If you’re advertising on Google, you’ve probably been encouraged to try Performance Max (Pmax) – one of the more recent Google Ads tools designed to increase visibility and leads. Sadly, our experience has not lived up to the hype, to the point where we no longer recommend Pmax for service-based businesses.
We won’t bore you with the details of how Pmax works, but the pitch is lower costs per click and conversion. Initial results started well, with significant gains in impressions, clicks, and conversions. Unfortunately, the gains were short-lived, and then the program essentially stopped delivering within a few months.
Pmax works in part by showing digital ads on Google’s extended partner network. In theory, this exposes your brand to more people interested in your products and services, helping reach a broader audience and new prospects. The downside is that, as of this writing, there is no way to exclude that partner network, which increases the potential for click fraud. Click fraud is when malicious operators click on an ad to generate revenue from having ads displayed on their websites.
Google has gotten pretty good at stomping out that issue. Still, with Pmax, it appears a new problem has surfaced – the bad actors not only click on the ad, they also submit a form on the advertiser’s website or initiate a phone call from the website. This causes Google to see the original click as a full conversion. How could conversions be bad, right?
We found the problem when one of our clients reported a significant increase in junk leads – form fills with phone numbers that were not in service, or email addresses that bounced back as undeliverable, and phone calls where the caller immediately hung up. That soon morphed into leads with actual names and phone numbers via the website, but when the customer service reps (CSRs) called the lead, the supposed contact had never reached out to the company.
It appears, emphasis on ‘appears,’ that the bad actors are using actual consumer data to make the conversions more legitimate. That activity caused frustration for the CSRs, who wasted time following up on junk leads, and it frustrated the supposed leads, who were angry that the CSRs were calling about something they had not requested.
After several weeks of detailed analysis, including involving one of our Google representatives, we decided to terminate the Pmax campaigns. The junk leads stopped almost immediately.
This is a small example from what appears to be a successful overall program. As always, it’s about more than the numbers. We recommend checking in with your ad team to learn more about what campaigns they are running, and analyze success beyond the number of conversions. You may benefit from a detailed audit of the leads and conversions and lead quality to make sure money is being spent on quality leads.
If you have questions about Pmax in your business or what digital advertising tactics are right for your business, give us a call: 757-482-3492.
