There was a time in the SEM world when exact match and phrase match were useful tools. Now, one of those doesn’t exist, and the other is little better than broad match. Thankfully, Google’s AI has caught-up and broad match is often a better performing option, but it still feels like we’re given less and less control over what we’re buying. Performance Max campaigns often perform well, but require a complete lack of control or visibility.

Some of us remember Yahoo!’s transparent (top 5) bid landscape, where we played day trader, leapfrogging over one another one penny at a time. There were also flat rate, negotiated CPCs with AOL and Microsoft, as part of annual sponsorships and media buys. Imagine that, lending someone a list of 100 phrases with a single per-unit cost, and doing so in-person as a portion of a days long discussion in an office. Consider me thankful to have participated, but even more thankful to have moved-on.

The translucent nature of today’s ad targeting forces us to ensure proper conversion tracking, integrate GA4 data wherever possible, and navigate ad formats and bid strategies like digital ninjas. There are helpful tools out there, including Google Ads, but if the tools you’re relying on are the same applications that charge you, or even determine how much you’ll be charged, you need more control and greater expertise managing your paid ad campaigns.