The PPC industry is full of vultures, and they’re circling your business right now. Before you surrender the keys to your Google Ads account to a 'niche expert' who might be learning on your dime, read this. I’m breaking down why most businesses aren't ready for full-time management and why an in-house 'Second Look' approach is the insurance policy your margins actually need.

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.

Google Ads’ new Campaign Total Budgets look like a simple pacing update — but beneath the surface, they shift the entire auction into a predictive, investment‑style system. Here’s how this change impacts costs, cannibalization, and your evergreen campaigns.

Multi-billion-dollar aggregators are buying up the digital ad real estate in Central Ohio and selling your own leads back to you. It's time to stop paying the "Aggregator Tax." Learn how local therapists in Columbus, Cincinnati, and Cleveland are using Protective PPC™ to reclaim their caseloads and fight back against Big Therapy.

Navigating paid ads has become a high-stakes game for businesses in 2026. With platforms pushing 'black-box' automation and rising costs, the old ways of managing spend are no longer enough. I am introducing Protective PPC™ a framework built to give business owners the guardrails and transparency they need to stop wasting budget and start driving revenue.

Microsoft’s new Copilot Checkout and Brand Agents aren’t just retail features — they’re the first major move in the shift toward agent‑led commerce. This post breaks down the upstream incentives, the data grab, and what every operator must do to stay “agent‑ready.”

AI isn’t disrupting advertising — the platforms are. Microsoft and Google’s new AI agents are collapsing the funnel, taking over the decision layer, and redefining who even qualifies to compete. If you’re not designing your signals intentionally, you’re already behind.

Google just made Demand Gen useful for local businesses. With Maps now a standalone placement, you can run visual ads directly inside Google Maps — and finally control your budget. Here’s when it’s worth testing.

Reddit just launched Max campaigns — but behind the cheaper CPCs and shiny automation is a deeper risk most advertisers won’t see. Here’s how Reddit’s community‑driven signals can over‑index, distort performance, and quietly mislead small businesses in 2026.

This is a content hub that supports my posts that breakdown how major platforms behave — Google, Bing, Meta, Reddit, and more — and why small businesses feel rising ad costs and unpredictable automation. Learn the platform behavior patterns shaping paid ads so you can make safer decisions before you spend.

A diagnostic, emotionally intelligent hub that explains what Google Ads’ latest changes actually mean for small business owners, therapists, and service providers — without hype, panic, or industry spin. I publish only the updates I’ve processed, tested, or analyzed, and translate them into clarity, context, and strategy.

Google Ads costs feel chaotic until you understand the math behind CPC, intent, pacing, and minimum viable budgets. This hub gives you a clear, diagnostic map to stop wasting money and finally understand what your budget can — and can’t — do.

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.

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.

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.

I want to dominate the top of the page."

This common request is often the fastest way to kill your ROI. In this technical breakdown, I explain the algorithmic difference between the "Ego Bid" (Target Impression Share) and the "Action Bid" (Maximize Conversions) and why you can't have both.

Is your $20/day Google Ads budget working? If not, the problem isn't the size of your budget—it's the massive, invisible waste in your setup.

The reality is this: Most small accounts lose $100–$300 a month to 'Hidden Costs' like terrible Quality Scores, irrelevant clicks, and lazy negative keywords. That wasted $1,800 a year is guaranteed to continue.

My $750 Hidden Cost Protection Plan stops that waste immediately. This isn't an expense; it's a one-time investment that pays for itself in just a few months by simply recapturing the money you were already spending inefficiently. Stop paying the Google 'inefficiency tax,' and start building a profitable foundation today."