The biggest threat to your PPC performance isn’t competition; it’s outdated thinking. Advertisers have built their strategies around control for years: aggressively blocking “bad” traffic, over-segmenting campaigns, and setting safe ROAS targets.
But PPC has evolved, and if you’re still managing campaigns like it’s 2023, you’re already behind. So we sat down with Andrew Lolk and Julie Bacchini on our PPC Town Hall podcast to discuss the biggest mistakes advertisers are making today; and what’s actually working in 2025.
While some takeaways apply to other industries, this discussion is rooted in ecommerce. Some of what we found might confirm your suspicions. Some of it might challenge what you thought was a best practice. But one thing is clear: the advertisers winning this year aren’t the ones playing it safe.
You can watch the full Town Hall below:
The PPC strategies that no longer work
Here are some strategies that might have worked in the past but are now holding you back:
Mistake #1: Overusing negative keywords
Negative keywords are supposed to protect your budget by blocking bad traffic. However, too many advertisers go overboard, cutting off traffic that Smart Bidding could have optimized into profitable conversions.
Why it’s a problem:
Negative keywords don’t just stop irrelevant clicks. They also block Smart Bidding from learning, forcing the system to work with less data and fewer opportunities. This leads to higher CPCs, fewer conversions, and campaigns that never scale.
In our recent PPC Town Hall, Andrew Lolk put it bluntly:
“People are trying to outsmart Google too much. Smart Bidding needs data to learn, and by being overly aggressive with negatives, you’re starving the system.”
But this isn’t a one-size-fits-all issue. Julie Bacchini highlighted that the right negative keyword strategy depends on the advertiser’s budget and conversion volume:
“If you have a lot of budget and plenty of runway to let the algorithms do their thing, you have more flexibility in how you approach negative keywords. If you’re more budget-limited or if your conversions take longer, you might need to be more precise in your strategy when deciding what to eliminate and what to experiment with.”
The takeaway? Advertisers with high-volume ecommerce accounts can afford to test loosening negative keyword restrictions, while lower-budget or long-sales-cycle accounts may need to be more selective.
📌Example: An ecommerce brand selling high-end running shoes might have added “cheap” as an account-level negative keyword years ago to keep out bargain hunters. It made sense at the time: why pay for clicks from shoppers unlikely to convert? Fast-forward to today, and they’ve launched a more affordable shoe line. But that old negative keyword? Still there. Still blocking traffic. So now, people actually looking for their budget-friendly shoes aren’t even seeing the ads. The worst part? No one even realized it was happening. That one keyword, added years ago and never revisited, was quietly cutting them off from the exact audience they were trying to reach. |
Andrew put this to the test with a bold experiment: he removed every negative keyword from an account. Most advertisers would expect this to open the floodgates to low-quality traffic and wasted spend. But that’s not what happened.
Instead of performance tanking, revenue skyrocketed 5.5x.
The reason was simple: the blocked traffic wasn’t bad. Smart Bidding just never had the chance to optimize it. And since this was an ecommerce account with plenty of data, Google’s algorithms had what they needed to adjust bids and find profitable conversions.
Now, we’re not saying you should remove every negative keyword overnight. Andrew’s case was an extreme test to prove a point. But his results highlight something critical: most advertisers are too aggressive with negatives and are limiting Smart Bidding’s ability to optimize.
A better move? Be open to testing
Instead of assuming old negatives are still necessary, test selectively removing a few and monitor the impact. If you have a high-volume ecommerce account, Smart Bidding may be able to optimize some of the traffic you previously blocked.
But if your budget is tighter or conversions take longer, you may need to take a more cautious approach. Either way, blindly keeping negatives from years ago isn’t a strategy; it’s just a habit. It’s time to review, test, and refine.
💡Optmyzr Tip: Not all negatives are bad but not all of them are helping, either. Before making changes, sanity check your list. Are these negatives still blocking wasted spend, or could Smart Bidding turn some of that traffic into conversions? It also matters where you apply negatives:
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Optmyzr’s Negative Keyword Finder makes this process easy by analyzing your search terms and performance data. It helps you identify overly broad negatives and spot underperforming keywords, so you can make informed decisions—blocking only what truly isn’t relevant.
And if you’re working through a long list of search terms, AI can also help speed things up. We tested how ChatGPT can rank search terms by relevance, making it easier to spot low-value queries to consider as negatives.
See how we did it in this video:
Mistake #2 – Splitting too many Performance Max campaigns
Splitting Performance Max campaigns excessively is a critical error many advertisers make.
When you fragment your PMax campaigns, each individual segment needs to reach a minimum conversion threshold to be effective—about 30 conversions monthly just to function, but closer to 300 for genuine optimization.
There’s no data sharing between these split campaigns. Your conversions aren’t pooled, you can’t implement shared budgets, and you can’t consolidate data in a bidding strategy.
You’re essentially forcing each campaign to learn from scratch with insufficient data.
Consider an advertiser selling apparel who creates separate PMax campaigns for t-shirts, jeans, jackets, and accessories—all targeting a 400% ROAS. While this organization seems logical, they’re actually handicapping Google’s algorithm by restricting each campaign’s data.
Now you might argue “But my product categories genuinely require different ROAS targets based on their margins and competition. Consolidation would sacrifice this precision.”
This is the only legitimate reason to split campaigns: when you have significantly different ROAS targets. If your jeans can sustain a 500% ROAS while shoes need a 300% target, separation makes sense.
But be honest: are your targets truly that different?
Andrew observes that in 80% of accounts, the ROAS targets vary negligibly (like 700%, 725%, and 715%)—differences that only hurt performance while providing no strategic benefit. Unless your margin structures demand dramatically different targets, consolidation will almost always outperform fragmentation by giving the algorithm the comprehensive data it needs to truly optimize.
He further says that, if you’re doing this today, it might be the one case where you should “blow your account up” and rebuild with a consolidated approach.
But this challenge isn’t limited to ecommerce. Julie further pointed out that lead generation advertisers often struggle even more with split PMax campaigns because they don’t generate enough conversion volume for Smart Bidding to work efficiently.
“Performance Max on the lead gen side can be a little tricky, right? Because for a lot of lead gen accounts, that threshold Andrew was talking about with conversions really comes into play. Lead gen accounts often don’t reach a point where the machine learning and smart bidding hit the level of efficiency they can on a high-volume ecommerce account.”
That’s why consolidation matters even more for lead gen.
If your campaigns aren’t getting enough conversions, Smart Bidding won’t have the data it needs to optimize. Instead of breaking things down too much, it’s better to group similar conversions together so the system has a real chance to learn and improve performance.
🔍Dig deeper: We analyzed 9,199 accounts and 24,702 PMax campaigns to find out what’s actually driving ROI. Spoiler: there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Our findings show that ecommerce and lead gen campaigns perform differently in PMax and the best results often come from running multiple campaigns, each with a single asset group. |
Want to see what else we found? Check out the full analysis here.
Mistake #3: Holding on to SKAGs (Single Keyword Ad Groups)
Single Keyword Ad Groups (SKAGs) had their moment, but that moment is long gone. What used to be a go-to strategy for tight control over search campaigns is now outdated, inefficient, and actively working against automation.
Why it’s a problem:
Back when exact match actually meant exact match, SKAGs made sense. They helped advertisers control which ads showed for specific queries. But today? Google’s matching system has changed. Phrase and broad match are smarter, and Smart Bidding is designed to adjust for relevance in ways SKAGs simply don’t support.
Julie made her stance clear:
“The single keyword ad group’s time has come and gone, people. No more.”
She explained that over-segmentation can limit the system’s ability to optimize efficiently across intent signals and can lead to unnecessary complexity.
Instead of trying to fight Google’s automation with rigid structures, the smarter move is to group keywords by intent rather than forcing a one-keyword-per-ad-group rule.
She further adds, “The platforms are trying to get us to be broader and broader in everything that we’re doing.” Instead of resisting, advertisers need to adapt their structure to give Smart Bidding enough data while keeping control where it matters.
📌 Example: An advertiser running a campaign for men’s running shoes might have historically set up SKAGs like this:
Each with its own ad and exact match targeting. But with Google’s close variants, intent-based matching, and automation, these SKAGs will likely end up competing against each other and over-segmentation could reduce optimization efficiency. |
Julie highlighted why keeping some separation still makes sense, but not at the SKAG level:
“I prefer to try to, even if it’s just for my thought processes and managing things, sometimes, for budget allocations, I’m a fan of the stack, the single theme, trying to keep things a little bit separated.”
This is where Single-Theme Ad Groups (STAGs) come in. Instead of isolating individual keywords, STAGs group keywords by intent while still allowing for control over ad messaging and landing pages.
A better move? Shift to STAGs and let automation work for you
Instead of clinging to SKAGs, shift to Single-Theme Ad Groups (STAGs). This keeps keywords logically grouped while still giving Google enough data to optimize effectively.
Julie summed it up perfectly:
“You have more flexibility in the language that you’re using in your ad copy. You could be sending to different landing pages depending on how sophisticated you are on that side of things.”
That flexibility is key to making automation work in your favor rather than fighting against it.
Mistake #4: Relying on last-click attribution
If you’re still using last-click attribution in 2025, you’re making bid decisions on incomplete data. It might feel familiar, but it’s fundamentally flawed as it credits 100% of a conversion to the last interaction while ignoring every touchpoint that led up to it.
Think about your own behavior. Do you ever see a single ad, click, and purchase instantly? Probably not. You research, compare, and interact with multiple touchpoints before making a decision. Last-click ignores this entirely.
It gives all the credit to the final click while ignoring SEO, social, email, upper-funnel ads, and remarketing—all of which play a role in driving conversions.
Andrew shares that: “Last-click attribution is absolutely dead. It should never be used for anyone outside the baby stage of an account.” He goes even further, calling it “100% wrong” – and this is coming from someone who manages millions in ad spend.
Julie goes even further calling attribution “a bit of fairy dust and wishes rather than hard data.” And with privacy restrictions making tracking more fragmented than ever, traditional attribution models are becoming even less reliable.
“We sold it as a strong, reliable factor—this is why you should do digital advertising instead of other types. But I think that’s starting to unravel as we move from 2024 into 2025. So, I think we’ll need to change the way we talk about attribution; more as a weighting or contributing factor rather than some absolute piece of data.”
How last-click distorts reality
Let’s say a customer:
- Finds your product through a Google Search ad
- Sees your remarketing ad while browsing news
- Clicks a promotional email a week later
- Finally converts after clicking a social ad
Last-click would give 100% credit to social, completely ignoring the critical role each previous interaction played. Advertisers then mistakenly shift budgets away from channels that actually contribute to conversions; just because last-click says they don’t.
What should you do instead?
First, align attribution with your bidding strategy. As our CEO, Frederick Vallaeys suggests, “If you’re going to trust your bidding to these systems, it probably makes sense to have a similarly run system to assign value.”
Data-driven attribution (DDA) is your best option here, even with its limitations. It distributes credit across the customer journey instead of rewarding only the last touchpoint.
Second, change how you think about attribution. It’s not absolute truth; it’s a directional signal. Instead of chasing a “perfect” model, look for patterns in the data and optimize accordingly.
Finally, go beyond attribution altogether.
Metrics like the Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER) provide a more holistic view by measuring overall revenue impact rather than assigning credit to individual channels.
The bottom line? If you’re still using last-click in 2025, you’re making decisions with one eye closed. Your competitors who’ve moved beyond it are seeing the full picture – and taking full advantage of it.
Mistake #5: “Set and forget” ROAS targets
Many advertisers fall into the trap of setting a Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) target and treating it as an unchangeable rule. While establishing a baseline ROAS is essential, rigidly adhering to it can stifle growth by overlooking valuable scaling opportunities. Market shifts, competitive pressures, and seasonal fluctuations necessitate a more dynamic approach.
The pitfall of a fixed ROAS
Take an ecommerce brand selling high-end electronics. They’ve set a 500% ROAS target across all campaigns. At first, things look great. But over time, they notice impressions drop, conversion volume stalls, and competitors start gaining traction.
Instead of adjusting their target, they hold firm without realizing that lowering ROAS slightly might actually drive more conversions at a profitable scale.
Andrew sees this resistance all the time:
“Most advertisers treat ROAS like a hard rule instead of a flexible lever. But if you’re never adjusting, you’re never discovering opportunities to scale.”
A good rule of thumb is to start by lowering or raising your ROAS target by 10-20% in a controlled test. This helps you understand if a small tweak can lead to additional conversions without drastically increasing costs.
Instead of reacting on assumptions, you’ll have real performance data to guide future decisions. Julie further adds:
“Many advertisers fear lowering their ROAS targets because they assume it will tank profitability. But sometimes, easing up on ROAS actually increases total revenue and profit because you’re allowing Smart Bidding to compete in more auctions.”
It’s understandable: tight margins make strict ROAS targets feel necessary.
But look beyond ROAS and focus on actual business impact. Many advertisers chase high ROAS numbers without realizing that a slightly lower ROAS can drive more total revenue and profit.
A 500% ROAS might sound great, but if a 400% target leads to double the conversions at a strong margin, which one is really better for your business?
For instance, a high ROAS with low conversion volume can mean you’re not reaching a wide enough audience even though your campaign is cost-effective. Similarly, a high ROAS with high spend means you’re not generating additional revenue. It may be a good idea to think of ways to make your campaign more sustainable.
Start analyzing blended metrics that provide a comprehensive view of your campaigns like:
- Profit per Conversion: This metric reveals the actual profit generated by each conversion, offering a clearer picture of profitability
- Lifetime Value (LTV): Understanding the long-term value of a customer helps you make informed decisions about acceptable acquisition costs
- Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER): This measures the overall effectiveness of your marketing spend, providing a broader perspective than ROAS alone
Another hesitation advertisers have is whether adjusting ROAS will confuse Smart Bidding. In reality, small, controlled shifts (10-20%) won’t disrupt learning but just help you see if you’re losing out.
Mistake #6 Neglecting video as a marketing channel
AI has made writing too easy. Every brand can churn out ad copy and blog posts in seconds. This leads to a flood of generic, soulless content that all sounds the same. If you want to grab attention, video isn’t optional anymore; it’s your best shot at actually standing out.
Yet, most PPC advertisers are completely failing to take advantage of it.
“YouTube is the best ad channel, the best ad inventory in the world, and yet, most advertisers completely ignore it.”
— Andrew Lolk
Let that sink in. The biggest untapped goldmine in PPC is sitting right in front of you, and you’re still prioritizing static search ads?
Even worse, many advertisers still believe YouTube is just a branding play.
The brands winning right now are using video to drive direct conversions, crush their remarketing, and influence branded search behavior.
And it’s not just about ads as video is changing how businesses communicate.
Andrew’s agency stopped sending long email reports and switched to quick Loom videos. Clients actually paid attention to performance updates instead of skimming over walls of text.
Still think video isn’t for you? That mindset won’t cut it anymore.
“For brands, if we’re talking about the people we work with, the time for simply saying, ‘No, we don’t do video,’ is probably not going to be sustainable much longer. So, if you’re not already doing it, at the very least, you need to be talking about it, putting resources in place, and planning for it.”
— Julie Bacchini
The excuses for avoiding video are dead. You don’t need Hollywood-level production. Simple screen recordings, casual smartphone clips, or short-form videos will put you ahead of 90% of advertisers still stuck in 2019.
Case study: how one simple video ad took Dr. Squatch from unknown to $100M
Take Dr. Squatch, a brand selling natural soap for men. They weren’t a household name until they ran a low-budget, personality-driven video ad on YouTube.
What they did: Instead of a polished, high-production video, they shot a simple, direct-response ad featuring a charismatic spokesperson walking through the benefits of their soap with humor and energy.
The video was raw, fun, and felt real. Here are the results they achieved:
- 12M+ views in just four months (122.3M as of today)
- Revenue skyrocketed from $5M to over $100M in just two years
They didn’t have a massive budget. They didn’t use fancy effects. They just leveraged video in a way that static ads never could.
Evolve your strategy and dominate PPC in 2025
If this list made you rethink how you run your campaigns, that’s a good thing. The worst mistake you can make in PPC isn’t bidding too high or picking the wrong keyword; it’s refusing to evolve.
So take a step back, audit your approach, and ask yourself: Are you running PPC for the way it worked in the past, or the way it works today?
Need help making that shift? Optmyzr helps you stay ahead of the curve with powerful automation, smarter insights, and tools designed for how PPC actually works in 2025.
Start your 14-day trial today and see the difference.
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⚠️ Disclaimer: Opinions and suggestions shared by experts in this article are their own and do not reflect those of Optmyzr. |
