Google Ads – When Clicks Cost a Fortune
We’re seeing sharp increases in cost-per-click across most industries this year. For smaller budgets, that means strategy matters more than ever. Automated bidding strategies like Max Conversions can work brilliantly—if your account has a solid history of performance. But if you’re still building data, it can burn through budget without delivering real results.
For example, if switching to Max Conversions causes your average CPC to jump from $6 to $25—and your daily budget is only $30—it can drastically limit how often your ads are shown and how much value you get from each campaign.
Google doesn’t want us to focus on CPC anymore—they want us focused solely on conversions. And in theory, that makes sense. Who cares about cost per click if you’re getting sales? But in reality, this strategy often only works for well-established campaigns with consistent conversion data and a decent daily budget.
Here’s what we recommend:
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- Start new Search campaigns on max clicks with controlled keywords.
- Start PMAX campaigns on lower budgets and slowly increase once conversions are established and stabilised.
- Don’t rely solely on automated bidding unless you’ve got strong conversion history and consistent cost per lead/sale.
- Focus on your highest-value campaigns or audiences and cut the rest.
- Revisit keyword and match type strategies regularly—especially if budgets are tight.
If your budget hasn’t changed but your CPC has, it’s time to rethink how you’re spending.
Ask your account manager to do a YOY CPC comparison.