I've worked with businesses using Google Ads since 2007 and have helped generate more than 2 million leads.
Over that time I've become absolutely convinced that the only way Google Ads is profitable is when it's part of a profitable system. The ads, landing pages, lead handling, sales process and the information fed back to Google all have to work or nothing works.
I love talking about these things.
Before you fire your Google Ads agency
If Google Ads isn't working, it's tempting to blame the person managing it. Sometimes that's justified. Sometimes changing agency just starts the same cycle again. We can talk about what a business should investigate to find out if their ad agency is actually the problem.
Why more leads can make your business less profitable
A cheap lead isn't necessarily a good lead. Poor-fit enquiries cost money to generate, cost money to deal with and take budget away from finding customers you actually want.
Where Google Ads money disappears between the click and the sale
Most Google Ads reporting stops at the lead. Businesses make their money much further down the line. We can explore what happens in between and the surprisingly ordinary problems that can make advertising look unprofitable.
What Google is actually learning from your business
Google increasingly decides who sees your ads, how much to bid and where to spend your budget. Those decisions depend heavily on the information the business gives to Google. If that information doesn't represent what the business actually values, Google can get very good at finding the wrong thing.
Can you actually tell whether your Google Ads are profitable?
Clicks, conversions and cost per lead are easy to measure. Profit is harder. We can talk about the evidence a business needs to understand whether its advertising is really working.
I've been lucky enough to have some interesting conversations about Google Ads, lead generation and running a profitable business.
You can listen to some of them below.
Anu Adegbola has been running a series in which experienced PPC professionals talk about mistakes they've made. I've made plenty and spoke about a few of them here.
From the video description: In this thought-provoking conversation, Pete Bowen and I break down what’s changed, what’s not working anymore, and what advertisers must focus on to stay profitable.
In this video, we cover:
• Why 2025 feels like the year of “no control” in Google Ads
• How Google’s push toward AI Max, broader signals, and blurred match types impacts performance
• Why universal PPC best practices are dead
• How LSAs are reshaping small business advertising
• Why campaigns stall, don’t serve, or attract the wrong audience
Key points:
Pete Bowen, an 18-year (as of this recording) PPC veteran joins me where he argues that you will see the biggest impact not by optimizing what's in Google Ads but your landing page.
We talk about the biggest mistakes we see when it comes to landing pages, the importance of speed to lead, our best follow-up strategy for contacting leads, and end with a RAPID fire Q&A round.