Agency insights
Thoughts and lessons on client selection, burnout, pricing, and modernising legacy accounts, from someone who's run a Google Ads for years.
Why I never use reCAPTCHA on Google Ads landing pages
Published October 2023. Last updated July 2026.
Preventing fake leads from submitting your contact form using something like reCAPTCHA is popular but, I think it's wrong when you're paying for online advertising.
Preventing fake leads submitting the form hides the problem. It’s like putting a sticker over the check engine light on your dashboard. No light = no problem. No fake leads = no fake traffic.
If you’re paying for online advertising you need to know how much fake traffic you’re paying for. (I’ve seen suggestions that between 10% and 35% of Google Ads clicks are not from people interested in what you sell.)
A better way is to allow anyone - legit or not - to submit your form and then filter the junk out. It’s the only way to you know if you’re paying for fake leads. This is how we do it in GhostBlocker.
- Legitimate leads go into the inbox so someone on your team can start turning them into sales.
- Fake leads go into a spam folder.
If you’re concerned about fake leads you’re welcome to use GhostBlocker. It'll pay for itself from the savings you'll make from the fake leads you're currently paying for.
Most Google Ads Problems Aren't Google Ads Problems
If my writing resonates with you, I'd like to give you a copy of my book, Profitable Google Ads. The book was written for business owners, but many PPC professionals have found it valuable too.
Before you download it, what describes you best?
Related articles
The hook-to-page rule
The 8-Part Landing Page Layout That Turns Google Ads Clicks Into Leads
How I Make Writing the Company Profile Section of Landing Pages Easier
Can 2FA Reduce Contact Form Spam, and Should You Use It?
The Missing Piece on Most Service Business Landing Pages
A Fix for Low Conversions: Separating the Sale from the Paperwork
Topics you'll find on this site
Conversion tracking
Understand what happens after someone clicks your advert. Subjects include offline conversions, CRM integration, attribution, auditability and marketing instrumentation.
Essays and thinking
Articles about marketing, engineering, AI and problem solving that don't fit neatly into the other topics. These are some of the ideas and experiences that have shaped how I think.
Google Ads for lead generation
Learn how to use Google Ads to generate profitable leads. Subjects include campaign strategy, bidding, targeting, optimisation and the challenges of running lead generation campaigns.
Landing pages
Things I've learned about high-converting landing pages. Subjects include copywriting, page structure, forms, trust, conversion rate optimisation and user experience.
Lead quality
Understand why some leads become customers while others don't. Subjects include diagnosing poor leads, qualification, filtering junk leads and improving the feedback you send to Google Ads.
Sales Process
What happens after a lead has been generated determines if Google Ads is profitable. Subjects include first contact, follow-up, quoting, lead nurturing and turning more enquiries into customers.