google-ads-optimizer

Process

1. Diagnose — Identify the specific performance problem (rising CPA, declining ROAS, low impression share, poor Quality Score, etc.)
2. Analyze root cause — Use the Diagnostic Decision Tree to pinpoint the issue
3. Select optimization lever — Match the problem to the right framework below
4. Implement changes — Follow the specific optimization playbook
5. Monitor learning phase — Wait 7-14 days before judging results
6. Iterate — Review, adjust 10-15% incrementally, repeat

Diagnostic Decision Tree

What's the primary symptom?

Bid Optimization

Smart Bidding Adjustment Rules

Key rules:

• Never change targets by more than 15-20% at once (except delivery collapse rescue)
• Use bid simulators before making changes — forecast the impact
• Day-of-week and hour-of-day adjustments: analyze 90 days of conversion data, then apply bid modifiers to high/low performing time slots
• ECPC is deprecated (March 2025). If any campaign is running ECPC, it reverted to Manual CPC. Migrate to Maximize Conversions or tCPA immediately

Portfolio Bid Strategy Optimization

Portfolio strategies pool data across multiple campaigns for better optimization.

Setup: Create portfolio strategy → assign related campaigns → set shared target → monitor at portfolio level, not individual campaign level.

Budget Reallocation

Intra-Account Reallocation Framework

Scaling rule: Increase winning campaign budgets by 20% increments maximum. Larger jumps destabilize Smart Bidding.

Day-of-week pacing: Analyze 90 days of conversion data by day of week. If Tuesdays convert 2x better than Saturdays, use dayparting scripts or budget adjustments to concentrate spend on high-converting days.

For automated budget pacing and redistribution scripts, use the google-ads-scripts skill.

Impression Share Analysis

Quality Score Optimization

Quality Score components, in order of optimization impact:

1. Landing Page Experience (widest impact)

2. Ad Relevance

3. Expected CTR

QS impact on CPC: Moving Quality Score from 4 to 6 typically reduces CPC by 15-25%. From 6 to 8 reduces another 10-15%. Compounding effect is significant at scale.

Ad Copy Iteration

RSA Asset Performance Review

Use Google's 2025 asset-level reporting:

Replacement strategy:

1. Review asset ratings monthly
2. Replace 2-3 "Low" rated headlines per RSA
3. Keep at least 5 "Best" or "Good" headlines stable
4. Test new messaging angles: different benefit, different proof point, different CTA
5. Isolate one variable per test cycle

Ad copy testing areas:

• Value propositions (speed vs cost vs quality vs convenience)
• Social proof styles (numbers, names, ratings)
• CTA types (demo vs trial vs quote vs buy)
• Emotional vs rational appeals
• Price inclusion vs exclusion

Read references/rsa-copy-guide.md in the google-ads-campaign-builder skill for headline frameworks.

Audience Optimization

Placement & Channel Optimization

PMax Channel Review (2025)

Use PMax channel performance reports to assess where budget is going:

PMax negatives (January 2025): Use campaign-level negative keywords to block irrelevant Search queries. Also add exact-match keywords in Search campaigns to control which campaign serves on high-value queries.

Display Placement Hygiene

• Review placement report monthly
• Exclude low-quality sites, mobile apps, and gaming apps
• Use third-party exclusion lists: DoubleVerify, IAS, Zefr (expanded for PMax in 2025)
• Exclude sensitive content categories

Landing Page Optimization

Message match audit: After changing ad copy, always check that the landing page still matches the new message. Mismatched message = high bounce rate = lower Quality Score.

Speed target: <3 seconds load time. Re-test monthly. Use GTmetrix or Google PageSpeed Insights.

Scaling Playbook

AI Max for Search scaling: Monitor Smart Bidding Exploration for new query categories being discovered. If AI Max is finding converting queries that standard Search misses, consider shifting more budget to AI Max. Learning phase: 7-14 days.

Output Format

## Google Ads Optimization Plan

### Current Performance Summary
| Metric | Current | Target | Gap |
|--------|---------|--------|-----|
| CPA | $[X] | $[X] | [+/-X%] |
| ROAS | [X]x | [X]x | [+/-X%] |
| Impression Share | [X]% | [X]% | [gap] |

### Optimization Actions (ICE-prioritized)
| Priority | Action | Lever | ICE Score | Timeline |
|----------|--------|-------|-----------|----------|
| 1 | [action] | [bid/budget/QS/etc] | [score] | [when] |

### Changes to Implement
[Specific changes with exact values]

### Monitoring Plan
- Check [metric] after [X] days
- Success criteria: [what good looks like]
- Rollback plan: [if it doesn't work]

Example

Input: "My Google Ads CPA went from $85 to $140 over 6 weeks. I'm spending $12K/month across 3 Search campaigns and 1 PMax campaign. ROAS dropped from 5.2x to 3.1x. tROAS is set at 500%. What should I do?"

Output:

Google Ads Optimization Plan

Current Performance Summary

Root Cause Analysis

With tROAS set at 500% but actual ROAS at 310%, the algorithm is likely throttling delivery to try to hit an unrealistic target. This creates a death spiral: less data → worse optimization → worse performance → algorithm throttles more.

Optimization Actions

Changes to Implement

1. tROAS adjustment: Lower from 500% to 350% immediately. This matches actual performance with a 10% improvement buffer. Algorithm can deliver here. After 2 weeks at stable delivery, tighten by 10-15% increments toward 400%.
2. Search term cleanup: Export 90-day search term report. Run n-gram analysis. Flag n-grams with $50+ spend and 0 conversions. Based on typical accounts at this spend level, expect to find $1,000-2,000/month in waste.
3. PMax channel audit: Pull channel performance reports (2025 feature). If YouTube is consuming 30%+ of PMax budget with no conversions, create more targeted video assets or add negative keywords to block irrelevant Search queries in PMax.
4. Portfolio bid strategy: Consolidate 3 Search campaigns into a portfolio strategy with shared tROAS. Typical improvement: 19-27% ROAS lift from dynamic cross-campaign reallocation.

Monitoring Plan

• Day 7: Check if tROAS reduction restored delivery volume. Expect CPA to initially be above target — that's OK. Volume recovery matters first
• Day 14: Evaluate CPA trend. Should be declining toward $100-120 range
• Day 21: If stable, tighten tROAS by 10% (350% → 385%)
• Success criteria: CPA below $110 within 30 days, ROAS above 3.8x
• Rollback: If delivery collapses further after tROAS change, drop to Maximize Conversion Value (no target) for 2 weeks to accumulate data, then reintroduce tROAS target

Guidelines

• Don't change bid targets by more than 15-20% at once. Gradual adjustments let the algorithm adapt. Exception: delivery collapse rescue (increase 20-30%).
• Don't touch campaigns during learning phase. 7-14 days. Performance will fluctuate. Premature changes reset learning and waste the data collection period.
• Don't ignore the tROAS/tCPA death spiral. If targets are set above actual performance, the algorithm throttles delivery, gets less data, and performs worse. Always set targets at or slightly above current performance, then tighten gradually.
• Don't optimize on fractional conversions. Data-driven attribution creates fractions. Filter to > 1 conversion before evaluating keyword or ad group CPA.
• Don't skip search term review. Even with Smart Bidding, irrelevant queries waste budget. Weekly for new campaigns, bi-weekly for stable ones.
• ECPC is gone (March 2025). Any campaign still on ECPC reverted to Manual CPC. Migrate immediately to Maximize Conversions or tCPA.
• AI Max needs patience (September 2025). Smart Bidding Exploration tests new query categories. Initial volatility is expected. Monitor but don't intervene for 7-14 days.
• PMax now has transparency (2025). Campaign-level negatives, full search term reporting, and channel performance reports. Use them before declaring PMax doesn't work.
• Cross-references: For full account diagnostic, use the google-ads-audit skill. For keyword research and n-gram analysis, use the google-ads-keyword-engine skill. For automation scripts (budget pacing, anomaly detection, n-gram), use the google-ads-scripts skill. For Meta optimization, use the meta-ads-optimizer skill. For cross-channel budget allocation, use the ad-spend-allocator skill.
• Confidence: Bid simulator forecasts are directional, not guarantees. The 19-27% ROAS improvement from portfolio strategies is a Google benchmark — results vary by account. Always set rollback criteria before making major changes.