<\/p>
Hosting my podcast, gives me a front-row seat to the unfiltered reality of our industry, the gritty, \u201cin-the-trenches\u201d reality shared by experts who manage millions in spend.<\/p>
Last year, my guests, including Greg Finn, Christine \u201cShep\u201d Zirnheld, Julie Friedman Bacchini, Andrew Lolk and Shawn Walker didn\u2019t hold back. They dismantled \u201cbest practices,\u201d called out platform biases, and highlighted exactly where the algorithms fail without human hands.<\/p>
Here are the 10 most interesting (and sometimes uncomfortable) things my guests shared last year that you can take forward for 2026.<\/p>
We need to stop pretending Google\u2019s incentives are perfectly aligned with ours. As Greg Finn and Christine Zirnheld from \u201cMarketing O\u2019Clock\u201d pointed out, Google is, ultimately, a for-profit company, and while it remains an important advertising partner, its objectives don\u2019t always perfectly align with what\u2019s best for advertisers.<\/p>
Finn put it perfectly: Have you ever noticed that the \u201cRecommendations\u201d tab always suggests raising your budget but never lowering it? That bias is literally built into the UI. With CPCs hitting record highs, \u201csuccess\u201d for the platform often just means \u201cmore revenue\u201d for the shareholder.<\/p>
And we\u2019ve seen this play out in the data. Optmyzr analyzed more than 17,000 Google Ads accounts and found no consistent correlation between a high Optimization Score and strong performance. In fact, many of the best-performing accounts improved<\/em> not by accepting Google\u2019s recommendations, but by selectively rejecting them and focusing only on fixes that actually moved CPA, ROAS, or profit.<\/p> So, the takeaway is simple: Stop treating recommendations as gospel. Treat them as upsells, because the data shows that blindly following them doesn\u2019t reliably help advertisers, but it does reliably help Google.<\/p> The consensus from Shawn Walker from Symphonic Digital, Finn, and Julie Friedman Bacchini, President & Founder of Neptune Moon & Managing Director of PPC Chat, was unanimous: AI can execute, but it cannot strategize.<\/p> Walker noted that without strict conversion quality thresholds, Smart Bidding inevitably chases \u201ccheap junk leads\u201d because they are the easiest conversions to get. Meanwhile, Julie warned about \u201calgorithm drift,\u201d where a campaign slowly expands into irrelevant search terms because it thinks it\u2019s being helpful.<\/p> Automation is necessary for modern account management, but that doesn\u2019t mean \u201cset it and forget it.\u201d Your job isn\u2019t moving bids anymore, it\u2019s designing the right layers of automation and guardrails so the algorithms work, not the other way around.<\/p> I recently tested how well AI could diagnose a drop in conversions, and it confidently identified the campaign\u2019s limited budget as the cause. The reasoning was simple: Some keywords were still receiving impressions while others weren\u2019t, so the budget must be the bottleneck. But that didn\u2019t make sense. Budget constraints usually affect campaigns broadly, reducing visibility across the board rather than selectively shutting off individual keywords.<\/p> When only certain keywords go dark, the more plausible explanation is a bidding issue. And if bidding is automated, that often indicates the algorithm deems those keywords as lower quality, resulting in lowered bids and ultimately, disappearing impressions.<\/p> The bigger point is this: AI often answers with confidence before it answers with accuracy. It can absolutely help you refine ad copy or strengthen relevance, but it still struggles to understand the nuanced and often counterintuitive interdependencies within a PPC account. In other words, it can assist with execution, but it\u2019s not yet as reliable as a strategist.<\/p> One of the most practical takeaways of the year came from Walker. We often debate how much data Smart Bidding needs, but Shawn gave us the math:<\/p> You need ~30 conversions per campaign, per 30 days.<\/strong><\/p> Not per account. Not across shared budgets. Per campaign. Below that threshold, the machine is just guessing. If you\u2019re wondering why your small campaigns are volatile, it\u2019s not bad luck; it\u2019s bad math. You are starving the algorithm.<\/p> In Optmyzr\u2019s 2024 study on the impact of bidding strategies on performance, we saw the same. 50+ conversions per month are ideal. 30+ is good, and anything less isn\u2019t great. However, I would like to add one refinement to Shawn\u2019s point. The real threshold isn\u2019t \u201c30 conversions per campaign,\u201d but enough volume on the conversion goal\/actions Smart Bidding is optimizing toward. Google\u2019s systems can use broader, account-level conversion patterns to reduce data scarcity, and account-default goals and portfolio strategies are designed to expand the learning set beyond a single campaign.<\/p> What truly matters is having enough volume for the action you want Smart Bidding to optimize toward. If multiple campaigns are all working toward the same conversion event, they can effectively \u201cpool\u201d their learnings. In other words, campaigns don\u2019t have to hit 30+ conversions individually<\/em> as long as the underlying conversion action has enough aggregate volume for the system to learn and make reliable decisions.<\/p> So, what do you do if you can\u2019t hit that magic number of 30? You have to feed the beast something else.<\/p> Guests heavily advocated for moving up the funnel. Walker detailed the necessity of \u201cengaged visitor\u201d signals, custom metrics like a user scrolling to a certain depth or spending time on site, fired only once per unique user to prevent inflation.<\/p> Whether it\u2019s a PDF download, an add-to-cart, or a pricing page visit, these \u201csoft\u201d signals are no longer optional crutches; for smaller accounts, they are the only way to generate enough data density for Smart Bidding to function.<\/p> In other words, micro conversions still matter. They give Smart Bidding a richer sequence of intent signals to learn from: Did the user compare products? Did they view pricing? Did they return within 24 hours? Did they engage with interactive tools? In my experience, these micro-signals are what prevent smaller accounts from starving the algorithm and ultimately help it recognize high-quality users earlier in the journey.<\/p> If you are still using single keyword ad groups (SKAGs) in 2025, you are fighting a war that ended years ago. Bacchini was blunt: SKAGs have \u201crun their course.\u201d<\/p> The granular control we used to prize is now a liability. It fragments your data, making it harder for the AI to learn. Andrew Lolk, Founder at SavvyRevenue, backed this up, warning that over-segmenting campaigns destroys shared learnings. The winning structure for 2025 is radically simple: Consolidate until the data proves you need to separate.<\/p> What does that mean? Well, you should split campaigns when there are business reasons, like different bid targets, different promotions, etc. Put simply, you separate campaigns only when there\u2019s a strategic reason, such as assigning different ROAS targets to products with different margins, or isolating seasonal inventory, like ski jackets, from evergreen categories like swimwear, so each can be optimized on its own performance curve.<\/p> And while single-keyword ad groups are outdated, single-theme ad groups (STAGs) have become the modern, more effective alternative. Instead of isolating each keyword, STAGs cluster queries that share the same intent and require the same message, giving Google enough data to learn without sacrificing relevance.<\/p> A better way to think about it:<\/p> A STAG isn\u2019t just \u201call running shoes terms,\u201d but it\u2019s \u201call running shoes for distance training terms,\u201d or \u201call waterproof trail-running shoes terms.\u201d Each theme represents a specific user intent that warrants a specific ad and landing page combo<\/p> So, a more realistic STAG example might look like:<\/p> Theme: Long-distance running shoes<\/strong><\/p> All different keywords, but they relate to the same core motivation, the same benefits to highlight, and the same landing page experience.<\/p> STAGs preserve the messaging control SKAGs once offered, but without the data fragmentation that hinders Smart Bidding from working at its best. They give you messaging precision while still feeding the algorithm enough volume to learn.<\/p> Speaking of consolidation, Lolk had some strong words for how we manage Performance Max. A common mistake is splitting PMax campaigns by asset group, brand, or generic themes without a distinct ROAS target.<\/p> His take? \u201cSplitting = Starving.\u201d<\/p> PMax campaigns don\u2019t share data well. If you split them, you force each new campaign to learn from scratch, requiring double the volume to stabilize. Unless you have a radically different ROAS target for a specific category, keep it together. And for the love of PPC, stop running \u201cfeed-only\u201d PMax, he says. Just use Standard Shopping if you need that control.<\/p> In a surprising twist, we repeatedly heard that ecommerce brands have overemphasized PMax and Shopping, leaving money on the table in Search.<\/p> Lolk argued that Search is reclaiming its role as the high-intent workhorse because it offers what PMax cannot: diagnostic visibility and true messaging control. You can\u2019t capitalize on a weather trend or a specific seasonal moment if you\u2019re waiting for PMax to \u201clearn\u201d about it. Search lets you move fast, and it lets you control the landing page, a lever we\u2019ve severely undervalued lately.<\/p> With Google automating bids, targeting, and even the creative process, what is left for us? Bacchini says the answer lies after the click.<\/p> Differentiation is the new battleground. If your offer is weak or your landing page is generic, no amount of bid tweaking will save you. Clients often dramatically underestimate their competitors and overestimate their own value propositions. As PPC pros, our value add is shifting from \u201ctechnical setup\u201d to \u201cbusiness consultancy,\u201d fixing the offer, the positioning, and the user experience.<\/p> We moved past the \u201cAI will write my ads\u201d hype and got into real use cases.<\/p> The consensus? AI won\u2019t replace you, but an expert using<\/em> AI will absolutely replace an expert who refuses to touch it.<\/p> In Silicon Valley, we used to lionize the idea of the 10x engineer, the kind of person who could out-code an entire team, see around corners in the architecture, and somehow ship things at a pace that felt almost unfair. But lately, the stories I\u2019m hearing in my own network tell a different tale: Many of those \u201c10x\u201d engineers are starting to fall behind the so-called mediocre ones who are simply pushing the limits of what they can do with AI by their side.<\/p> And this no longer applies just to engineering. In every role, those who learn to partner with AI will outperform those who rely solely on talent and hustle.<\/p> Finally, we touched on the existential shift. Shep mentioned she now uses Perplexity.ai for research more than Google. Greg Finn highlighted the instability of AI Overviews.<\/p> As I\u2019ve been saying all year, we\u2019re witnessing a dramatic shift from keywords to prompts. Search is no longer just about matching a query to an ad; it\u2019s about connecting users who do complex prompts with solutions, and maybe showing an ad if that would be helpful.<\/p> In an AI-driven ecosystem, the \u201cprompt\u201d becomes the new keyword: a richer, more contextual signal that reflects not just what users type, but what they\u2019re trying to accomplish. Advertisers who still think in terms of isolated keywords will fall behind; those who think in prompts, tasks, and intent paths will thrive.<\/p> The work of the modern PPC marketer continues to shift from pulling levers to thinking critically about the levers being pulled on our behalf<\/em>. Automation is no longer optional, but neither is oversight. The winners this year were the advertisers who understood where algorithms shine, where they stumble, and where a human needs to step in with context that the machine simply doesn\u2019t have.<\/p> And this evolution is far from over. As we head into 2026, I expect the debates on PPC Town Hall to get even more interesting. We\u2019ll likely spend less time arguing about whether to adopt AI, and more time unpacking how to direct it<\/em>, how to measure it<\/em>, and how to prevent it from homogenizing every account it touches<\/em>. We\u2019ll explore what happens when prompts truly become the new keywords. And we\u2019ll hear from practitioners who find creative, sometimes surprising ways to bend automation back toward profitability and strategy, rather than convenience.<\/p> If 2025 was the year we learned to tell the machine \u201cNo,\u201d then 2026 may be the year we learn how to tell it \u201cDo this and here\u2019s why.\u201d The marketers who thrive will be those who don\u2019t just manage campaigns, but manage systems<\/em>, using judgment, experimentation, and clear intent to guide increasingly powerful tools.<\/p> I\u2019m looking forward to another year of unfiltered conversations on PPC Town Hall and to seeing what new hard truths (and opportunities) we uncover together.<\/p> More Resources:<\/strong><\/p> Featured Image: Anton Vierietin\/Shutterstock<\/em><\/p> <\/div> PPC#Hard #Truths #PPC #Insights #Years #Debates #sejournal #siliconvallaeys1768221364<\/p> ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hosting my podcast, gives me a front-row seat to the unfiltered reality of our industry, the gritty, \u201cin-the-trenches\u201d reality shared by experts who manage millions in spend. Last year, my guests, including Greg Finn, Christine \u201cShep\u201d Zirnheld, Julie Friedman Bacchini, Andrew Lolk and Shawn Walker didn\u2019t hold back. They dismantled \u201cbest practices,\u201d called out platform […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[1890,525,1889,161,80,1891,526,1160],"class_list":["post-1344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-accessibility","tag-debates","tag-hard","tag-insights","tag-ppc","tag-sejournal","tag-siliconvallaeys","tag-truths","tag-years"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2. Automation Without Guardrails Is Just \u201cHigh-Speed Waste\u201d<\/h2>
3. The \u201cRule of 30\u201d Is The New Law Of Gravity<\/h2>
4. \u201cSoft Conversions\u201d Are The Backbone Of SMB Success<\/h2>
5. SKAGs Are Finally, Truly Dead<\/h2>
6. Stop Splitting Performance Max<\/h2>
7. Search Is Making A Quiet Comeback<\/h2>
8. Your Competitive Advantage Is Now \u201cPost-Click\u201d<\/h2>
9. Generative AI Is Your New Junior Strategist<\/h2>
10. The \u201cSearch\u201d We Knew Is Disappearing<\/h2>
The Bottom Line<\/b><\/h2>