HOW CAMPAIGN STRUCTURE SHAPES GOOGLE ADS PERFORMANCE

Summary from the TLDR Marketing newsletter

Google's Smart Bidding requires roughly 30 to 50 conversions per campaign per month to exit the learning phase and make reliable bidding decisions. Accounts segmented across too many campaigns spread that signal thin enough to keep every campaign permanently in learning mode. Performance Max compounds the issue when its boundaries with Search campaigns aren't defined through negative keywords and brand exclusions, since PMax will claim high-intent branded queries and inflate costs on terms Search would have won cheaply. No amount of bid adjustments or creative testing resolves these problems when the foundation is wrong.