This Google ads setting can secretly inflate your costs

Every day I see eCom brands burning money on Google Ads without realizing why.

From the outside, their strategies seem solid. 

Great planning. Clear goals.

They know what they need to do.

They know what audience to target.

They know they need to focus on prospecting campaigns, use Google Ads as a full funnel, etc.

But execution is where they fall short.

And that’s where Google quietly steps in to pick their pockets.

Here's the truth:

Google’s algorithm will always prioritize its revenue over your efficiency.

They want to maximize how much you spend, whether it benefits you or not.

And this is largely driven by the settings you put in the campaigns.

Ever notice how your branded campaign costs keep creeping up? 

That's not an accident.

If there’s anything Google hates, it’s a keyword with no competition.

If you’re using automated bidding, they’ll find sneaky ways to inflate your costs.

But it gets worse for campaigns like pMax.

If you don’t separate branded and non-branded traffic properly, Google will lean heavily on branded terms.

Why?

Because they’re easier to convert.

And Google can show that you’re having high returns.

But in reality, you're overpaying for traffic you didn’t mean to target.

This matters because every dollar wasted is a dollar that could've gone toward actual growth.

Toward reaching new customers.

Toward scaling your business.

Now of course, this isn’t Google’s fault.

It's simply optimizing for traffic that converts more easily.

The problem is, that doesn’t always align with your goals.

And when it doesn’t, you can’t sit back and hope for the best.

You have to step in and steer it in the direction you want it to go.

You need precision.

You need to make sure your ad spend goes where it’s supposed to go.

You need to get surgical with your execution.

Be cautious with anything Google labels as “automation”.

It can be useful, but only if you control it instead of letting it control you.

The difference between good and great isn’t strategizing.

It's execution.

It's about knowing where every dollar goes and making sure it works as you planned it to.

Jackson

Founder and CEO of Echelonn.

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