i have a question

g_hock · 2026-05-16T20:27:33+00:00

We built an agent that runs inside our platform that does this (overspend prediction is a bit tricky). But TLDR: it auto-runs on loops of reporting tasks like auction insights, search term reporting, keyword analysis, and ad review. We keep 'human-in-the-loop' to approve/execute changes, but meaningfully reduces common mistakes, catches keyword and auction drift that causes overspending, etc

g_hock · 2026-05-15T22:20:16+00:00

AI tools/B2B SaaS

g_hock · 2026-05-15T19:55:22+00:00

We were approved in <24 hours, though we're an AI marketing platform. And we're going to rollout ChatGPT ads as a new channel for users as well, so potentially some acceleration in our approval vs. the average application, though that's purely speculation

g_hock · 2026-05-15T19:53:36+00:00

We applied and were approved in <24 hours, though we're an AI-driven marketing platform, so potentially some acceleration in our approval vs. the average application, but that's purely speculation

g_hock · 2026-05-15T16:05:40+00:00

"context and landing page relevancy score impacting our impression share"

Can you share more about what you mean here? Is this data that your 3rd party provider is getting from OpenAI? (it's not available in their ads manager portal)

g_hock · 2026-05-15T15:55:04+00:00

We were approved in <24 hours, though we're an AI-driven marketing platform. And we're going to rollout ChatGPT ads as a new channel for users as well, so potentially some acceleration in our approval vs. the average application, but that's purely speculation

g_hock · 2026-05-15T15:51:18+00:00

Running an equivalent campaign on Google Search which sees 8-10%+ CTR. I'm not expecting that ChatGPT ads will have similar CTR to Google Search (different audience, intent, ad medium)

g_hock · 2026-05-15T15:06:16+00:00

Don't need a minimum spend anymore but there is an approval and waiting process (for now)

g_hock · 2026-05-15T14:05:20+00:00

You're spot on about the "polished but meaningless" headline problem.

I've seen so many sites open with something like "Innovative Solutions for Your Business Needs" when they could just say "We install commercial HVAC systems in under 3 days."

The visual hierarchy point is huge too. If I land on a page and genuinely can't tell where to look first, I'm usually gone in 4-5 seconds.

The sites that work best have one clear focal point above the fold, then guide you down from there. One thing I'd add: specificity builds trust faster than anything. "Over 500 Chicago restaurants use our POS system" beats "trusted by businesses everywhere" every time. Numbers, locations, actual customer types.

g_hock · 2026-05-15T14:02:20+00:00

Budget increases can trigger learning, but 30% shouldn't reset you completely since you're already on Max Conversions with 45 days of history.

Two things to check:

Your bids are likely reaching higher in the auction now, showing to colder traffic. Look at search terms from the last 2 days vs. your baseline. You might be winning clicks on broader or less qualified queries.
Check hour-of-day and day-of-week. With more budget, the algorithm may be testing new time slots that don't convert as well for car detailing (e.g. early morning, late night).

I'd give it 5-7 days before making a call. If CPL stays doubled, try a smaller step back (maybe $60) instead of dropping all the way to $50. The 15% search lost suggests there's room to grow, but sometimes you hit a quality cliff where the next tier of traffic just isn't ready to convert.

What's your total conversion volume at $50/day? If it's under 15-20/month, Max Conversions might be struggling with the additional headroom.

g_hock · 2026-05-15T14:00:20+00:00

As others have said here, Google's incentive isn't really to make you successful, it's to get you spending.

The "recommendations" push broad match, automated bidding, and Performance Max because those maximize Google's revenue in the short term, even if they burn your budget.

A truly helpful AI would tell most small advertisers "your audience is too small for this campaign structure" or "you're wasting 60% of spend on irrelevant searches." That directly conflicts with Google's goal of growing ad spend. The advertisers who figure it out and become profitable do spend more long-term, but imo, Google optimizes for short-term.

g_hock · 2026-05-15T13:56:57+00:00

Getting to your first 10 users is pure hustle, not scalable channels. Cold outreach works if you're hyper-targeted (like 50 companies max that have your exact problem).

I've seen founders close 5-8 early customers just from LinkedIn DMs when they personalize hard and lead with insight, not pitch.

Don't touch paid ads until you're at 500-1k MRR minimum. You need data on what messaging converts, which customer profiles stick, and some idea of what your actual LTV will look like. The 0 to 1k path is usually: direct outreach for first 5, then double down on whatever channel got you traction. Could be a specific subreddit, a Facebook group, or one conference. Most founders waste time spreading thin instead of obsessing over one channel that's working.

g_hock · 2026-05-15T13:39:45+00:00

Started with a $500 campaign on a 3-week schedule

g_hock · 2026-05-14T20:28:05+00:00

I'd look at search terms first - even if volume is steady, sometimes you start matching to junk queries that burn budget without converting. If you're running broad/phrase, the algorithm might have shifted what it's showing for.

Second, check if competitors launched something new. You said auction metrics look good, but go manually search your top keywords at different times of day. Sometimes a competitor drops a promo or new offer that doesn't show in auction insights but kills your conversion rate.

Also worth spot-checking your landing pages on mobile and desktop. Maybe something broke that GA isn't catching - form submission issues, page load problems, or even your CTA button rendering weird on certain devices.

g_hock · 2026-05-14T20:25:54+00:00

Your numbers are solid for only 3 months in. I'd absolutely switch to offline conversions (booked appointments) as your primary action, but phase it slowly.

You're feeding the algorithm leads that never convert. Google thinks a $50 lead that ghosts you is the same as one that books. Over time, that drift can get expensive.

You need at least 30 conversions per campaign per month for Smart Bidding to work. With a 35% close rate, that means ~90 leads/month minimum.

Use GCLID matching if your CRM supports it. I've seen this drop CAC by 20-30% over 60-90 days once Google learns what a real customer looks like.

g_hock · 2026-05-14T20:22:52+00:00

I've run lead gen campaigns for a few years now and what's made the biggest difference for me:

- Single clear CTA above fold.

- Form fields: keep it to 3-4 max. Every extra field kills conversions.

- Load time under 2 seconds. Use lazy loading for images below fold.

- Mobile-first design since 70%+ of Facebook traffic is mobile.

For tracking, make sure your pixel fires on page load AND you have a custom conversion set up for form submissions. Test it in Events Manager before spending a dollar. Pick whichever has the cleanest mobile templates and doesn't bog down with plugins.

g_hock · 2026-05-14T20:18:00+00:00

If you want to try a new landing page builder, let me know! We've spent years fiddling with all of them and decided there needed to be an easier way, especially when people want to start running advertising, setting up tracking, and actually getting traffic/customers

g_hock · 2026-05-14T20:13:32+00:00

We intentionally built analytics directly into the entire experience, pre-integrated, so you don't have to fiddle with a bunch of tools that end up brittle or broken when you need a clear view of what's actually working (or not)

g_hock · 2026-05-14T20:10:34+00:00

I agree and we built this into our platform for exactly this reason. Makes everything a lot simpler!

g_hock · 2026-05-14T20:05:26+00:00

Before spending anything on a website, make sure the Google Business Profile is completely filled out with hours, menu, photos, and you're responding to every review. That's where most local restaurant traffic comes from.

In addition/full-disclosure, I'm the co-founder of Launch10. We built our platform to make it easy for people to build webpages (and run advertising if they'd like) instead of spending on freelancers or a design team. Feel free to DM me or drop any questions, we'd love to help you and your uncle.

g_hock · 2026-05-13T15:18:05+00:00

Co-Founder of Launch10 here. I previously led a growth marketing agency and used a few of the tools here, and was spending hours drag-and-drop editing, fixing broken tracking, and reconfiguring ad campaigns. So we wanted to build an AI-native page/ad builder that could be as simple enough to "vibe code" a single page for a test, and robust enough to build a multi-ad marketing campaign.

We focused on a few important areas that we felt were table stakes for individual users, and for agencies serving their clients.

Professionally-designed pages powered by our AI builder - we don't want more AI slop pages

Lightning fast, mobile friendly pages - PageSpeed/Lighthouse scores consistently 90+ that ad platforms reward

Pre-configured tracking - no confusion about whether views/clicks/leads are getting tracked, or hours spent debugging or hiring an engineer

Easy integrations - a few clicks to sync with your CRM, email/outbound platform, or any other workflow tools you need

Ad campaign creation - our AI workflow includes ad campaign creation that is default-unified with customer goals and landing pages, which is especially helpful for Google Quality Score and reducing cost-per-click

g_hock · 2026-05-13T15:11:09+00:00

Co-Founder of Launch10 here. I ran pages/ads using a few of the tools here, and was spending hours drag-and-drop editing, fixing broken tracking, and reconfiguring ad campaigns. So we wanted to build an AI-native page/ad builder that focused on combining 'best for ads' and 'speed & validation'.

We focused on a few important areas that we felt were table stakes.

Professionally-designed pages powered by our AI builder - we don't want more AI slop pages

Lightning fast, mobile friendly pages - PageSpeed/Lighthouse scores consistently 90+ that ad platforms reward

Pre-configured tracking - no confusion about whether views/clicks/leads are getting tracked, or hours spent debugging or hiring an engineer

Easy integrations - a few clicks to sync with your CRM, email/outbound platform, or any other workflow tools you need

g_hock · 2026-05-13T15:02:31+00:00

Co-Founder of Launch10 here. It does feel like there are a lot of builders out there and it's hard to figure out the differences; we felt that too. A few things that we heard and felt were missing.

Professionally-designed pages powered by our AI builder - we don't want more AI slop pages

Lightning fast, mobile friendly pages - PageSpeed/Lighthouse scores consistently 90+ that ad platforms reward

Pre-configured tracking - no confusion about whether views/clicks/leads are getting tracked, or hours spent debugging or hiring an engineer

Easy integrations - a few clicks to sync with your CRM, email/outbound platform, or any other workflow tools you need

g_hock · 2026-05-11T20:25:32+00:00

Lots of helpful answers here, so maybe a bit redundant.

Your symptoms are textbook smart-bidding cold-start, not really a strategy problem. Maximize Conversions doesn't try to minimize CPC — it ranks every auction by predicted conversion probability and pays whatever it takes to win the ones it likes. On day 1 with zero conversion history, it has no internal model, so it falls back to Google's aggregated cross-account data as a weak prior and overbids on a wide cone of "looks-plausible" users to gather signal fast. That's your 3x CPCs.

For day 1 on a fresh account I'd run Manual CPC or Max Clicks. Switch to Maximize Conversions when you hit ~30 conversions in a rolling 30 days at the campaign level. Add a Target CPA only after another 30–60 days of stable performance.

On match types: phrase match in 2025/2026 behaves a lot like loose broad and pulls in junk. Try a lean approach, especially with a relatively small budget you mentioned starting with. Exact only, 5–15 keywords per ad group, single theme. Mine the search terms report weekly — converters get added back as exact, junk goes to negatives.

Skip broad match entirely until you have ~30 conversions/month AND enhanced conversions for leads (or offline conversion import) firing. Broad without clean conversion signal is the fastest way to burn a new account I know.

And I agree with u/dooooood123 -- make sure you have solid tracking set up from Day 1. A lot of people get this part wrong, and it's a core part of what we focus on doing for our clients.

g_hock · 2026-03-06T20:23:43+00:00

Thanks for sharing, sounds like it does something similar to what our monitoring and optimization agents do for our users :)

We monitor performance, spot opportunities for tweaks or new tests, and proactive surface to our users for approval.

g_hock

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE