I finally pulled the plug on Google Ads after bleeding $500 in 2 weeks

Set up a campaign for my landscaping business in Denver last month, thought I had it dialed in. Woke up day 3 with $120 gone and zero leads, just clicks from bots probably. Called Google support twice and got canned responses about 'optimizing my audience.' Ended up pausing everything and shifting that money to local Facebook groups and Nextdoor instead. Anyone else had Google Ads just eat your budget with nothing to show for it?

3 comments

3 Comments

rileygarcia6d ago

Wait, did you try their 'smart bidding' stuff? Honestly, I used to roll my eyes at people who complained about Google Ads because I thought they just weren't setting it up right. Then I ran a campaign for my own little side thing selling handmade birdhouses last spring. Blew through $300 in a week, got maybe 5 clicks that actually looked like real people, and zero sales. I ended up switching to posting in local Facebook groups for free and sold out my whole batch in two weeks. Google Ads is just a black hole for cash if you don't have a huge budget to burn.

ward.jamie6d ago

I used to think the same way you did, I figured people just didn't know how to set up their ads. But then I tried a small campaign for my dog walking service last fall. I put in $150 over two weeks and got maybe two calls from people who sounded confused about what I even offered. It was a total waste. I ended up just printing flyers and putting them on mailboxes in my neighborhood. Got five new clients in a week. Google Ads feels like it picks winners and losers before you even start.

reese_hayes712d ago

Tried Google Ads once for my lawn mowing side gig a few years back. Put in $200, got a bunch of clicks from people who clearly lived in other states or clicked by accident. One guy called me at 11 PM asking if I could fix his broken screen door. I ended up making a big sign, staked it in my front yard, and got more calls from neighbors driving by than from the whole ad campaign. Sometimes I think Google just takes your money and sends you bot traffic from offshore server farms. Still feels like I'm being paranoid, but that birdhouse story makes me think I might be right.