Welcome to the Surfside PPC Newsletter!

In this weeks update, we have new Performance Max features, Google Search Console reporting issues, and advertisers not receiving their Google Ads promo credits.

The 2 biggest updates to watch in Google Ads are still bidding and targeting. The bidding updates on August 17th have negatively impacted a few of my accounts, but ultimately Google is telling advertisers they need to spend to get conversions. If your budget is lower than your Target CPA, you may be treading water. In addition, I'm avoiding AI Max for now, it can work with very clean conversion data, but it's just broad match with even looser match types.

Below is the news for the week. If you have purchased my course (or any of my courses) you will have access to ALL course updates through 2027. I'm planning on doing a few new long-form videos in the Google Ads course and the other courses will have regular modules added.

Google Ads adds Local Customer Optimization to Performance Max.

A new opt-in setting pushes budget toward people near your location who look ready to visit, call, or ask for directions. It only runs on store-goal campaigns and will not work alongside a Merchant Center product feed, so retailers have to split campaigns to use it.
​Read the full breakdown​

Google Ads promo credits are being invalidated after advertisers spend.

Advertisers are reporting credits marked as invalidated after they already hit the required spend, including one case where $3,200 went out against a $3,200 credit that never arrived. The one confirmed trigger is using a manager account billing profile to set up a new account, which is a completely normal agency workflow. Google has not explained the other cases.
​Read the full breakdown​

Google admits its Search Console AI reporting does not tell you much.

John Mueller confirmed that the AI search metrics do not reflect real visibility. Impressions count links nobody scrolled to, links behind expandable sections go uncounted, and position describes where the AI Overview block sat rather than where your link sat inside it. Google says it has no better method right now.
​Read the full breakdown​

Google Data Manager expands and adds a Data Strength Uplift metric.

Data Manager is moving into Google Analytics and Display and Video 360, and new built-in diagnostics will flag broken data before it reaches your campaigns. The new uplift metric estimates recovered conversions, but it measures volume and not value, so treat it as a prompt to go check conversion quality rather than a win.
​Read the full breakdown​

Google Business Profile post view counts are back after three and a half years.

Per-post views returned on September 10, and they come with 18 months of backdated history across Search and Maps. It is not in the API yet, and Google has not said whether a view means a unique user or a total impression. You can run a real review of your posting strategy this week instead of waiting for data.
​Read the full breakdown​

If you only do one thing this week, open your billing section and confirm that every promotional credit you are owed actually applied. That is the one item on this list that costs you money you have already spent, and nobody is going to send you an alert about it.

If you ever have any questions, please feel free to reply directly to this email. Thanks for subscribing!

-Corey Frankosky

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