Agency insights
Thoughts and lessons on client selection, burnout, pricing, and modernising legacy accounts, from someone who's run a Google Ads for years.
Published December 2024. Last updated July 2026.
I recently came across the work of user experience designer Pavel Samsonov. He shared three thought-provoking questions that really cut through the fluff.
I thought you might find them as interesting as I did.
What happens when an engineer applies failure investigation thinking to Google Ads and tries to eliminate the black boxes?
Every tool or system that interacts with that lead creates a copy of some or all of the lead's personal data. But you're accountable for it
Discussions about the future of Google Ads usually start with what’s announced: new features, calling everything Max-this or AI-that. But often this is PR hype. I prefer to look at where Google continues to invest engineering effort over many years. It gives a clue to what the system will depend on in the future.
When I started with Google Ads in 2007, it was cheap. You could get away with a sloppy setup. That's not true today. Ads are expensive. You can't expect to be profitable if you haven't done everything in your power to get the setup right.
After building a lead-handling system that turned $8k in ad spend into $200k, I thought I knew what small businesses needed. I was wrong. This is the story of a good idea, a bad assumption, and what I learned about the real challenges of getting people to change.
One thing still amazes me: people pay for my advice - then ignore it completely. Sometimes they'll dismiss my suggestions without a second thought. Here's how I fix it.
Thoughts and lessons on client selection, burnout, pricing, and modernising legacy accounts, from someone who's run a Google Ads for years.
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