The great Matt Shenton invited me to join him on his Paid Search NYC Podcast to chat about scripts and AI for eCommerce.
WATCH NOW >>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZWKAzNRidQ
From the show notes:
We cover how to structure your accounts, where automation actually adds value, and how to combine scripts with AI to scale performance without scaling headcount.
Key insights:
- Why most Google Ads automation focuses on the wrong things
- How to turn PPC into a system using SOPs
- The role of scripts vs AI in modern PPC workflows
- How scripts handle 60–80% of account work
- Why Performance Max often optimizes for spend, not profit
- The “exploration vs exploitation” approach to scaling
- How to structure Standard Shopping campaigns for control
- Using scripts for monitoring, alerts, and decision support
- Why AI should be treated like an “intern”
- How to scale accounts without scaling teams
Timestamps:
00:00 Scripts vs agents
00:31 Introduction
01:31 How Nils built a script-driven PPC agency
03:19 Why you do not need coding skills to use scripts
04:24 What the team actually does in a script-led agency
08:25 Why SOPs matter before AI
10:20 What Google Ads scripts actually are
12:54 E-commerce Google Ads automation examples
14:38 Profit-first conversion tracking
17:07 Using return-rate prediction in e-commerce
19:05 Feed optimisation and why Nils pushes back on Performance Max
22:07 The standard shopping gatekeeper structure
25:52 Exploration vs exploitation in Google Ads
27:11 Bidding strategy within the gatekeeper setup
29:18 Are scripts agentic?
32:01 Why the future is scripts + AI
33:31 Final thoughts
Sharing is caring! If you enjoyed this episode, please consider sharing it with a few friends who might find it useful. Thanks!
– Nils