I run Google Ads for B2B companies with rising CPCs, broken attribution, and PMax campaigns eating their brand budget. The fix isn't more spend — it's smarter campaign structure, better keyword discipline, and proper conversion tracking that ties back to your CRM.
Google Ads Health Check
PMax cannibalizing branded search
Likely 30%+ wasted spend
Last-click attribution only
Top-funnel campaigns look broken
Negative keyword list maintained
Quality signal solid
No offline conversion tracking
Smart Bidding optimizing for wrong outcome
3 of 4 issues = the typical B2B Google Ads account I audit.
Bottom line: "If your category has search volume and your buyers research before purchasing, Google Ads is non-negotiable. If you're educating a market, start with Meta or LinkedIn — Google catches them later."
Most B2B Google accounts I audit are optimizing for 'form fill' as the conversion goal — which is why Smart Bidding finds the cheapest leads, not the best ones. I rebuild conversion tracking with weighted offline conversions: closed-won deal = 100, SQL = 50, MQL = 10. Smart Bidding then optimizes for revenue, not noise.
I separate campaigns by intent stage and lock down match types: Brand campaign (exact + phrase) — protect your name from PMax. Bottom-funnel intent (exact match high-intent terms). Mid-funnel research (phrase match category terms). Competitor conquest (exact competitor brand terms). PMax (only with strict asset group controls + brand exclusions). Retargeting (RLSAs on existing campaigns).
I build a 200+ negative keyword list per account: job seekers, students, free/cheap modifiers, irrelevant industries, competitor employees. Then I review search terms weekly and add new negatives. Most accounts I see have 20–40 negatives total — that's leaving 25%+ of budget on the table.
Same reporting cadence as Meta: Pipeline $ influenced by Google, cost per SQL by campaign, search query insights, this week's negative keyword additions, next week's testing plan.
PMax will eat your branded search if you let it. I add brand terms as account-level negatives in PMax and run brand on its own campaign. Saves 20–30% of spend immediately.
Broad match is Google's biggest revenue grab. I use exact for bottom-funnel and phrase for category research. Broad gets used only for explicit testing windows with hard budget caps.
Every Friday, I export closed-won deals from your CRM and upload to Google Ads with revenue values. Smart Bidding learns what real customers look like.
Job seekers, careers, jobs, salary, internships, free, cheap, students, training, certification, course — all blocked from day one. Then I add to the list weekly based on search query reports.
I pin position 1 and 2 headlines so Google can't replace your value prop with random asset combinations. Description lines stay flexible.
I rebuild your reporting layer so you see Google Ads spend → form fills → MQL → SQL → closed-won in a single Looker Studio dashboard.
Average reduction in cost per SQL within 90 days
Average lift in SQL conversion rate after offline import
Median cost per qualified B2B lead from Google Ads
Saved per dollar spent after PMax brand protection
Numbers reflect aggregated performance across active B2B SaaS and lead-gen accounts. Individual results vary based on funnel maturity, offer, and spend level.
Mid-stage SaaS, $25K/mo Google spend, PMax silently eating brand budget.
A B2B logistics SaaS company had been running Google Ads for 18 months, scaling from $5K to $25K/mo spend. Reported metrics looked fine: $58 CPL, 4.2% conversion rate. But pipeline-attributed revenue from Google had been flat for 6 months despite spend doubling. Founder couldn't reconcile the numbers and was about to switch agencies again.
PMax campaign was bidding on the company's brand name (50% of 'PMax conversions' were branded searches). Brand campaign was paused because 'PMax handles it now'. 60% of conversion volume was from broad match category terms with sub-2% SQL rate. Negative keyword list had 18 terms total. No offline conversion import — Smart Bidding optimizing for form fills only. Search query report showed $4,200/month spent on 'logistics jobs,' 'logistics training,' 'free logistics software'.
Week 1: Re-launched brand campaign with exact + phrase, added brand terms as account-level negatives in PMax. Built 240-term negative keyword list across 5 categories. Week 2: Restructured campaigns by intent stage. Killed broad match keywords. Migrated high-intent broad terms to phrase match with conversion bidding. Week 3: Set up Zapier integration to push closed-won deals from HubSpot to Google Ads as offline conversions weekly. Week 4–6: Rebuilt RSAs with pinned positioning headlines. A/B tested landing pages for top 3 campaigns.
Total spend stayed flat at $25K/mo. Branded search CPC dropped from $4.20 to $0.85 (PMax was bidding it up). Cost per qualified lead dropped from $58 to $36 (-38%). SQL volume jumped from 47/mo to 89/mo (+89%). Pipeline $ from Google grew 2.4× without spend increase. Founder asked to expand budget by 50% in month 4. The lesson: 'More spend' is rarely the answer. Most B2B Google accounts have 20–40% of spend leaking through PMax brand cannibalization, broad match waste, and bad conversion signals. Fix those first, then scale.
"We had hired three agencies before Thomas. All three told us we needed more spend. Thomas was the first to say 'before we touch budget, let me show you where the current spend is leaking.' He found $7K/month being wasted in places we'd never have caught. The audit alone paid for 6 months of his work."
— [Sample] CEO, B2B Logistics SaaS
Anonymized representative client feedback. Replaced with verified testimonials as engagements complete.