Google Ads Reddit Questions Answered: Real PPC Advice for Common Campaign Problems
If you spend any time browsing Reddit’s PPC communities, you’ll notice the same Google Ads questions appearing repeatedly. Businesses struggle with click fraud, campaigns with no conversions, bidding strategies, landing pages, tracking setups, and campaign structure.
The problem is that many of these questions receive incomplete or overly simplistic answers.
In this article, we’ll break down several real-world PPC problems discussed on Reddit and explain the practical Google Ads strategies that actually matter. Whether you manage campaigns yourself or run an agency, these insights will help you avoid common mistakes and improve your campaign performance.
Click Fraud in Google Ads: How Serious Is It Really?
One of the most common concerns in PPC is click fraud. Businesses often believe competitors are repeatedly clicking their ads to drain their budgets.
In some cases, this absolutely happens.
There are generally two types of click fraud:
- Automated bot traffic
- Manual competitor clicks
The second type is where competitors intentionally click your ads to waste your spend. However, despite how common this concern is, it is usually less severe than many businesses think.
Most Competitors Aren’t Constantly Clicking Your Ads
The reality is that most competitors are too busy running their own business to spend hours manually clicking ads.
That said, there are rare industries and locations where click fraud becomes a genuine issue. Highly competitive sectors with aggressive business owners can sometimes experience repeated fraudulent activity.
What You Can Actually Do About Click Fraud
Unfortunately, there is no perfect solution. However, there are several ways to minimise the damage.
1. Use Click Fraud Protection Software
Dedicated click fraud tools can help identify:
- Low engagement sessions
- Suspicious IP behaviour
- Repeated clicks from the same users
Many of these platforms automatically build exclusion lists to reduce future fraudulent clicks.
2. Build Audiences of Poor Quality Visitors
You can use your own website engagement data to identify visitors who:
- Bounce immediately
- Spend almost no time on site
- Never engage meaningfully
These users can then be excluded from future campaigns.
3. Focus on Business Growth First
If click fraud represents only a small percentage of your spend, it may not be worth obsessing over.
If Google Ads is still generating profitable leads and sales, your time is usually better spent improving:
- Sales processes
- Conversion rates
- Offer positioning
- Customer retention
As your business grows, the impact of occasional fraudulent clicks becomes far less significant.
No Conversions After 40 Days: Is Google Ads the Problem?
One Reddit user explained that after running a search campaign for over 40 days, they had received zero conversions despite spending money consistently.
Their setup included:
- Maximise Clicks bidding
- Extensive negative keyword optimisation
- A lead form submission conversion goal
After seeing no results, they switched to Maximise Conversions bidding, which caused impressions and clicks to collapse.
Starting with Maximise Clicks Was Actually Correct
For brand-new accounts with no historical data, starting with Maximise Clicks is often sensible.
Why?
Because early-stage campaigns need data collection first.
Using Maximise Clicks allows you to:
- Gather search term data
- Identify irrelevant traffic
- Build negative keyword lists
- Improve targeting efficiency
Moving directly into Maximise Conversions without any conversion data can result in extremely high CPCs and poor optimisation.
The Real Problem Might Be the Business Itself
This is the key point many advertisers miss.
Sometimes the issue is not the campaign.
Sometimes the offer simply does not fit the market.
Even perfect traffic cannot save:
- Bad pricing
- Weak positioning
- Uncompetitive services
- Poor product-market fit
For example, if a business sells a SaaS product for £200 per month while competitors charge £29 for a similar service, Google Ads cannot magically solve that mismatch.
What To Do Instead
Before spending more money, businesses should reassess:
- Pricing structure
- Market positioning
- Competitive advantages
- Customer demand
- Offer clarity
If there are absolutely zero conversions after significant spend and the traffic quality is good, there is usually a disconnect between the offer and the audience.
Enhanced Conversions vs Consent Mode: Understanding the Difference
Google representatives frequently confuse advertisers by mixing together enhanced conversions and consent mode.
They are not the same thing.
What Are Enhanced Conversions?
Enhanced conversions use hashed first-party data such as:
- Email addresses
- Phone numbers
- Customer names
Google matches this encrypted information against logged-in Google users to improve conversion attribution.
This helps recover conversions lost due to:
- Cookie restrictions
- Privacy settings
- Browser limitations
Should You Use Enhanced Conversions?
Yes.
There is very little downside, and it improves data quality significantly.
More accurate data generally leads to:
- Better bidding optimisation
- Stronger machine learning
- Improved conversion tracking
What Is Consent Mode?
Consent mode is completely separate.
It works alongside cookie consent banners and privacy regulations.
When users decline tracking cookies, Google can still use aggregated behavioural modelling to estimate conversions based on anonymous patterns.
This is increasingly important because:
- GDPR regulations continue expanding
- More users reject cookies
- Browser privacy restrictions are growing globally
Consent Mode Is Becoming Essential
Consent management platforms are quickly becoming standard practice across:
- The UK
- Europe
- Many US states
- Emerging global markets
If your website does not properly handle consent management, your tracking data will become increasingly unreliable.
Which Google Ads Bidding Strategy Should SaaS Companies Use?
A startup founder asked which bidding strategy works best for SaaS businesses with a relatively small budget.
The options included:
- Maximise Clicks
- Maximise Conversions
- Manual CPC
Budget Size Matters More Than Most People Realise
The biggest issue was not the bidding strategy.
It was the budget.
A small SaaS budget often struggles because SaaS purchases are rarely impulse decisions.
Unlike emergency services, software buyers usually:
- Research extensively
- Compare competitors
- Test multiple platforms
- Require trust before purchasing
This creates much longer buying cycles.
Recommended SaaS PPC Approach
For new SaaS campaigns:
Stage 1: Start with Maximise Clicks
This allows you to:
- Collect search term data
- Identify high-intent queries
- Learn user behaviour
Stage 2: Move to Maximise Conversions
Once conversion data exists, transition into smarter bidding.
Stage 3: Introduce Target CPA
After enough conversions accumulate, Target CPA can help scale profitability more efficiently.
Landing Page Reviews: Small Changes That Improve Conversion Rates
One Reddit user requested feedback on an ecommerce jewellery landing page.
Several important CRO lessons appeared immediately.
Product Images Matter More Than Most Businesses Think
Lifestyle imagery looked good.
However, the page lacked a clean white-background “decision-making” image showing the entire product clearly.
For ecommerce products, especially jewellery, users typically want:
- Lifestyle shots
- Close-up details
- Clear isolated product views
All three matter.
Premium Products Should Look Premium
The landing page used aggressive red discount pricing.
This unintentionally cheapened the brand image.
For premium products, excessive discount styling can reduce perceived value.
A better approach is:
- Clean typography
- Minimalist pricing displays
- Premium design consistency
Users buying expensive jewellery want to feel they are purchasing quality, not bargain-bin products.
Important Information Must Be Higher on the Page
Critical product details were buried too low.
Information such as:
- Materials
- Gold purity
- Diamond specifications
- Finish quality
should appear much earlier because these directly influence purchasing decisions.
Campaign Structure for Web Design Agencies
Another Reddit question asked whether web design services should be separated into different ad groups or campaigns.
Start With Search Intent, Not Services
The correct campaign structure depends on keyword behaviour.
Before deciding on structure, advertisers should first perform proper keyword research to understand:
- How users search
- Which services have demand
- Which search terms overlap
Campaigns should ultimately reflect user intent rather than arbitrary service categories.
Web Design Is an Extremely Competitive Industry
Web design is difficult on Google Ads because businesses now have countless alternatives:
- Wix
- Squarespace
- Shopify
- Fiverr freelancers
- DIY website builders
To succeed, agencies often need to niche down heavily.
For example:
- Websites for electricians
- Websites for dentists
- Websites for gyms
Niche positioning helps agencies:
- Speak the customer’s language
- Understand industry pain points
- Build stronger trust
- Differentiate themselves from generic competitors
Impression Share Lost Due to Rank: What Does It Actually Mean?
One advertiser complained about losing 88% impression share due to ad rank despite using Maximise Conversions with no target CPA.
The answer was straightforward.
Budget Is Usually the Limiting Factor
Even with aggressive bidding settings, Google still operates within your daily budget constraints.
If your budget cannot compete in auctions consistently, impression share drops.
Removing target CPA limits does not mean unlimited visibility.
It simply allows Google greater flexibility within your available spend.
Why Unlimited Budgets Are Dangerous
Without guardrails like:
- Target CPA
- CPC caps
- Budget limitations
Google can spend extremely aggressively.
Most advertisers need a balance between:
- Scalability
- Profitability
- Budget control
The goal is not maximum traffic at any cost. The goal is profitable traffic.
Final Thoughts
Reddit PPC discussions reveal something important about Google Ads:
Most campaign problems are not caused by the platform itself.
Instead, the real issues are usually:
- Weak offers
- Poor positioning
- Unrealistic budgets
- Incorrect expectations
- Lack of strategic thinking
Google Ads can amplify a strong business, but it rarely fixes a broken one.
The best advertisers focus not only on campaign settings, but also on:
- Market fit
- Conversion optimisation
- Customer psychology
- Sales processes
- Business fundamentals
Master those areas, and your PPC campaigns become far more effective.
