Google's advertising revenue in 2021 was 209 billion. It's overall revenue was 257 billion. Allow me to rephrase....Over 80% of Google's revenue was from Google ads.
Google's eye is focused on continuing to make advertising more available and easier to use by everyone.
The point here is that behind all of the ease of use with it's algorithms and machine learning is a company that is driven by continuing to profit.
So if you are unsure if you have the best bidding strategy in place that Google provides, it probably means you are spending more than is necessary or perhaps even wasting your precious advertising dollars.
In the past, setting manual CPCs (cost per clicks) was the easiest way to get cheap clicks and stay on the front page. However, due to Google prioritizing automation this is much more challenging. In order to maximize your conversions, you need to first get clicks or your ads won't be shown. In order to get affordable clicks, you need to ensure you set click ceilings and make sure your keyword match types are dialed in. If your clicks are too cheap your ad rank may go down (and your ad stops showing) as no one clicks on ads on page 2 or 3.
Tip:
Also, whatever you do make sure you have automated recommendations turned off, or Google will automatically turn these on after 14 days!!
When in doubt and money is tight, find a specialist or contractor to handle the setup for you. This will ensure you don't waste money and time trying to figure this out on your own. Don't forget, Google is getting paid either way...you should too.
Casey is a Google certified paid strategist that has managed hundreds of accounts and millions of dollars of ad spend across every major platform.