Does Google Ads Actually Work? Not Always—Here's Why

You've just invested your hard-earned marketing budget into Google Ads. You were promised qualified leads, new customers, and growth for your business. But instead, your phone is ringing with spam calls, your daily budget has been blown through in hours, and your cost-per-click is three times higher than what was estimated.

Sound familiar?

If you're asking yourself "does Google Ads even work?" after a disappointing campaign, you're not alone. Every day, small business owners and marketers take to forums expressing frustration with Google's advertising platform, some even concluding it's nothing more than an elaborate scam.

But here's the reality: Google Ads can work exceptionally well—so long as it's set up and managed correctly. The platform generates billions in revenue because it delivers results for many advertisers. However, it's also complex, nuanced, and filled with default settings that might not serve your specific business goals.

Should you hire a Google Ads specialist instead? Maybe—but before you do, we'll walk you through a few of the most common pitfalls that lead people to believe that Google Ads is a scam and see if we can help you troubleshoot on your own.

Read More: The Best Way to Track Calls from Google Ads

Complaint #1: PMax Is a Spam Scam

I set up a Performance Max campaign like Google recommended, but all I got were thousands of spam clicks from bot sites—and Google charged me for every single one.

The Problem

Performance Max (PMax) campaigns aren’t search ad campaigns—they’re Google’s latest automated campaign type that places ads across all Google properties. This includes ads in Google’s Display Network, which are the banner and sidebar ads you’re used to seeing on legitimate sites like newspapers and magazines, but also spammy sites that generate bot clicks.

Many small businesses activate PMax campaigns without understanding that they combine search, display, YouTube, Gmail, and other networks, each with its own audience quality considerations. Display Network ads in particular are primarily designed for shopping ads and eCommerce sellers, so they often generate low-quality leads for service-based businesses.

The Solution

For non-eCommerce businesses, consider starting with standard search campaigns instead of jumping straight to PMax. If you do use PMax:

• Implement strong negative keyword lists to prevent irrelevant traffic
• Use audience signals to guide Google toward your ideal customers
• Exclude site categories under Content Suitability that don't align with your business goals
• Regularly review placement reports to see where your ads appear and exclude poor-performing placements

For service businesses like contractors, lawyers, or consultants, standard search campaigns often provide more qualified leads than the automated expansion of PMax campaigns.

Complaint #2: Google Regularly Blows Daily Budget Limits

I set a daily budget of $30, but Google spent $300 in three days! How is this legal?

The Problem

This complaint stems from a misunderstanding of how Google Ads budgeting actually works. Google can spend up to twice your daily budget on days with high traffic, balancing it out with lower spending on other days. This can lead to surprising charges, and when campaigns are misconfigured or highly automated, spending can quickly spiral out of control.

The Solution

• Set campaign-level budget caps in addition to account-level budgets
• Implement automated rules to pause campaigns if spending exceeds certain thresholds
• Use shared budgets to control spending across multiple campaigns
• Regularly monitor campaigns during the learning phase, when spending volatility is highest
• Consider using the "standard" delivery method instead of "accelerated" to distribute budget more evenly throughout the day

Most importantly, start with a test budget you're comfortable potentially losing while you learn the platform's nuances. Then scale up gradually as you see positive results.

Complaint #3: CPC Is Way Higher Than Estimated

Keyword Planner showed a $2-3 CPC estimate, but I'm paying $15 per click! This feels like a bait and switch.

The Problem

Actual cost per click is calculated based on a number of factors, including Quality Score. Google essentially offers “discounts” to advertisers whose Quality Scores are higher, while advertisers with poor Quality Scores are “penalized” with higher costs.

The estimated CPCs you see in the Keyword Planner are based on average costs across all bidders for that keyword—including bidders with excellent Quality Scores. If your Quality Score is low, it can double or triple your costs compared to competitors with more relevant ads and landing pages.

The Solution

Quality Score dramatically affects what you pay per click. To lower your CPC, you’ll need to raise your Quality Score.

• Create tightly themed ad groups with closely related keywords
• Ensure your ad copy includes your target keywords and addresses the searcher's intent
• Design landing pages that directly correspond to your ad promises and include the keywords you're bidding on
• Improve page load speed and mobile responsiveness
• Monitor Quality Score in your account and prioritize improving low-scoring keywords

A Quality Score improvement from 5 to 8 can cut your CPC nearly in half, transforming an unprofitable campaign into a winner without any other changes.

Complaint #4: Local Targeting Doesn’t Block Clicks from Around the World

I set my location targeting to my city, but I'm still paying for clicks from overseas that are completely useless to my business.

The Problem

When you set a geographic location target for your ads, you would expect to only get clicks from within that area. But if you look closely at the default settings, local targets include not just people who are physically located in an area, but also those who are “searching for or showing interest in” that location. So if someone in Australia runs a search for “USA dentists” or “California cosmetic surgery,” those ads can still be displayed on that search, even if the advertisers have local targeting active.

The Solution

The problem isn't that Google's location targeting doesn't work, but that its default settings cast a wider net than most local businesses need.

• Change location targeting from the default "Presence or interest" to "Presence" only
• Explicitly exclude countries outside your service area
• Review the "Geographic" report to identify and exclude locations with poor performance
• Consider using radius targeting around specific locations rather than broad regional targeting
• Add location-specific terms in your keywords (e.g., "plumber in Boston") to reinforce geographic relevance

These adjustments can dramatically improve lead quality and reduce wasted spend on users who could never convert due to location constraints.

Complaint #5: Plenty of Conversions with No Cash to Show For It

I get plenty of legitimate clicks and even conversions, but they don’t actually translate to sales and revenue.

The Problem

Many users only track the data that’s available through Google’s native platforms, which means they’re only tracking initial conversion actions, like form submissions and calls. There’s no way for Google to tell which of those conversions came from qualified leads with legitimate buyer intent versus which came from unqualified “just-browsers” who were never going to become customers.

Google's bidding algorithm will look at a conversion from a time-waster and a conversion from a future five-figure client and see the exact same thing. So when it's optimizing, it will prioritize the keyword that's bringing in the highest quantity of conversions, even if all of those conversions are unqualified junk. You want to be targeting the keywords that bring in qualified leads even if they have fewer conversions overall—but without some supplementary information, Google has no way of telling the difference.

The Solution

To get Google Ads to start targeting only valuable conversions from qualified leads, you need to give it some additional information. Using a lead tracking platform like WhatConverts, you can evaluate your leads and sort them into "qualified" and "unqualified" categories, and then send only the qualified conversions back to Google Ads as "enhanced conversions." This allows Google to start training its bidding algorithm to target clicks from the right prospects.

• Implement comprehensive conversion tracking for all valuable actions
• Use conversion values to assign different weights to different types of conversions
• Track phone calls, form submissions, and chat initiations
• Import offline conversion data to show Google which leads actually became customers
• Use lead qualification data to refine your targeting and bidding strategy

Enhanced conversion tracking is where tools like WhatConverts become particularly valuable. By tracking not just that a conversion happened but the quality and value of that lead, you provide Google's algorithms with the data they need to target users most likely to become actual customers.

Read More: How to Optimize Google Ads to Only Target Qualified Leads

The Truth About Google Ads

Does Google Ads work? Yes, it absolutely can—but success depends on proper setup, monitoring, and optimization. The platform rewards advertisers who take the time to understand its intricacies and feed its algorithms high-quality data about what constitutes a valuable lead for their specific business.

The difference between advertisers who see Google Ads as a scam and those who see it as their most valuable marketing channel often comes down to tracking quality, not just quantity. By implementing proper lead tracking that captures not just conversions but lead quality and value, you transform Google's algorithms from lead generation tools into qualified lead generation tools.

Tools like WhatConverts help bridge this gap by capturing every lead, tracking its source, and providing the means to qualify and value each one. This enhanced data can then be sent back to Google Ads, allowing the platform to optimize toward true business outcomes—not just clicks or form submissions.

With the right approach, Google Ads isn't just a workable marketing channel—it can become the most predictable, scalable source of new business you've ever experienced.

Ready to start seeing quality leads from your Google Ads campaigns? Start your free 14-day WhatConverts trial now!