Yes, Google is a public company whose mantra needs to be “increasing shareholder value.” But unfortunately, there are a few “features” in Google Ads that maximize Google revenue by hiding default options that eat advertiser spend without delivering value.
We’ll start with faulty geotargeting.
By default, Google has your permission to display your ads to people all over the world – even if you use geotargeting (as most advertisers do).
For proof that this affects your Google Ads account, run a User Location report. You’ll likely see that your ads have been, for example, displayed to people outside the USA even if you have only targeted the USA – or even a small portion of the USA.
That’s likely wasting money – sometimes a lot of money.
But even if you aren’t getting many clicks from outside your geotargeted area, the fact that people are seeing your ads but not clicking on them could be negatively affecting your average CTR. And this could also lead to higher-than-necessary CPCs and CPAs.
Fortunately, there’s an easy fix.
First, click on the Location Options dropdown after navigating to Locations settings:
You’ll see options like this:
You should click on the second radio button:
You should do this for every campaign – old ones and new ones.
And spend what YOU want, not what Google wants.
Next week I’ll describe another default setting that’s costing you money.
