PPC REAL talk

Join Susan Yen, SearchLab’s PPC Team Lead and nationally recognized PPC speaker, each month as she cuts through the noise surrounding Google Ads and paid search. Through real-world campaign breakdowns, PPC Real Talk delivers practical strategies you can use to improve performance, spend smarter, and stay ahead of what’s changing in paid media.

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How to Choose an Automotive PPC Agency for Your Dealer Group

Most dealer group advertising looks fine from the outside. Traffic is up, leads are coming in, and the monthly reports are full of green arrows. The problem is that most of those reports are built around the metrics that are easiest to show, not the ones that tell you whether your ad budget is actually […]

Before You Turn On Smart Bidding, Fix This First

Smart Bidding has a reputation problem, and most of it is earned the wrong way. A team flips it on, performance dips, and the conclusion writes itself: automation doesn’t work, Google got worse, and costs are out of control. That reaction is understandable, but it usually points to the wrong thing. Smart Bidding isn’t a […]

Stop Treating Dallas Like Chicago: The Cure for Location Decay

There’s a fantasy that lives rent-free in the head of every PPC marketer: flip on Smart Bidding, lean back, and watch the algorithm quietly print money while you work on other things. Unfortunately, it is just that, a fantasy. Before blaming Google’s algorithm, take an honest look at the four foundations below. They won’t make […]

When to Scale vs Rebuild Your PPC Campaigns And Why Most Businesses Get It Wrong

Throwing more budget at a struggling campaign feels like the obvious move. The pressure to show results is real, the logic seems sound, and raising spend at least feels like doing something. However, if the structure underneath isn’t working, more money doesn’t turn things around. It just makes the problem more expensive to ignore. Knowing […]

Stop Copy-Pasting Your PPC Strategy Across Platforms: It’s Not Going to Work

Let’s have an honest conversation about something I’ve seen over and over again in this industry — and if you manage PPC accounts across multiple platforms, you’ve probably seen it too: “Just because it works on Google doesn’t mean it’ll work on Bing. Or Meta. Or anywhere else.” It sounds obvious, but it happens all […]

“Failing” in PPC? Good. That Means You’re Playing the Game.

Picture this: You’re a football coach. It’s game day—first quarter. Your quarterback throws one bad pass — slightly off, maybe too much juice. And you’re like, “Welp, that’s it. Bench him. Let’s forfeit. Football doesn’t work.” Sounds ridiculous. Welcome to how some people treat PPC testing. What We Call “Failure” Is Usually Just… First Quarter […]

When the Data Hits Just Right: Google Marketing Live 2025 Recap

Let’s be honest — in marketing, we live and die by data. We tweak, optimize, pull back, push harder… all based on what the data tells us. When the data is right. Because we’ve all been there: a campaign looks like it’s poppin’ off, clicks galore — but conversions? Crickets. Cue the spiral. But at […]

AI Max for Search vs Performance Max: The Real Deal from Google Marketing Live 2025

If you’ve been in PPC long enough, you know Performance Max (PMax) wasn’t the dream campaign for everyone, especially if you’re in lead gen. It promised all-channel reach (Search, Display, YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and Maps), but it came with zero data transparency and minimal control. The kind of setup that made some of us hate […]

Google Marketing Live 2025: AI, Creators, and the Small Biz Glow-Up

If you’re a marketer who’s been side-eyeing Google lately, wondering what the AI hype is really going to mean for you, especially if you’re working with local or small businesses, buckle up. Google Marketing Live 2025 just served up an AI-heavy spread—and for once, there’s something on the table for the rest of us, not […]

Maximizing ROI in PPC: Strategies That Work (Even When the Algorithm Doesn’t)

Running a successful PPC campaign isn’t just about setting things up and hoping for the best (spoiler: that’s a terrible strategy). If you want real results, you need a solid foundation built on clear goals, a deep understanding of your audience, and—most importantly—a willingness to actually do the work. Because here’s the truth: algorithms are […]

Making PMax Work for Lead Gen: How to Take Back Control

I get it—PMax for lead generation has been a struggle for a lot of marketers. It feels like we’ve lost control, and the automation doesn’t always work in our favor. But here’s the thing: PMax isn’t going anywhere, so instead of resisting, let’s figure out how to make it work for us, not against us. […]

Your Marketing Isn’t Broken—Your Strategy Is

Why Most Businesses Struggle with Marketing (And How to Fix It) Marketing is no longer just one thing. It’s not just running an ad, posting on social media, or launching a website. It’s a complex, multi-channel effort that requires research, planning, and most importantly—a strategy. Yet, too many businesses dive into marketing without a plan. […]

PPC for Every Budget

How Small Businesses Can Compete with Big Brands Picture this: You own a small bakery in town, making the best croissants anyone has ever tasted. You know people would love them—if only they could find you. But every time you search for “fresh croissants near me,” there it is—an ad from a big chain with […]

Why Clients Quit PPC (And When They Shouldn’t)

PPC isn’t cheap. Let’s just start there. It’s not a magic button that spits out endless leads or sales overnight. It takes time, strategy, testing, and yes—money. But too often, businesses pull the plug on PPC for the wrong reasons, leaving potential revenue on the table and starting from scratch later when they realize organic […]

Hidden Default Settings

Discover a world of possibilities Let’s be real—default settings in Google Ads and Bing Ads aren’t always set up with your best interests in mind. They’re designed to maximize reach (and often spend), not necessarily performance. If you’re not careful, you could be bleeding budget on irrelevant placements, unnecessary bid adjustments, or even audiences you […]

Conversion Tracking: Why It Matters & How to Set It Up

Let’s talk about something that should be non-negotiable in your PPC campaigns: conversion tracking. If you’re running ads without it, you’re basically throwing money into the void and hoping for the best. And hope is not a strategy. What Is Conversion Tracking? Conversion tracking is how you measure what happens after someone clicks on your […]

PPC Best Practices: Setting Up Google & Bing Ads Like a Pro

Welcome to the PPC Jungle Setting up a PPC account is like packing for a trip. If you throw everything into a bag without checking the weather, setting a budget, or knowing your destination, you’re setting yourself up for disaster. But don’t worry—I’m here to help you avoid PPC chaos and set you on the […]

Relevancy is Queen: Stop Wasting Budget on Ads No One Cares About

A breakdown of why relevancy is everything in PPC, with real talk on keywords, audience signals, and how to stop showing up in useless auctions Let’s be real—just because your ad is showing up doesn’t mean it’s doing its job. You can have the best ad copy in the world, but if it’s showing up […]

Your PPC Campaign Failed—Now What?

No-BS guide to diagnosing underperforming campaigns, learning from the data, and pivoting instead of panicking. So you launched Google Ads campaigns, and they didn’t work out. Maybe you’re spending a ton of money but not seeing results. Maybe you’re getting traffic, but no one is converting. Maybe you’re just staring at your reports wondering what […]

PPC Basics Aren’t Basic: Why the Fundamentals Still Matter

Stop skipping the essentials—because bad targeting, lazy ad copy, and ignoring search intent are still killing campaigns Let’s talk about PPC—that’s Pay-Per-Click. The concept is simple: you only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad. But how much do you pay for each click? That’s where things get interesting. It depends on a few […]