The Paid Search Podcast | A Weekly Podcast About Google Ads and Online Marketing
By Chris Schaeffer, Certified Google Ads Specialist
<p>Google Ads expert and Premier Google Partner Chris Schaeffer talk pay per click, Google Ads, online marketing, and how to advertise your business effectively. This podcast helps business owners, digital marketing agency employees, and pay per click freelancers make the most of their Google AdWords budgets. New episodes come out every Monday, and ask your Google Ads questions at www.paidsearchpodcast.com</p>
34 episodes
All Episodes
Optimizing Lead Generation Through Value-Based Bidding Strategies
Volume-based bidding trains algorithms to target low-value traffic, which wastes your budget on junk leads. Switch to value-based bidding to feed your system revenue data. This allows it to hunt for high-intent prospects that your competitors miss.
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Prioritizing Granular Data for AI-Driven Conversational Search
Conversational search favors granular, technical data over generic marketing copy. When advertisers prioritize specific product attributes and optimized assets, they build a durable competitive advantage that trains AI to favor their products in search results.
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Balancing Volume and Precision Through Modular Google Ads Architecture
To succeed with Google Ads, you must move past the simple choice between volume and precision. By building a modular system that balances broad reach with narrow targeting, you create a resilient setup that drives steady, long-term profit.
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Managing PPC Agencies Through Business Outcomes Instead Of Micromanagement
Managing Google Ads on your own creates friction that often hurts your campaign performance. Rather than getting bogged down in technical mechanics, focus on agency management, asset ownership, and value based goals to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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Google's August Update Mandates Manual Oversight of Bidding Targets
Google updated its bidding process to remove the buffer previously used for algorithmic exploration. This change means advertisers can no longer rely on set-and-forget strategies. To succeed, you must now intervene manually and granularly to balance aggressive platform targets with your long-term business goals.
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Google Search Partner Transparency Reports Without Actionable Controls
Google's new Search Partner reporting shows that your ads are paying for low-quality, made-for-advertising websites. Although the platform provides this data, it does not give you the ability to filter these sites, leaving a full network opt-out as your only option to protect your budget.
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Google Search Term Data Restrictions Undermine Advertiser Accountability
Google is restricting access to search term data, which shifts control from advertisers to automated algorithms. Learn how to regain oversight, find wasted spend, and protect your budget from the risks of black box campaign management.
View Episode Notes →Systemic Fragility and the Hidden Costs of Automated Bidding
Google Ads accounts are fragile systems that suffer irreversible damage from common optimization tactics. Learn why pausing campaigns or switching bidding strategies can permanently destroy your performance and how to protect your data.
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Treating AI Max as Expansion Rather Than Optimization
AI Max often trades conversion precision for broad information gathering, which breaks the connection between search intent and landing pages. Use it as an expansion tool instead of a replacement for high-intent search structures.
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Categorizing Keyword Risk to Optimize Google Ads Performance
Stop wasting your budget on high-risk keywords that dilute your traffic. Use a 70/20/10 distribution model to prioritize high-intent terms, gain granular control over your ad spend, and build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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Automation Sacrifices Control For Scale In High-Stakes Markets
Automated bidding undermines control, flooding campaigns with low-quality traffic. Precision targeting isn't a relic--it's a profit shield for businesses where lead quality decides success.
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Google Ads Automation Erodes Advertiser Control and Strategic Oversight
Google Ads automation erodes advertiser control, shifting strategy to passive acceptance and risking uncontrolled spend. Understand this transition to maintain influence.
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Google Ads Automation Undermines Control and Profitability
Rethink Google Ads automation: conventional wisdom often misleads, leading to lost control and budget bleed. Reclaim agency by questioning automated suggestions for true profitability.
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AI Audits Undermine Advertising Strategy Through Flawed Recommendations
AI audits offer quick insights but often lead to dangerous recommendations that undermine campaign performance. Human expertise provides critical strategic advantage and safeguards marketing investments.
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Why Demographic Exclusions Backfire in Google Ads
Stop excluding demographics in Google Ads. This common practice, based on guesses, actually accelerates costs and shrinks traffic by eliminating potential customers.
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Google Ads Success Hinges on Conversion Tracking and Adaptability
Master Google Ads by building robust conversion tracking systems and embracing platform unpredictability. Understand the underlying mechanics to gain a significant advantage in 2026.
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Agencies Mask Google Ads Inefficiency With Superficial Metrics
Agencies mask Google Ads inefficiency by prioritizing superficial metrics over client profitability, leading to wasted ad spend and distorted campaign performance.
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Reshape Business Strategy for Google Ads Success
Differentiate your business offering and structure customer interactions to generate richer data, fundamentally reshaping strategy for Google Ads success and sustainable growth.
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Hidden Google Ads Settings Unlock Performance and Prevent Wasted Spend
Unlock hidden Google Ads performance by disabling AI-driven automated assets and strategically managing location targeting and recommendations. Gain granular control to prevent wasted spend and align campaigns with your goals.
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Competitor Keyword Bidding: Costly Pitfalls and Narrow Success Paths
Bidding on competitor keywords often leads to costly dead ends. Focus on customer intent and differentiation to avoid expensive mistakes and find genuine opportunities.
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Google Ads Optimization: Hidden Mechanics of Product Feeds and Conversions
Unlock hidden Google Ads performance by optimizing product feeds for algorithms, not just users, and auditing conversions to prevent wasted spend on phantom successes.
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Training Google Ads Algorithm With Imperfect Conversions For Performance
Train Google Ads to deliver more valuable traffic by embracing broad targeting and imperfect conversions, unlocking performance gains through algorithmic learning.
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Google Ads Campaign Mastery Through Strategic Long-Term Consequences
Master Google Ads by understanding the cascading consequences of strategic choices, not just new features. Discover how to avoid wasted spend and build sustainable campaign advantages.
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Ad Group Structure Dictates Broad Match Keyword Relevance
Unlock Google Ads success by structuring ad groups thematically. This crucial step provides the algorithm context, transforming vague broad match keywords into highly relevant, high-performing matches.
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Google Ads Exact Match Undermines Advertiser Control Via Intent-Based Matching
Google Ads' "exact match" is no longer precise, with machine learning causing broad intent matching that wastes ad spend and erodes advertiser control.
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Performance Max and Ads Editor: Strategic Adoption of Google Ads Tools
Master Google Ads by understanding Performance Max as a lead nurturer, not just an automation tool, and leverage Google Ads Editor for unparalleled campaign-building speed and account oversight.
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Google Ads Decay: Systemic Rot Pushes Platform Toward Irrelevance
Google Ads is decaying due to systemic flaws, pushing it toward irrelevance. Future-proof your career by mastering transferable analytical and strategic skills, not just platform specifics.
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Google Ads Wastes Money Through Misaligned Campaigns
Google Ads waste money by misaligning keywords with search queries, using uncapped bidding, and misunderstanding campaign goals. Learn how to fix these systemic flaws for profitable results.
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Google Ads Data Loss and PPC Interview Expertise
Mandatory Google Ads updates can erase historical data and reset campaign performance. Learn how to strategically preserve your data and ace PPC interviews by articulating reasoned opinions and showcasing tangible experience.
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Google Ads: Prioritize Control, Transparency, and Search Campaigns
Google Ads recommendations artificially inflate the Optimization Score, while tracking failures, not bidding, cause performance drops. Prioritize transparent Search campaigns for superior results.
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Google Ads Uniformity Erodes Advertiser Control And Lead Quality
Google Ads are becoming a "vending machine," eroding advertiser control and differentiation through uniform formats, driving up costs, and degrading lead quality for home services businesses.
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Ranking Google Ads Bid Strategies: Predictability and Control Drive Efficiency
Target CPA offers automated optimization with predictable results, unlike other bid strategies that can lead to uncontrolled spending and unpredictable campaign performance.
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Granular Google Ads Data Enables Strategic "Inviting" vs. "Isolating" Ad Copy Optimization
Optimize Google Ads copy with new data to strategically attract qualified leads by testing "inviting" versus "isolating" headlines for higher-quality conversions.
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Streamline Google Ads Management with Editor, MCC, and Scripts
Master Google Ads with Editor, MCC, and Scripts for rapid campaign creation, streamlined management, and precise control, avoiding AI interference for peak performance.
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