Why Your Google Ads Aren’t Performing Well in 2025
Google Ads specialists have recently been noticing that their ad performance has been dropping drastically with no clear indication as to why. Their ad setup hasn’t changed and they have been doing everything by the book, so why is this happening?
The Google Ads specialists at ClickOn Marketing have been in the industry and worked with Google as a product for over 10 years and we can confidently say we think we know what is going on as well as what is to come.
In this article we will outline the basics of Google Ads and what used to be a winning formula. We will then discuss what has changed, where those changes leave us, and explore some potential solutions to the problem everyone is facing.
The Basics of Google Ads
To understand how Google ads work we must first look at what it is. Google Ads is one half of the Google product as a whole. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the other half of the product.
In Google Ads you pay Google to promote your company to users as they search on Google. To do this, you make use of keywords which are search terms that users type into Google to find information pertaining to a question they have or find a service/product they are ready to purchase.
You would then select keywords that are relevant to your business and “tell” Google that you want your business to be advertised to a user if they type in that keyword. Each keyword has a cost which is determined per click, so every time someone clicks on your ad you would pay for that click. However some keywords are more expensive than others.
Keyword Popularity vs Price
Think of Google Ads as a kind of auction. In this auction, keywords are like the items being bid on; let’s say cars. Just like at a real auction, if there are more cars than buyers, prices tend to stay low. But if there are more buyers than cars, the price goes up due to higher demand.
Therefore, if there are many bidders within an industry the price for keywords relating to that industry are typically higher, making it easier for the bigger and more financially affluent companies to perform well.
In the early days, Google took steps to level the playing field so that smaller advertisers could still compete with bigger ones in this auction-style system. This is where keyword relevancy comes into play.
Keyword Relevancy vs Price
Google made it easier for advertisers to compete by introducing certain rules, one of which is keyword relevancy. This means that the keywords in your ad need to match both the content on your landing page and what the user is actually searching for.
For example, if someone searches for "rats" and sees an ad for an exterminator, that ad might not be relevant. The user could be looking to buy pet rats, not get rid of them. In this case, the exterminator may have used keywords related to buying rats, which doesn't accurately reflect the service they offer. A pet shop using those same keywords would likely perform better because its offering is more aligned with the user's intent.
As a result, ads that are less relevant, like the exterminator's ad in this case, tend to pay more per click. On the other hand, advertisers with relevant, high-quality ads benefit from lower costs and better results.
However, it is important to take into account the general market standard when evaluating ad performance. This is because high value keywords will always remain expensive.
Google Ads in the Past
Back in 2009, running Google Ads was a much simpler process. Many business owners and marketing managers could easily manage their own campaigns without needing to be PPC experts. The platform was straightforward: you chose your keyword, set your bid, and then checked back in a few days to see how things were going.
More often than not, you’d find that your ads were getting clicks from the right audience. The leads were relevant and of good quality, and the cost per click was reasonable. This was largely because competition was lower, and the keywords weren’t nearly as saturated as they are today.
It was a low-barrier system that made it easy for smaller businesses to jump in and start seeing results without much hassle or technical knowledge.
However, this has all drastically changed over the past 16 years.
Automation and the New Wave of Google Ads
In recent years, Google Ads has shifted heavily toward automation. Google now encourages advertisers to automate almost every aspect of campaign management, including bidding, budget allocation, ad copy, creatives, and even keyword selection.
This means that instead of choosing which keywords to target and how much to pay for them, Google wants to make those decisions for you. Returning to the car auction example, it’s like Google saying, “Let us pick your cars (keywords), and we’ll also decide how much you’re going to pay for them.” Whether or not those keywords are actually relevant to your goals or audience becomes less important to Google, as the focus shifts more toward how much you're spending.
Many PPC experts have pushed back against this approach. They argue that relying too heavily on automation can lead to poor campaign performance. These experts understand Google's rules and best practices, and they know when automation is likely to do more harm than good.
For example, Google used to recommend keeping ad groups focused, with only five to ten closely related keywords. Today, automation often adds a broad mix of unrelated keywords into the same group, which can hurt ad relevance and performance. Similarly, automated bidding strategies don't always align with specific business goals or market conditions. Experienced advertisers often prefer to manage bids manually to maintain control and achieve better results.
In short, while automation may offer convenience, it can come at the cost of precision and performance, especially when expert strategy is replaced by a generalised, automated system.
Call Centres Taking Over as Google Representatives
Over the past couple of years, Google has increasingly started using outsourced call centres to contact advertisers on their behalf. At first glance, it might seem like you're speaking directly with a Google employee, especially when the emails come from an official-looking address like @xfw.google.com.
However, if you read the fine print at the bottom of the message, you’ll often see a small note that says the person is “contacting you on behalf of Google.” This means the person reaching out isn’t a Google employee at all, but rather a call centre agent working under contract.
The issue with this shift is that it can be misleading. These agents often sound official, but they don't have the same level of training or expertise as actual Google representatives. Their job is primarily sales-driven. They work under pressure with call quotas and sales targets, which means their main goal is to get you on the phone and push certain changes or features — not necessarily to give you the best advice for your campaigns.
As a result, many advertisers are being pestered with repeated phone calls, often from people who are more focused on hitting their numbers than offering meaningful, strategic support. This can lead to poor advice, misaligned campaign settings, and ultimately, wasted ad spend.
The personal, expert support that advertisers used to get from trained Google reps is being replaced by a high-pressure sales environment that doesn't always serve the advertiser's best interest.
Now, you might be wondering why Google is doing this. Well, everything we have discussed thus far has led to the situation businesses and Google Ads managers are finding themselves in today.
Where Does this Leave Us?
Over the last 20 years, Google Ads has changed dramatically. As Google evolved, it learned how to better monetise its platform. Sales reps started calling businesses, encouraging them to activate automation features like Smart Bidding, auto-generated keywords, and automatically created ads. These reps often claimed to be helping, but what they were really doing was guiding advertisers toward options that made Google more money.
The result? A crowded auction system where 20 people are bidding on 10 keywords. Many of them don’t even realise Google is making aggressive bidding decisions for them. Meanwhile, experienced PPC managers who want more control are constantly having to fight the system. Even when they manually turn off automation, Google sometimes switches it back on without warning. This means marketers have to monitor their accounts closely and constantly.
At the same time, the landscape of search is changing. With platforms like ChatGPT becoming more popular, fewer people are turning to Google to research products or find answers. This shift in user behaviour is cutting into Google’s ad revenue. If fewer people are searching, there are fewer opportunities to show ads and generate clicks.
To adapt, Google has introduced AI Overviews. Instead of directing users to websites, Google now tries to answer questions directly on the results page using information it has pulled from various sources. This keeps users within the Google ecosystem for longer, and in the near future, Google will start placing ads directly within these AI-generated answers.
Where does this leave us? Google Ads is no longer a set-it-and-forget-it tool. It’s a more complex, automated system that demands constant attention and strategic oversight if you want to get value from it without wasting your budget.
The Solution
With all these changes and challenges in Google Ads, it is now more important than ever to work closely with an experienced Google Ads manager. These experts constantly keep their finger on the pulse of the platform. They understand the complexities and can navigate the ever-changing rules, automation shifts, and bidding battles to make sure your ad spend is used wisely and effectively.
At ClickOn Marketing, we have been advising our clients to diversify their marketing portfolios. Relying solely on Google Ads in today’s landscape is risky. Combining Google Ads with other channels like social media advertising, email marketing, SEO, and content marketing can help create a stronger, more stable foundation for your business growth.
If you want to cut through the noise and complexity of Google Ads, and build a marketing strategy that works in today’s environment, reach out to ClickOn Marketing. Our team is ready to help you take control, maximise your returns, and grow your business with confidence.
Contact ClickOn Marketing today and let’s get started.
