Google Ad errors that cost 400 PLN a day
In June 2024, we took a close look at 12 advertising accounts of local companies from Warsaw and nearby towns. What we saw in the Google Ads panels terrified us. Most owners were unknowingly losing an average of 400 PLN every day due to errors that can be fixed in fifteen minutes.
Where our clients' money was leaking
During an audit conducted in July 2024, we discovered that one construction company from Piaseczno was paying for clicks from people looking for word definitions in an encyclopedia, not their services. Due to poorly set keyword match types, the Google system displayed their ads for queries completely unrelated to making money. In just 30 days, this company spent 8,400 PLN on traffic that had no chance of turning into a single order.
At Krakowskie Przedmieście Consult, we don't believe in magic, only in numbers. The analysis showed that 68% of the budget on these accounts went to so-called 'broad match'. This means that if a company sold expensive oak furniture, Google showed their ad to everyone who typed 'cheap plastic chairs' or 'how to fix an old stool' into the search engine. This is not marketing, this is throwing cash out the window of an office at Krakowskie Przedmieście.
We checked this in practice on the example of a car workshop from Wola. In August 2024, after disabling only five incorrect phrases, the cost of acquiring one phone call from a customer fell from 42 PLN to 11 PLN. We operate without the fluff – if we see that the Google system is stealing your money through overly general settings, we immediately put concrete facts on the table and cut unnecessary expenses.
Most owners were unknowingly losing an average of 400 PLN every day due to errors that can be fixed in fifteen minutes.
The problem with automated recommendations
Many people trust the tips displayed by the Google Ads system itself. Our experience from the last 8 years shows that these suggestions more often serve Google's wallet than your company. In 9 out of 12 accounts analyzed by us, implementing all 'automated recommendations' would increase spending by 35% without any guarantee of profit. This is a trap that many entrepreneurs fall into who don't have time to monitor the ad panel daily.
In September 2016, when we founded Krakowskie Przedmieście Consult, the rule was simple: every zloty spent must return with a surplus. Today, in 2024, this rule is even more important. Systems learn themselves, but they need hard data, not empty clicks. If you let the machine decide everything, you will quickly notice that the account balance decreases, while the phone in the company remains dead silent.
The result is visible in the table – after blocking automated changes for one of our transport industry clients, the average user time on the site increased by 114 seconds. People finally started finding what they were looking for, instead of running away after two seconds. This shows that human control over a campaign is still worth every penny.
How we saved 3,200 PLN in one month
We achieved the greatest success in our recent study with a client dealing in event equipment rental. Throughout May 2024, they were paying for queries about 'free rentals' and 'photos of tents'. After our intervention and the introduction of a list of 450 negative keywords, the daily budget fell by exactly 107 PLN. On a monthly scale, this gave a saving of 3,210 PLN, while maintaining the same number of real inquiries for the offer.
We focused on so-called 'exact match'. Instead of letting Google guess what the customer was looking for, we ourselves indicated specific phrases that bring in money. This is tedious work that took our specialist exactly 6 hours and 40 minutes, but the effect was visible already 48 hours after introducing the changes. The client stopped paying for bystanders and started paying for buyers.
Concrete facts on the table: don't look for reach at all costs. It's better to show an ad to 100 people who really want to buy your product than to 10,000 people who are just browsing the internet to kill time. At Krakowskie Przedmieście Consult, we know that for a small company from Warsaw, the margin counts, not empty view statistics that can't be put in a wallet.
After blocking automated changes for one of our clients, the average user time on the site increased by 114 seconds.
Simple steps to fix your account
The first thing we did for our 12 clients was check the search terms report. That's where the whole truth about what your money goes to is hidden. If you run a flower shop in Warsaw and see phrases like 'how to care for a fern' there, it means you are currently losing money. You must add the word 'how' to the negative keyword list. This is the simplest method for immediately sealing the budget.
The next step is location analysis. Often companies set ads for all of Poland, even though they only provide services within a 20 km radius of the office. One of our clients from Praga Północ was paying for clicks from Wrocław and Gdańsk because they forgot to narrow the scope in the campaign settings. Disabling unnecessary cities allowed them to save another 15% of the budget, which they could move to the local Warsaw market.
Finally, check the devices. Often ads on mobile phones have high click-through rates but zero sales because the company's website is displayed poorly on them. In July 2024, we detected this at an electrical materials wholesaler. Disabling mobile ads until the site was improved saved them 800 PLN in two weeks. We operate without the fluff – sometimes the simplest cut is the best solution.
