Author: Nils Rooijmans

A fellow reader of the list asked:

“I’ve implemented your Gatekeeper architecture for Google Shopping to prevent high spend on irrelevant searches. 

I added a few negative keywords to the high-priority campaign, BUT Google is showing search terms in the medium priority campaign that are not negated in the high priority campaign.

How come? Is the campaign prioritization broken?”

No, it’s not broken.

Google still respects campaign priorities in Standard Shopping Campaigns.

But these types of campaign structures, although not hard, can get complex, and it’s easy to miss some things.

What I’ve seen in audits of shopping campaigns is that query segmentation fails mainly due to targeting mismatches and/or budget constraints.

Queries enter the wrong (lower-priority) campaign when the higher-priority campaign cannot “catch” them because of differences in device targeting, locations, schedules, audiences, demographics, languages, networks, IP exclusions, or country-of-sale settings. Inconsistent negative keyword application or incomplete product coverage also breaks the intended priority logic.

Note: Shopping campaign strategies with priorities only work when the different priority campaigns are eligible for the same set of products. Additionally, limited or exhausted budgets cause queries to bypass higher-priority campaigns and spill into lower-priority campaigns, undermining the segmentation strategy.

– Nils

PS: Wednesday is ‘Ask Me Anything’ day. If you’ve got a question to which my answer would benefit a larger part of the community, send it my way, and I’ll try to answer it 🙂

AI agents are fun… 

…until the agent starts doing what you told it to do…

…instead of what you wanted it to do.

– Nils

Hey PPC friend,

What do you think: secondary conversion actions, are they used for bidding?

Yes, or no?

Simple question, but no obvious answer here, I am afraid. (Ask your colleagues during lunch.)

Google says:

“Each goal needs at least one primary conversion action to be used for campaign optimization. Primary conversion actions represent the most important actions customers or potential customers can take on your website, because Google Ads will optimize your campaign to achieve these primary actions.”

Source: https://support.google.com/sa360/answer/9455412?hl=en

BUT also…

“Secondary actions: These conversion actions are for observation only. They are used for reporting in the “All conversions” column in your reports, but not for bidding, even if the goal they are included in is used for bidding. The one exception is if the secondary action is part of a custom goal, in which case it’s used for bidding.”

Source: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/11461796?hl=en

So, the answer to my initial question is: it depends 😉

– Nils

PS: I like to use secondary conversion actions to test value-based bidding for different types of values that are reported back to Google, for the same conversion (think: profit VS revenue, non-capped revenue values VS capped revenue values, predicted LTV VS initial purchase value, browser-based tracking VS OCI, etc.). I create custom goals for them so that I can use them as campaign-specific conversion goals in my campaign experiments.

The great Anu Adegbola invited me to speak at her PPC Live UK event in London earlier this month.

I spoke about Google Ads Scripts for e-commerce and how I use them.

The event also hosted fantastic talks by Kate Sale, “Finding joy in paid media to keep your job (and grow!),” and Dave Alexander, “Why lost leads are a good thing.” Be sure to check them out as well!

Here’s the recording:

WATCH NOW »

Sharing is caring!

If you enjoyed the video, please consider sharing it with a few friends who might find it useful. Thanks!

And as always, if you’ve got a question or feedback about my presentation, simply shoot me an email.

– Nils

Last week, one of my clients decided to be “smart.”

He connected a large language model to the Google Ads API. Gave it access. Started asking performance questions.

At first? Interesting insights. Some solid pattern spotting.

Then… chaos.

Without him realizing it, the LLM didn’t just analyze. It “optimized.”

Yes. It AI-magically made changes inside the account. Bidding targets adjusted. Broad match keywords added… Stuff no human approved.

And the reasoning behind it? Simply dead wrong!

Luckily, my Change History Alert script fired.

The next day, I got an email in my inbox:

“Unrecognized user made changes in account X.”

That “user”? The LLM, on behalf of my client.

I reverted the nonsense in minutes before the crazy changes could do harm.

Here’s the thing: AI is a brilliant intern. It is NOT a senior media buyer. Just like an LLM (sometimes) hallucinates explanations, it can hallucinate optimizations too. You have to monitor its work like you monitor your interns.

And here’s the actionable takeaway: install my change history alert script that flags ANY edits from outside your approved user list.

Even if it’s “just” an API integrated LLM.

Go ahead, install it. It only takes 5 minutes.

Your future self will thank you.

LINK: https://nilsrooijmans.com/google-ads-script-change-history-alerts/

Happy scripting!

– Nils

Today, I am sharing a request from our PPC friend and long-time member of the community, Duane Brown :

“Are you being under paid on your team? Our yearly salary survey can help answer that question and many more. Five days left to fill out the survey. More data makes it more useful.“

Let’s give Duane a hand.

Fill out the PPC Salary Survey. 

Here’s the link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfCVWaTVIl3MZYPfOCMXCK4EyW2Dkj-KM_Rz1zL4Z-3fNYlMg/viewform

Survey closes February 28th at midnight PST.

The results will be available by March 23, 2026.

– Nils

I recently had the pleasure of joining Frederick Vallaeys in his PPC Town Hall.

We talked about Vibe Coding for PPC and how marketers can build Google Ads tools without having to write any code. Here’s the link to the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGYkHp5xOEc

Chapters:
00:00 – What Is Vibe Coding (and Why PPC Marketers Care)
04:30 – Vibe Coding Explained in Plain English
09:30 – From Google Ads Scripts to AI-Built PPC Apps
14:30 – Live Use Case: Turning a Landing Page Into Google Ads Assets
19:30 – Deploying, Sharing, and Activating Vibe-Coded Tools
24:30 – Which Vibe Coding Tools Should PPC Marketers Use?
29:30 – Rapid Prototyping vs Production-Ready Software
34:30 – When You Should NOT Use Vibe Coding in PPC
39:30 – Using Vibe Coding to Write Better Specs and Requirements
44:30 – Real PPC Use Cases That Actually Make Sense
49:30 – Common Mistakes, Guardrails, and How to Get Started

​Want me to share more examples of how I use vibe coding/AI agents in my ​work? Hit reply.

– Nils

Let’s say you’re trying to reduce your workload when managing Google Ads.

Starting with a specific Google Ads Script or a list of scripts in mind is a possibility, but almost certainly not the most effective approach.

In my experience, these days, the more productive way is to start without a script in mind.

The more productive way is to: 

1) Ask yourself: “What tasks take up a lot of my time?” and “What tasks drain my energy?” 

2) Write them down, with all the steps involved.

3) With the help of an LLM, create a Google Ads Script that will automate the task(s). You can use my Google Ads Scripts Sensei for that.

Happy scripting!

– Nils

Hey PPC Friend,

Quick FYI: I’ll be speaking at PPC Live #19 in London on February 5th. 🎤 

My session will be all about how I use scripts for e-commerce.

Not theory, not shiny toys, but how I actually use scripts in real accounts to:

•  Reduce wasted ad spend
•  Catch problems early
•  Scale what’s already working

If you manage or oversee e-commerce Google Ads and care about performance over hype, this one’s for you.

See you there?

– Nils

Friend-of-the-list JD (name hidden upon request) shared a question last week:

“I run Google Ads for my electronic components webshop with about $50k/month in spend. The account is very long-tail heavy, and roughly 80% of converting queries are hidden in the search terms report.

To cover the gaps, I launched a DSA campaign at $300/day. After one month and ~$8k in spend, results are honestly disappointing: ROAS is less than half of target and not even close to my other campaigns.

Is DSA still working in 2026, or am I missing something fundamental here? Are you still using DSA in your setups?”

My answer in short: yes, I still use DSA campaigns, and yes, they still work for me.

I am not sure how much longer they will still be around with Google pushing its AI Max, but here’s how I use DSA:

1. Before running DSA campaigns, I do an SEO check on the pages I want to target (special attention to correct structured data). Use this tool: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data
2. When I use DSA, I use them as a “catch-all that hasn’t been targeted via keywords” campaign type, next to my standard text ads.
3. I use a page feed to segment and target my DSA campaigns. (Don’t let Google send clicks to “All URLs Google knows about the website,” or you’ll get clicks to dead pages and/or irrelevant blogposts.)
4. I typically set the daily budget to anywhere between 5% and 10% of the average daily spend for non-brand last 30 days.
5. I attach negative keywords lists to the campaign (account negatives, and a list with all positive keywords that I target in other campaigns).
6. I run portfolio smart bidding (tCPA/tROAS) with a target and bid limits per segment. Target is the average CPA/ROAS of last 30 days non-brand, and max bid limit is anywhere between 50% and 100% of the average non-brand CPC.
7. I run multiple scripts to monitor DSA search terms like a hawk and suggest negatives, and a script to add my positive keywords to the negative keyword list mentioned in #5.
8. I add negatives like crazy at the start, with decreasing frequency after the initial weeks (start daily, increase interval every week).
9. I update the portfolio bid strategy target and bid limit on a (bi)weekly basis, or after 30 conversions, whichever comes first.

Thanks for asking, JD!

– Nils

PS: Wednesday is ‘Ask Me Anything’ day. If you’ve got a question to which my answer would benefit a larger part of the community, send it my way, and I’ll try to answer it 🙂

I came across a post on Reddit where the OP posted a nice Google Sheet with a comparison of landing page builder tools.

Looking for an alternative to Instapage, Unbounce, or Leadpages? Check this:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vReppuOURzrsZKRdZPty4wFhOEDGZ-MbGr18SqJu0cTKFH8T7K0x1H1PnTVaBX-DYR4amC5z5xrtPLu/pubhtml

Source: https://old.reddit.com/r/PPC/comments/1n4031q/does_anyone_actually_use_instapage_or_unbounce/

– Nils

Here’s a simple trick to increase the CTR of your ads:

Rewrite a description line, add quotes, and pin it to the first position. 

This makes it look like a testimonial with social proof.

Here’s an example:

“Finally, cheap and stress-free parking! Saved €40 on my trip. Will definitely book again.”

PRO TIP: Get the quote from real user reviews by analysing customer feedback. 

– Nils

How about we start the new year with a list of Google Ads mistakes from 2025 that we need to avoid in 2026? 

Let me start. 

Top mistakes to avoid in 2026 (based on my 2025 account audits, research, and Strategy Calls):

→ Have your campaign spend $10k in one hour because you accidentally enabled AI Max

→ Copy-paste a faulty URL to Final URL without testing

→ Set audiences to ‘targeting’ instead of ‘observation’ and then wonder where all the traffic went

→ Launch new campaign on Friday afternoon, and then next Monday, find out that it spent the whole month’s budget over the weekend

→ Run PMax without guardrails and be surprised by it doubling spend via non-converting clicks from the Discovery network

→ Forget to change Google’s default location targeting setting and burn $20k on GDN traffic in India for a product only sold in the UK

→ For US advertisers: target the country of Georgia rather than the state of Georgia

→ Forget to hit the Publish button in GTM and then spend >€5000 on clicks only to see zero conversions

→ Import GA4 conversions, forget to set the action as ‘secondary conversion’, and then have to explain why the spend tripled without a corresponding increase in revenue

→ Let PMax auto-expand final URLs on a lead gen site and then see traffic to outdated blog posts explode.

Help me prevent more mistakes by sharing yours? (Hit reply.)

– Nils

Let’s talk about goals.

Unrealistic goals are just a fantasy.

Realistic goals without a strategy are just wishes.

Every strategy is perfectly designed to get the results it gets.

Here’s the thing:

1. Get very clear about what you want
2. Build a strategy to get it
3. Work the strategy

IMPORTANT: Do not skip Step 1. 

– Nils

A few weeks ago, I shared some thoughts on how I use vibe coding in my business. (You can read the email here: https://nilsrooijmans.com/daily/ama-what-are-your-thoughts-on-vibe-coding-do-you-use-it)

In response, many of you replied with a question that came down to:

“How exactly do you use vibe coding in your PPC business? Can you show a concrete example?” 

So today, I decided to hit record and share a video.

In this 5-minute video, I show how I use vibe coding with Google AI Studio to create custom PPC tools without writing any code myself. 

Watch how I create a lead-gen funnel value calculator that assigns values to leads, MQLs, and SQLs for value-based bidding, then deploy it instantly for my team to use. What used to take hours of dev time, or $$$ for outsourcing, now takes a single prompt.

I hope you enjoy, and if you would like to see more videos like this, hit like & subscribe on YouTube and add a comment 🙂

– Nils

“PPC performance has declined more than 50% over the past years!”

Many advertisers complain about the increase in CPCs and decrease in ROI from Google Ads.

Many of those same advertisers haven’t changed their website/product/offer in five years.

Here’s the thing: If you’re not innovating in other areas, like your website and offering, PPC performance is going to eventually decline, no matter how good your campaigns are.

A quick way to fix this is to periodically look at your main competitors and ask yourself: what are they doing that we are not?

– Nils

Today, I am introducing Google Ads for Grown Ups, the podcast that helps PPC advertisers get beyond the basics and boost Google Ads performance. I will be your host, and I am here to share my experiences in optimizing Google Ads.

I hope you enjoy:

https://feeds.transistor.fm/google-ads-for-grown-ups

– Nils

PS: This thing is completely new to me. Please bear with me while I hope to increase my presentation and editing skills 😉  

Last week, I shared my thoughts on how to become good at Google Ads for e-commerce (email shared below for your convenience).

Fellow member of the list, Roger Cooney (name shared with permission), replied:

“I loved the list of recommendations for becoming really good at ecomm. Could you do the same for Lead Gen?”

Thanks Roger, and sure.

Here’s a short list of things I recommend to become really good at Google Ads for Lead Generation:

1. Obviously, you need to master the foundations of Google Ads and move beyond them. Anyone can learn the interface. Very few study Google’s “New features & announcements” and the Beta’s to understand what changed, why it changed, and how it could benefit their account. 

2. Master conversion tracking for lead gen. Anyone can track a form-submit. Very few dedupe leads, track spam leads, and communicate the value of MQLs, SQLs, Prospects, and Sales to Google Ads.

3. Master landing page optimization. Anyone can send clicks to generic landing pages. Very few know how to optimize for lower conversion rates and increased lead quality. Form friction is a feature, not a bug.

4. Master value-based bidding for lead gen. Anyone can set a target CPA. Very few switch the bidding algorithm from Cost Minimization (cheapest leads possible) to Revenue Maximization (highest value leads possible).

5. Master CRM audiences. Anyone can target the general public. Very few treat CRM as a source of first-party data that enables Google Ads to support the lead nurturing funnel.

6. Master the art of scaling. Anyone can increase budgets and spend. Very few factor in sales capacity, response-time decay, geographic saturation, and diminishing marginal lead quality.

– Nils

PS: Here’s the email mentioned earlier: https://nilsrooijmans.com/daily/ama-how-do-i-become-swedens-best-google-ads-specialist-for-e-commerce

Human error, website outages, broken tracking, clicks to out-of-stock items… Google’s Smart Bidding can’t fix these by itself. 

That’s where Google Ads scripts step in: 

• automating grunt work, 
• protecting your spend, and 
• alerting you before a five-figure disaster.

Read my thoughts on why every account should run Google Ads Scripts (including some personal stories):

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/why-every-google-ads-account-needs-to-run-scripts/562922/

– Nils

Failure is an inherent part of the PPC optimization process. 

Good clients know that.

Good clients also deserve an explanation when failure happens.

Here’s what I send them when this happens:

1. This is what we did.
2. This is why we did it.
3. This is what happened.
4. This is how we plan to fix it.

– Nils