold to what you expect. 
• The daily limit is approximate; I ended up 18% more than my budget (add up GST to this amount). 
• Log off more often, so you don't experience the troubles I got with the "cached" dashboard.
• It takes hours to show the correct balance. Hence, timely adjust your limits.
• Don't blindly apply Google's suggestions for your campaign. Check all keywords it suggests (because they wider your audience) and other settings. 
• Seriously consider if there are better options with the same budget.
• Don't believe the headers.

For Google

Google Ads, you can do better.

• Work on your dashboards:
• Don't hide the budget; add it on the dashboard against the costs.
• The dashboard should show the current period (month or to date) every time user opens it.
• Add notifications on breaching daily/monthly budget. Weekly emails with the campaign performance, etc.
• Please avoid that shifty marketing, be clear with your promotions.
• Add a simple and guided tutorial; the basics you provide are not enough.
• Workout the daily limit so it works as it should or explain the algorithm.
• Tell customers that the GST is not included.
• Please train your customer service; you probably have an international call centre, and they may perform well for their standards. But it's a terrible experience for spoiled Aussies.

Dear reader

I would love to hear your thoughts on this, your suggestion and your experience with Ad platforms. Please comment below; let's discuss.

Could I please also ask you to share this article? I hope someone from Google Ads at the decision-making level will read it and take some actions.

Some ad, please

I'm a part of a small IT business SDCentrum.com, we're located in Brisbane and Melbourne (Australia) and specialising in Integration, Automation and Data Analytics/Engineering. If you believe it's something we can help with, don't hesitate to ping me for the best deals. ??