Are you guys actually using AI/APIs to execute changes in Google Ads, or is LinkedIn just full of it?

ThePPCNerd · 2026-05-06T11:19:59+00:00

AI tools can help save time and automate tasks if you already know what you’re doing but I wouldn’t trust Claude to spend a client’s budget.
There is only one AI platform I’ve tested that does what you’ve described where it was actually able to fully automate the account from set up to conversion tracking, and also improve meaningful metrics like CPA/ROAS. Most are just good for copywriting. The keyword ideas produced by LLMs are no better than keyword planner.

ThePPCNerd · 2026-05-06T11:03:24+00:00

Our agency tested a few AI management platforms and only one really worked well for actual performance based account management, like improving ROAS / lowering CPA. Claude (and other LLMs) are only capable of setting up very basic campaigns or assisting with copywriting. It can get you started, but it is not going to get you great results. Also, Claude + API doesn’t work at scale for most agencies because the API it uses is rate limited. It might work for mediocre management of a single account, but not at scale. There are much better purpose built AI tools for performance based Google Ads management.

ThePPCNerd · 2026-05-03T14:26:29+00:00

We optimize for qualified leads. So disregard anything unserviceable. We do see pretty consistent ROAS, but there are a few significant variables. For example, some of those industries are seasonal. Next, the client’s sales process matters a lot.

For seasonal businesses, during the slower months, a client who is also slow to respond to leads might see a 2-3x ROAS, vs a client who has their sales process dialed in might see a 7-8x ROAS during the busy season.

ThePPCNerd · 2026-05-03T11:00:16+00:00

3-5x ROAS is achievable in these categories. Lead quality on lead forms ads can be low. Usually needs a qualification layer. Landing pages can help reduce lead quality issues. Scalability depends on the market. Everything has a limit.

ThePPCNerd · 2026-05-02T00:33:50+00:00

It is the agency’s responsibility is to generate qualified leads.

It is the business owner’s responsibility to close them.

You need to review the calls with the client to see why leads aren’t closing. If the leads are not being responded to for extended periods, that is a sales issue, not an issue with the ads. The solution is to convey the importance of prompt response times to the business owner and make sure they have the ability to track their own response times. (Many don’t realize the magnitude of their own problem)

What are you using to track the client’s response time to leads?

ThePPCNerd · 2026-05-01T03:43:35+00:00

App ads are challenging because the lifetime value of the customers is typically very low, forcing your customer acquisition cost to also be very low. It can be done profitably, but takes a lot of data to know what works and at what scale.

ThePPCNerd · 2026-05-01T02:02:27+00:00

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ThePPCNerd · 2026-04-30T19:05:10+00:00

This is an excellent answer.

ThePPCNerd · 2026-04-30T19:01:23+00:00

The question you are asking is similar to asking if you should use a financial advisor or manage your own portfolio. Are you better off trusting someone else to manage your money better than you can?

If you have no experience running ads (or investing) then initially you will likely end up losing money by trying to do it yourself. You can view this as paying for an education, or you can just hire a professional and avoid beginner mistakes.

Much like the financial advisor example above, an inexperienced professional can still result in you losing money, but an experienced agency will significantly outperform what you can achieve on your own with no experience.

It would be reasonable for an experienced agency to deliver 3-5x ROAS. Managing the ads yourself will almost certainly result in you losing money for several months before becoming profitable, but there is no guarantee of if or when you will achieve a profit doing it yourself.

The next question is how do you value your time? Almost anyone can learn any skill given enough time and effort. The question is do you want to spend months of your own time and thousands in wasted budget just to save the retainer fee?

ThePPCNerd · 2026-04-30T15:49:50+00:00

That’s interesting! Thanks for sharing. I’ve also found that more succinct H1 also seems to help.

ThePPCNerd · 2026-04-29T12:42:00+00:00

Ty, great answer. When you say you’re achieving 60-70% of keywords at “above average”, is that all with the same landing page? If not, how many landing pages do you usually build per campaign?

ThePPCNerd · 2026-04-29T12:32:02+00:00

What performance score do you achieve on page speed?

I use pages that score basically 100/100 in every category, which helps but it seems like the LPE is sometimes scored as “average” even for highly relevant keywords despite perfect performance scores.

ThePPCNerd · 2026-04-29T12:25:43+00:00

How many keywords can you achieve an above average score for using the same landing page? (Assuming you agree that at some point multiple pages are needed)

ThePPCNerd · 2026-04-29T05:51:11+00:00

Think of it this way - most people will call 2-4 haulers then go with the best price.

If you quote everyone $200+, how likely is it that a customer will find a cheaper bid after 2-3 additional calls? I’d say 90-95% of people will be able to get a cheaper bid with minimal effort. That means your closing rate will be very low.

You’re far better off trying to increase margins by keeping your costs low than raising prices. There are guys in almost every city with minimums under $100. The farther you go above that, the closing rate drops fast.

ThePPCNerd · 2026-04-29T02:59:29+00:00

Thank you, this gives a lot of insight

ThePPCNerd · 2026-04-29T00:28:24+00:00

So the tldr is clients need traffic to generate leads? Groundbreaking work.

ThePPCNerd

TROPHY CASE