Recently, I assisted several friends and family members with their underperforming Google Ads campaigns. They had been spending significant amounts on these ads without generating any meaningful sales.

Upon investigating their Google Ads accounts, I found that they were all using Google Ads Smart Campaigns, which is the default option for new businesses. Despite the name, a Smart Campaign is actually a simplified version of Google Ads, allowing you to create a campaign by providing just a few basic details about your business. Google then automatically manages the campaign on your behalf, using AI to choose the keywords, set the price you will pay per click, and decide where your ads will be shown.

In reality, a Smart Campaign is a way for Google to sell you less desirable keywords at inflated prices and display your ads in places you wouldn’t want them to be seen. Worst of all, you will never know why your Smart Campaign isn’t working because Google doesn’t provide any detailed reporting nor the ability to change your settings to configure the campaign in your favour. The only “smart” thing about a Smart Campaign is how it siphons cash from unsuspecting business owners.

Why do Smart Campaigns exist?

Google has a problem: it can only sell clicks for popular keywords to the two or three businesses that appear at the top of search results. For competitive search queries, the cost per click can be too expensive for many businesses. With such limited inventory, Google needs to find a way to sell less popular keywords at higher prices and show ads on less desirable Google properties and third-party websites.

Google tempts people to use Smart Campaigns because configuring a standard (advanced) campaign is complicated and confusing. It requires an understanding of hundreds of different parameters, settings, technical terms, and abbreviations. Many small business owners find this process overwhelming, leading to misconfigured campaigns or giving up entirely.

Google sets Smart Campaigns as the default option to simplify this process. To configure an advanced campaign, you now have to go through the entire process of creating a Smart Campaign, switch to Expert Mode, delete the original Smart Campaign, and then start over from scratch.

Specific Issues 

1. Keyword Targeting: In an advanced campaign, users can specify the exact search queries they want to trigger their ads. For example, a plumber in London could request that their ad only appears when people search for “plumbers in London.” In a Smart Campaign, you can only specify keyword themes, which means your ads could be triggered by thousands of less desirable searches, such as “cheap plumbers in London” or “how do I become a plumber in London?”. This will result in wasting money on clicks that are highly unlikely to generate sales.
2. Ad Placement: Most business owners assume their Google ads will appear on Google Search. However, in a Smart Campaign, your ads may appear on YouTube or any third-party website carrying Google advertising. The likelihood of someone becoming a customer after clicking on your ad on a third-party website is significantly lower, making your ad campaign far less effective.
3. Lack of Detailed Reporting: Google provides very little information about how a Smart Campaign performs, where ads appear, or which keywords are triggering them. This lack of transparency leaves business owners with no real understanding of why their campaign performed so poorly.

The Google ‘Expert’ Consultation

At some point in this process, Google will offer you a consultation with a Google Ads ‘expert’ to help you improve campaign performance. In reality, these ‘experts’ are salespeople based in India whose sole function is to get you to spend more money on Google advertising.

The Solution

Some business owners consider turning to advertising agencies to manage their Google Ads campaigns. However, most reputable agencies are unlikely to take on clients with small budgets.

The only viable solution is for you to learn how to configure an advanced Google Ads campaign effectively. This requires a steep learning curve, and many hours spent reading books, watching videos, or reading articles.

Disclaimer: I don’t offer any services related to Google advertising. I have nothing to sell you, nor any incentive to persuade you to use or not use any product or service.