2023

What the new interface design says about Google Ads

At time of writing, the latest iteration of the Google Ads interface has been around…

Beyond Transparency. How to balance clarity and impact in Google Ads

Observe the following text, on the glass door of an Italian restaurant not far from…

Auction Antics. A sad day for Google Ads

The idea that Google’s agenda sometimes diverges from ours as advertisers is not new, or…

PPC and the Curse of Knowledge

How do you judge how ‘obvious’ a particular nugget of knowledge might be? On one…

Google Ads and Chesterton's Fence - A Cautionary Principle

I started managing a new account a few weeks ago. It has a lot going…

New Search Term Insights in Google Ads

Last week, a new segment option showed up in the keywords view: ‘Search terms match…

How to use ROAS (or CPA) targets in Google Ads

What happened in Dublin? I’ve done my fair share of grumbling over the loss of…

Mastering Incremental ROAS for Better PPC Performance

You’ve probably seen this kind of thing before… Google helpfully recommending that we ‘get more…

#3 Advanced proxy metrics in Google Ads

The Beginning of Infinity: David Deutch The E.T.-detecting cork is a particularly satisfying example –…

Google Ads Updates - Q1 Roundup

We’ve had a raft of Google Ads Updates in Q1 2023. Here’s a roundup and…

How to Test RSAs

The fluid nature of RSAs poses a challenge when it comes to rigorous testing. But…

#3 AI alignment problems in paid search

You might assume that it’s the stuff of science fiction… Runaway robots taking our poorly-specified…

Ad Slurry: The problem of low-quality inventory and how to deal with it

The problem You’ve heard it many times… PPC practitioners face a growing problem with the…

The Relevance Trap in Paid Search (and how to avoid it)

What’s wrong with relevant traffic? (as if we didn’t have enough problems battling irrelevant traffic!)…

Getting the most out of RSAs

Ad optimisation used to be pretty simple. Run 3-4 ads together Check them frequently Pause…