Stop blaming yourself for a "Black Box" you didn’t build.

Everyone in marketing wants your money.

The platform profits when you waste money. The agency profits when you spend it. You are the only one incentivized to save it.

I wrote this blog to expose the "Black Box" and show you how to protect your business. I don't sell management. I sell the solution you need to stop losing money on ads.

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Google Auction Insights: How to Read the Report Like a Pro (and Stop Wasting Budget)

How to Read the Report Like a Pro (and Stop Wasting Budget) Most people glance at the Auction Insights report, see a list of competitors, and move on. That’s a mistake. After 17 years of running Google Ads, I’ve learned that this report is the ultimate tool for separating strategic advertisers from those bleeding money. I’m breaking down how to spot competitor bidding algorithms, find "money pits," and—most importantly—how to know when the smartest move is to stop fighting and walk away.

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The Death of the Discount: Why "Value-First" is the Only Way to Scale PPC in 2026

Are your sales actually hurting your business? In 2026, constant promotions don’t boost revenue like they used to. Instead sales erode margins, train the algorithm to chase bargain hunters, and destabilize your entire PPC account. This article breaks down the cost of over‑discounting and shows why shifting to value‑first messaging is now the sustainable way to grow.

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Platform Behavior, Google Ads Strategy Sarah Stemen Platform Behavior, Google Ads Strategy Sarah Stemen

Search Isn’t Matching Intent — It’s Matching Predictions: Inside the Predictive Era

I see advertisers with 'perfect' setups failing all the time. The reason? They are still operating under the Old Model. In 2026, the query is no longer the command—it’s just a signal. Welcome to the Predictive Era, where Google trusts its own predictions more than your inputs."

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Google Ads Strategy Sarah Stemen Google Ads Strategy Sarah Stemen

The Attribution Illusion: Why Chasing a Single Marketing Metric Is Costing Your Business Leads and Sales

Most businesses think they have a marketing problem when what they really have is an attribution problem. Last‑Click makes your “best” campaigns look like heroes while quietly starving the early‑stage touchpoints that actually create demand. This illusion doesn’t just distort your reporting — it inflates your CAC, misallocates your budget, and blinds your bidding engine to the signals that drive profitable growth. In this guide, I break down how attribution really works in 2026, why your numbers look wrong, and how to rebuild a measurement system that protects your revenue instead of sabotaging it.

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How Much Should I Spend on Google Ads? A Clear, Math‑Driven Budget Guide

If you’ve ever wondered how much you should actually spend on Google Ads, you’re not alone. In this guide, we walk through the real math behind minimum viable budgets — so you can stop guessing, understand your breakeven CPA, and set a spend level that actually gives Google enough data to perform.

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Google Maps Updates January 2026: Maps-Only Ads Strategy Guide

Google quietly made a structural change that matters far more than the industry is treating it: Google Maps is now a selectable placement inside Demand Gen. This post breaks down what actually changed, why it matters for local businesses and therapists, and how this shift affects proximity, visibility, and strategy in 2026.

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Google Ads Strategy Sarah Stemen Google Ads Strategy Sarah Stemen

Google Ads Signals & Value Hub

The Google Ads Signals & Value Hub is a clear, diagnostic map that explains how Google interprets behavior, how signals influence learning, and how value‑based bidding actually works. This hub organizes the core concepts practitioners must understand to protect their budget, diagnose performance, and make smarter decisions in a signal‑driven ecosystem.

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Google Ads Strategy Sarah Stemen Google Ads Strategy Sarah Stemen

Google Ads Budget Optimization Strategies: Agency Red Flags and How to Protect Your P&L

Tired of Google Ads reports that show plenty of "activity" but no profit? Many agencies substitute genuine, analytical strategy for superficial account management, turning your ad budget into a silent P&L risk. Learn the three strategic alternatives a paid search expert uses to isolate profitable keywords, run high-impact tests, and stop budget leaks for good.

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Google Ads Strategy Sarah Stemen Google Ads Strategy Sarah Stemen

How Long Does It Take For Google Ads To Work? The Real 8–12 Week Timeline

Google Ads campaigns start delivering clicks within 24–48 hours, but for a campaign to truly work, meaning it generates consistent, profitable leads or sales, you must commit to an 8–12 week optimization cycle. The first month is the crucial Activation & Learning Phase where performance will be wildly inconsistent. This instability, often characterized by high cost and few conversions, is the necessary price of buying data that feeds the algorithm. Resist the urge to panic or make major daily changes during this period, as you will reset the learning clock.

Stay focused on ensuring tracking is perfect and aggressively cleaning up irrelevant searches with negative keywords. Consistent, profitable results will emerge in the subsequent weeks, validating the patience required during the initial phase.

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About Audience Signals Performance Max: Google Ads Help - The Real Explanation

Audience signals in Performance Max don’t work the way Google Help describes them. They’re not targeting—they’re trajectory. Signals shape the first 10–30 days of learning, determine your early data quality, and decide whether PMax aligns with your economics or drifts into cheap, unprofitable traffic.

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The Small Business Guide to Value‑Based Bidding in Google Ads (Stop Paying For Junk Leads)

Google Ads shouldn’t feel like a gamble for small business owners. Yet too often, campaigns chase the cheapest clicks and flood your pipeline with low‑quality leads that never close. That’s wasted budget — and it’s exactly why Value‑Based Bidding (VBB) matters.

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Is Your Google Ads Account Underperforming? Here’s When a PPC Coach Becomes a Smart Investment

If your Google Ads campaigns feel unpredictable, expensive, or confusing, you’re not alone. After 17 years auditing PPC accounts, I see the same issues over and over: wasted spend, bad tracking, and the wrong bidding strategy. Here’s how a PPC coach helps you fix what’s broken and finally get consistent, high‑quality leads.

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Google Ads Budget Pacing: How to Control Spend, Protect Profit, and Stop Google From Spending Your Budget Early

Google Ads budgets aren’t daily caps…they’re averages. Google can spend up to 2× your daily budget, recalculate pacing mid‑month, and shift spend based on signals, constraints, and inventory. All of this causes anxiety.

This guide breaks down how budgets actually work, why pacing goes off the rails, and how to protect your money with better structure, better data, and smarter oversight.

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