r/GoogleAdwords

For the last 2 weeks I’ve noticed a very strange change in my Search campaign performance, and I can’t figure out what’s causing it.

Before, my ads were getting clicks consistently throughout the day. But now, from around 9:00 in the morning until mid/late afternoon, I mostly get impressions with almost no clicks at all. Sometimes there will be a random 1-hour spike with 3–4 clicks, then again almost nothing for hours.

Then suddenly after around 16:00 the campaign “wakes up” and starts getting both impressions and clicks normally again.

A few important things:

• It’s not a budget issue - Search Lost IS (budget) is always 0%.
• Search Lost IS (rank) is usually only around 15–25%.
• During weekdays my campaign usually doesn’t even spend the full daily budget.
• This behaviour started almost out of nowhere around 2 weeks ago.
• Fridays and Saturdays still spend properly.
• This is a taxi/private hire business, so daytime traffic is very important for me. My ads start in the morning because people book airport runs, local rides, etc. during the day.

So basically:
Morning to afternoon = impressions but almost no clicks.
After 16:00 = clicks suddenly start flowing normally again.

Has anyone experienced something similar recently?

Campaign type: Search campaign for a local taxi/private hire company.
Bid strategy: Maximise Clicks with CPC limit.

Would really appreciate any ideas because it feels like something changed suddenly rather than gradual performance decline.

I created a PMax and use the YT channel URL and viola the next morning I got this notif about the client's account now deactivated. I need some help here if YT channel is not allowed to use for Grant's? Also, tips on how to improve results in general that works for you. Thanks

Since the beginning of April, across all the Google Ads accounts we manage (for restaurants in Italy) with active Performance Max campaigns for local businesses, we have noticed a DRASTIC drop in Impressions (and also in Store Visit conversions, set as a campaign goal).

We compared ten different accounts we manage (all restaurants, located in different areas across Italy), and ALL of them — when comparing charts and data — show a drastic drop in Impressions.

What could be causing all of this, specifically since the beginning of April?

*I would like to specify that the channel performance of the Performance Max campaign for local businesses, with the location asset connected, is 95% Google Maps and 5% Search Network.

Now, since this is not an isolated case affecting only one account or one restaurant...
what is happening?

Google is sending bot traffic, and the traffic quality is different every day.

I have this problem: I run a website selling branded electronics, cameras, and similar products. I also run Google Ads search campaigns — around 30 campaigns for different products. CPC is about $1, and the daily budget is $300. Everything seems to be set up properly, the campaigns have been running for a month and they do bring conversions.

But there are days like today where I changed absolutely nothing in the ads, yet the traffic quality is terrible:

no add-to-carts,
no purchases,
no engagement.

Then the next day everything is great again. After that maybe another good day, and then suddenly another dead day with no conversions or only 1–3 conversions instead of the usual 10+ when the traffic is clearly high quality and add-to-carts happen every 30 minutes.

Today it feels like pure bots. Same keywords, same audience, same settings — but completely different results.

ChatGPT told me that when Google sends low-quality traffic:

CTR can still look good,
CPC can still look normal,
but:
sessions last only 5–10 seconds,
users do not scroll,
there are no add-to-carts,
geo/device mix looks strange.

So the issue is the auction traffic quality itself.

My question is:
Should I just wait and tolerate these bad days, or are there actual ways to stop Google from sending low-quality traffic on days like this?

genuine question and I'll try to be honest about it.

I think I'm overcorrecting.

got burned by an SEO agency last year. real money, no results, the whole story. and now every time I'm close to committing to something for Astra I find a reason to hesitate. another question to ask. another thing to verify. another week of "just doing a bit more research."

my head is telling me that's due diligence. but I think part of it is just fear.

here's where I'm at. Astra is a finance brand. 8% citation share in AI responses. want to be at 30% by Q3. been doing this myself for 3 months and I genuinely cannot get there alone — the gap that's left requires publisher relationships and domain authority I can't build fast enough without help.

that's not a healthy way to make a business decision.

so here's what I actually want to know. not "are these agencies good." but how do you rebuild trust in a vendor relationship after getting badly burned. how do you get back to making decisions from clarity instead of fear.

and if you've worked with any of those three and had a genuinely good experience, tell me what made it feel different from the start. what did they do that made you think okay this one's real.