📬 This Week’s TBC Newsletter
Hey Blue Collar boss,
Google Ads Suddenly Not Performing? Here’s What’s Likely Happening
You had it dialed in.
Calls were coming in.
Then… crickets.
Calls were coming in.
Then… crickets.
If your Google Ads campaign suddenly goes cold without warning, it can feel like the rug’s been pulled out from under you.
But before you go blaming your marketing team (or worse—yourself), here are the usual suspects we see time and again when performance takes a nosedive:
1. Google Made a Change (and Didn’t Tell You)
Google’s always tweaking things—matching types, keyword interpretations, ad rankings, bidding behaviors.
Sometimes even a small change in the algorithm or auction dynamics can wreck a campaign that was humming along just fine.
Sometimes even a small change in the algorithm or auction dynamics can wreck a campaign that was humming along just fine.
Example: We’ve seen broad match keywords suddenly start pulling junk traffic because Google “reinterpreted” them.
Fix: Pull a search terms report. If you see a flood of irrelevant clicks, it’s time to tighten up those keywords and add negatives.
2. Budget Got Spread Too Thin
You didn’t touch anything, but your spend is being spread over more junk traffic. Why?
Because new competitors might’ve entered your market—or your budget isn’t high enough to stay competitive during peak hours.
Because new competitors might’ve entered your market—or your budget isn’t high enough to stay competitive during peak hours.
Fix: Segment by hour of day or day of week. You may be wasting spend when your target customers aren’t even searching.
3. Ad Fatigue or Quality Drop
Even text ads get stale. Google favors high-quality, high-CTR ads. If yours dip in relevance or engagement, they get pushed down. Fewer impressions, fewer clicks.
Fix: Test new ad copy. Refresh your offers. Improve ad strength scores in the responsive ad editor.
4. Conversion Tracking Broke
This one’s sneaky. If your conversion tracking breaks or misfires, Google loses the signal it needs to optimize your campaign. You’ll still get traffic, but not the right kind.
Fix: Double check your tracking. Did the thank-you page URL change? Did a new website update wipe the script?
5. You’re Winning Less Often
Even if your keywords and ads are solid, your bids might no longer be competitive. Especially with Smart Bidding, if Google thinks your chances of converting are low, you’ll get sidelined.
Fix: Check your impression share and lost-to-rank or budget numbers. You might need to bump your bids or tweak your landing page to improve Quality Score.
Bottom Line?
If Google Ads suddenly stops working, 9 times out of 10 it’s not sabotage or bad luck. It’s a shift—algorithmic, competitive, or structural.
But the worst thing you can do is nothing.
Let us take a look.
📞 Book a free strategy call and we’ll do a real-time visibility check on your ads and rankings.
📞 Book a free strategy call and we’ll do a real-time visibility check on your ads and rankings.
Talk soon,
Team TBC
True Blue Collar Marketing
More calls. Less fluff.
Team TBC
True Blue Collar Marketing
More calls. Less fluff.
Talk to you next week,
