Responding To A Listener’s Google Ads Challenge (Episode 516)

What you'll learn

• 1 (00:19) **Episode Introduction & Listener Challenge** - Chris introduces the episode as a response to a listener who disagreed with his previous arguments about Google Ads bidding and targeting.
• 2 (03:28) **Listener's First Argument: Manual vs. Smart Bidding** - Ladislav argues that manual bidding outperforms max conversions in the short run only if set up well, and that smart bidding's learning curve is steep but often beats humans.
• 3 (06:09) **Listener's Second Argument: Control via Conversion Quality** - Ladislav argues that instead of restricting the algorithm with curated keywords, he controls quality through high-quality conversion tracking.
• 4 (08:21) **Where They Agree: Manual Bidding Offers More Control** - Chris acknowledges agreement that manual bidding provides superior control, especially at the keyword level.
• 5 (10:22) **Real-World Example: Agency Stuck with Automated Bidding** - Chris shares a coaching session where an agency using max conversions couldn't get traffic with exact match keywords.
• 6 (13:27) **Target ROAS Limitations** - Chris explains that target ROAS cannot control impression share or absolute top percentage, making it difficult to dominate specific searches.
• 7 (15:37) **Where They Disagree: Control at the Conversion Level** - Chris rejects the listener's approach of managing quality through conversion tracking optimization, calling it impractical for many clients.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app