You ran Google Ads for three months. Spent $800. Got some clicks. Maybe two calls. One turned into a job. The math didn't work, so you stopped. The platform gets the blame, but the problem is upstream.
Traffic is only as good as where it lands
Google Ads can send high-intent visitors to your site — people searching "emergency plumber Calgary" or "HVAC repair near me." But if the landing page they arrive at is slow, unclear, or doesn't make the next step obvious, they leave. The ad worked. The destination failed.
Broad match keywords waste budget fast
Without tight keyword targeting and negative keyword lists, Google will spend your budget on loosely related searches — people researching plumbing careers, DIY guides, or services in cities you don't serve. Most first-time advertisers run campaigns that are 40–60% wasted spend by day 30.
Tracking is almost always broken
If you can't see which keywords led to actual phone calls or form submissions, you can't optimize anything. Most campaigns run for months without real conversion tracking — optimizing for clicks instead of calls. The fix takes one afternoon to set up and changes everything.