Google ads are a bit...well...rubbish nowadays aren't they?

★★★ signal-strong r/ppc · ↑ 56 · 💬 71 · 2025-09-24 · kw: better way to · open on reddit ↗

Tool

Google Ads, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn

Issue

Google Ads ROAS declining at higher spend levels; broad match and Performance Max blend quality and low-intent traffic, raising CPCs while conversion rates drop. One advertiser reported same revenue but higher ad costs year-over-year; another cut wasted spend by 40% only by manually isolating branded terms outside PMax.

Cost

$40/100 revenue (implied: ~40% waste reduction = $X saved); unstated absolute impact but pattern shows 10-30% CPC inflation + lower conversion rates

Recommendation

Cap PMax budgets tighter, build account-level negatives, manually isolate exact-match branded campaigns, shift mid-funnel to Meta/LinkedIn, pull search term reports weekly to create shadow exact-match lists (disputed: one commenter argues Google Ads still works if strategy is strong; another notes Meta now outperforms Google)

Date context

2025-09-24; references Google's removal of broad match qualifiers and recent AI Overview impact on click share; economy described as 'sluggish' and 'lack luster'

extracted with

anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5 · 2026-05-08

Body

The efficiency of google ads are just nowhere near where they used to be...the only way to see any efficiency at all and generate an ok (but still not great) ROAS is by giving them a low budget spend on a max conversion value pmax campaign...they've massively gone down hill in recent years in terms of ability to perform, especially at higher spend levels. Unfortunately this seems to be their own making as well - through their constant pressures to adopt broad keywords and "AI Essential" recommendations - which has a two-fold impact of increasing cpc's across the board and making everyone's traffic less relevant, whilst at the same time blending worthless traffic into what was good quality traffic through their performance max campaigns. For us, this is the first time in many many many years, where we actually see meta performing better than google! I never thought I would say that and if im honest i just feel this sense of disappointment in google nowadays - any new product they release like "AI max" just no longer excites me due to witnessing first hand how they are seemingly hell bent on intentionally making their ad platform and campaign types perform worse for its advertisers.

Top comments (9)

[score=27] TrumpisaRussianCuck

It's more competitive as advertisers transition money into digital and Google getting the lion share. Consumers also have higher expectations from advertisers in terms of sophistication. Lastly you have a shifting privacy and tech landscape that means Google Ads tactics from 10 or even 5 years ago are mostly ineffective. Strong data, signals, structure and creative are now the levers. Good advertisers will adapt. Bad advertisers will disappear.

[score=10] Jazzlike_Roll_416

Yeah, Google Ads feels like it’s gone downhill broad match + PMax just blend good and bad traffic together. Small budgets can still work, but scaling is rough. Honestly, I’m seeing Meta and even TikTok deliver stronger ROI lately.

[score=4] myychair

Google as a whole has degraded in quality so much over the last 5 years… probably longer honestly. I’d expect it to only get worse

[score=4] No_Rule821

Yeah, we've definitely noticed a decrease in performance this year vs last year. Revenue is roughly the same (slightly less) but ad costs are way higher. Theres also a noticeable difference in consumer behavior, people are converting at a lower rate, much more tire kickers. I think its a mix of the overall economy, changes in the algorithm, AI overviews leaving less clicks for everyone to fight over, etc.

[score=4] stockerdoodle

I found that after they removed broad match qualifiers things went downhill for awhile until we figured out the nuances of the new phrase and exact match. Broad match only works with a ROAS bidding strategy and a lot of negatives. Nowadays it’s all about intent of the search query. Your keywords, ad copy and landing page have to be in excellent alignment. It’s also more competitive now because of a lack luster economy making each advertiser have to pump harder to get a customer. Overall Google Ads still works you just have to be wise on strategy and not follow Google’s push on AI, Pmax and broad match. Lastly do not overlook your ad copy. People are mostly lazy about this but it matters more than ever because of the down economy and keying in on user intent.

[score=3] Hannah_Mitchell_2082

Yep, feels like google ads has gone from scalpel to butter knife. What’s working for us now is 1) Cap budgets tighter on pmax and use account-level negatives to block junk, 2) Pull search term reports weekly and build your own “shadow” exact match list in a separate campaign, and 3) Shift mid funnel to meta or even linkedin where cpc is lower and intent is still decent. One client cut wasted spend by 40 percent just by isolating branded terms outside of pmax, since google loves to pad results with that. The tradeoff is more manual work, but the control beats watching cpc climb. Happy to dm you the setup doc if you want it.

[score=4] she-happiest

Totally agree. Google Ads used to reward strategy — now it feels like they just push broad match + AI to drive spend, not performance. I’ve also been seeing Meta outperform Google in areas I never thought it would. Disappointing shift.

[score=7] tnhsaesop

Newsflash, everything is less effective right now because the economy is sluggish. Google Ads is still one of the most reliable and effective marketing channels available.

[score=2] KarezzaReporter

they are pretty good for us. We’ve spent millions on them in the past, and now, we’re scaling up again. The nice thing about google ads is that they can be set and forget almost. Once something is working it tends to keep working. Compared to Meta which is constantly demanding. The bad part is Google’s content review is rubbish and they will often disapprove of an ad for bogus reasons.