{"id":1524,"date":"2026-01-05T22:35:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T21:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/?p=1524"},"modified":"2026-01-16T09:51:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T08:51:23","slug":"mistakes-to-avoid-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/mistakes-to-avoid-in-2026","title":{"rendered":"mistakes to avoid in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How about we start the new year with a list of Google Ads mistakes from 2025 that we need to avoid in 2026?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let me start.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Top mistakes to avoid in 2026 (based on my 2025 account audits, research, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/booking-a-strategy-call\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Strategy Calls<\/a>):<br><br>\u2192 Have your campaign spend $10k in one hour because you accidentally enabled AI Max<br><br>\u2192 Copy-paste a faulty URL to Final URL without testing<br><br>\u2192 Set audiences to \u2018targeting\u2019 instead of \u2018observation\u2019 and then wonder where all the traffic went<br><br>\u2192 Launch new campaign on Friday afternoon, and then next Monday, find out that it spent the whole month\u2019s budget over the weekend<br><br>\u2192 Run PMax without guardrails and be surprised by it doubling spend via non-converting clicks from the Discovery network<br><br>\u2192 Forget to change Google\u2019s default location targeting setting and burn $20k on GDN traffic in India for a product only sold in the UK<br><br>\u2192 For US advertisers: target the country of Georgia rather than the state of Georgia<br><br>\u2192 Forget to hit the Publish button in GTM and then spend >\u20ac5000 on clicks only to see zero conversions<br><br>\u2192 Import GA4 conversions, forget to set the action as \u2018secondary conversion\u2019, and then have to explain why the spend tripled without a corresponding increase in revenue<br><br>\u2192 Let PMax auto-expand final URLs on a lead gen site and then see traffic to outdated blog posts explode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Help me prevent more mistakes by sharing yours? (Hit reply.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8211; Nils<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How about we start the new year with a list of Google Ads mistakes from 2025 that we need to avoid in 2026?&nbsp; Let me start.&nbsp; Top mistakes to avoid in 2026 (based on my 2025 account audits, research, and\u00a0Strategy Calls): \u2192 Have your campaign spend $10k in one hour because you accidentally enabled AI &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/mistakes-to-avoid-in-2026\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;mistakes to avoid in 2026&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-google-ads"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>mistakes to avoid in 2026 - Nils Rooijmans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/mistakes-to-avoid-in-2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"mistakes to avoid in 2026 - Nils Rooijmans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How about we start the new year with a list of Google Ads mistakes from 2025 that we need to avoid in 2026?&nbsp; Let me start.&nbsp; Top mistakes to avoid in 2026 (based on my 2025 account audits, research, and\u00a0Strategy Calls): \u2192 Have your campaign spend $10k in one hour because you accidentally enabled AI &hellip; Continue reading &quot;mistakes to avoid in 2026&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/mistakes-to-avoid-in-2026\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nils Rooijmans\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-05T21:35:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-16T08:51:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/NilsRooijmans_GreenBG_SQUARE_200x186.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"186\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Nils Rooijmans\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Nils Rooijmans\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/mistakes-to-avoid-in-2026#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/mistakes-to-avoid-in-2026\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Nils Rooijmans\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/#\/schema\/person\/645ba0bda90c1467f9d23d332d1f3aa0\"},\"headline\":\"mistakes to avoid in 2026\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-05T21:35:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-16T08:51:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/mistakes-to-avoid-in-2026\"},\"wordCount\":237,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/#\/schema\/person\/645ba0bda90c1467f9d23d332d1f3aa0\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Google Ads\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/mistakes-to-avoid-in-2026\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/mistakes-to-avoid-in-2026\",\"name\":\"mistakes to avoid in 2026 - Nils Rooijmans\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-05T21:35:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-16T08:51:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/mistakes-to-avoid-in-2026#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/mistakes-to-avoid-in-2026\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/mistakes-to-avoid-in-2026#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"mistakes to avoid in 2026\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/\",\"name\":\"Nils Rooijmans Daily Newsletter - Google Ads\",\"description\":\"Daily emails to boost your Google Ads Performance\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/#\/schema\/person\/645ba0bda90c1467f9d23d332d1f3aa0\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/#\/schema\/person\/645ba0bda90c1467f9d23d332d1f3aa0\",\"name\":\"Nils Rooijmans\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/NilsRooijmans_Green_Background_300x300.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/NilsRooijmans_Green_Background_300x300.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":300,\"caption\":\"Nils Rooijmans\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nilsrooijmans.com\/daily\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"description\":\"Google Ads Performance Architect with a passion for PPC Automation &amp; 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