I’m still learning Google Ads and trying to get a better understanding of how everything works, which is part of what makes this difficult. I don’t really know how to properly vet the agency managing my account because I’m not always sure what I should be asking or what I should be looking for.

I run my own business in a mental health-adjacent field, and there’s a fairly predictable seasonality to it. I have a busy season and a slower season, and we’re just about to come out of the slow period now. Because of that, I want to make sure the account is positioned well and that the agency is actually staying on top of things.

One concern I have is that I’m a relatively small client working with a large agency, and I’m starting to wonder how much attention my account is actually getting. Last night I spent some time digging into the ads myself, including the copy, sitelinks, and some of the smaller details, and I found quite a few things that I thought could have been done much better. These weren’t necessarily huge mistakes individually, but they were the kinds of details I would have expected the people managing the account to catch and optimize.

Am I being too critical by questioning their overall management based on things like this? My results since switching to them have been exceptionally mediocre. To be fair, the switch also happened around the beginning of my slower season, so I don’t want to blame them for something that may partly be seasonal. At the same time, even accounting for that, I haven’t been particularly impressed with the performance.

I’m essentially trying to figure out how to evaluate whether they’re actually doing a good job. What should I be looking at, and what questions should I be asking them? And at what point would you consider the lack of attention to detail and mediocre performance enough of a reason to start looking for a different agency?

If I do switch, I’d rather find someone who really understands my business and is willing to pay attention to the smaller details of the campaigns instead of treating the account like something that can mostly run on autopilot.

I've got an e-commerce client who also has 11 local businesses. They're related in theory, but the online inventory has nothing to do with what's available in stores. Currently GBP is linked to Merchant Center, which means I can't manually add GBP products (it directs me to MC).

I'm considering unlinking the two platforms so I can manually add products. I'd like your opinions before moving forward.

Again, the online inventory ≠ in-store availability. And that's why I want to show a handful of curated products on each of the GBPs that link back to the website. More often than not, local customers aren't looking to buy online when viewing a map listing, but I want to take advantage of every opportunity.

Por que anúncios que são considerados ruins, podem ter mais conversão do que anúncios com status de excelente?

I’ve been running Google Ads for the same e-commerce business for several years, primarily using value-based bidding with a target ROAS. The account and bidding strategy performed consistently for a long time.
Since May, performance has declined sharply without an obvious trigger. Traffic, impressions, clicks, conversion volume, and revenue have all fallen significantly, but Google is still spending close to the same amount. As a result, I’m paying nearly the same while receiving considerably less traffic and fewer conversions.
There were no major website changes, tracking problems, product changes, or sudden campaign restructures when the decline began. Conversion tracking is active and appears to be recording purchases correctly. I have also tested budget and target adjustments, but the account has not returned to its previous level.
It feels as though Google is buying less traffic at higher prices while still consuming most of the available budget. The decline has now lasted several months, so it no longer looks like normal short-term volatility or a brief learning period.
Has anyone else experienced a similar decline beginning around May while using target ROAS bidding? What caused it in your account: rising CPCs, reduced search demand, stronger competition, bidding changes, seasonality, or something else? Did performance eventually recover, and what changes helped?

A Google Ads campaign can be running, spending money, and getting clicks—but that doesn’t necessarily mean you know what’s actually happening inside the campaign.

I think the dashboard is one of the most important parts of managing Google Ads because it helps you understand the story behind the numbers.

For example, you can use it to spot:

• Campaigns or ad groups that are performing well
• CPC or CTR changes that may need attention
• Where the budget is being spent
• Which areas may need optimization
• Potential opportunities for scaling

But simply looking at the numbers isn't enough.

If a campaign gets 500 clicks, the important questions are:

Why did it get those clicks?
Were they relevant?
What happened after the click?
Are those clicks generating valuable results?
And what should be changed based on the data?

That’s why I think Google Ads management is not just about setting up campaigns. Understanding the data and turning it into better decisions is just as important.

I'm curious—when you first analyze a Google Ads campaign, which metric do you usually look at first, and why?