Inside Google Ads with Jyll Saskin Gales

When clicks cost $50 to $150 each, high CPCs aren't what kills your Google Ads campaigns; data starvation is. In Episode 145 of Inside Google Ads, host Jyll Saskin Gales explains how micro-managing low-volume accounts with restrictive match types and excessive negative keywords starves the algorithm of vital data. Through two real-world Google Ads coaching case studies, Jyll breaks down how to diagnose performance issues accurately instead of reacting out of panic. Learn how Chloe shifted budget from high-cost Search to Demand Gen custom segments to buy the haystack and capture quality leads, and see how Ariana discovered that hidden conversion lag...

If you've ever looked at your search terms report in Google Ads and noticed a section labeled "other search terms" and thought, "Huh, what's going on here?" - then this is the episode for you! (Niche, I know). While there is no magic trick to completely override user privacy, host Jyll Saskin Gales has a smart workaround you can use to gain deeper visibility into what those hidden queries actually are.

In this tactical episode 144 of Inside Google Ads, Jyll explains how to bridge the gap between Google Ads and Google Search Console to uncover hidden search...

Customer Lifecycle Goals are one of the most misused features in Google Ads - and Google Ads Coach Jyll Saskin Gales has had enough! In episode 143 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, Jyll breaks down the good, the bad, and the ugly truth about Customer Lifecycle Goals. From New Customer Acquisition (NCA) to Customer Retention, Jyll clears up common misconceptions and explains how these features combine audience targeting and value-based Smart Bidding.

You will learn how campaign-level acquisition and retention settings work, why many account setups inadvertently inflate reported ROAS, and why these tools are often complete...

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are right around the corner. Are your Google Ads ready for peak holiday shopping?

In episode 142 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, host Jyll Saskin Gales break down the latest Google Ads updates that e-commerce business owners need to care about right now - in conversation with Chloe Thomas, host of the Keep Optimising podcast. Jyll cuts through the noise to share practical strategies across bidding, targeting, and creative.

You will learn how to leverage newly available bidding strategies, optimize customer lifecycle goals without blowing your budget, and prepare your...

Are you curious about Microsoft Ads? While Google Ads remains Jyll's one true love, expanding into the Microsoft Advertising network can bring unique opportunities, especially for B2B marketers. In this special episode 141 of Inside Google Ads - to celebrate Microsoft Ads Product Liaison Navah Hopkins' birthday! - host Jyll Saskin Gales explores eight fundamental insights every Google Ads practitioner needs to understand about Microsoft Advertising.

Using source materials from Microsoft Ads experts Matt Beswick, Nikki Kuhlman, and Navah Hopkins herself, Jyll breaks down why B2B advertisers stand to gain the most from Microsoft Ads, highlighting...

This is the episode every small business needs! Can you run YouTube campaigns on a modest budget and actually get meaningful results? Absolutely. In episode 140 of Inside Google Ads, host Jyll Saskin Gales sits down with one of her Google Ads Coaching clients - Austin Lindquist, Director of SEM at Ring Ring Marketing - to walk through a small budget YouTube strategy that is delivering big outcomes for his clients.

Austin shares real data, specific targeting tactics, and creative strategies from two distinct local verticals: a small-town funeral home spending just $10 a day on vertical Shorts, and...

Should you let Claude run your Google Ads? No. Wait... let me think about that... NO! Generative AI chatbots might be helpful for drafting emails or analyzing reports, but using them for Google Ads strategic decisions can quickly lead to costly mistakes. In episode 139 of Inside Google Ads, host Jyll Saskin Gales shares a real story of a Google Ads coaching client who followed advice from Claude to switch his bidding strategy. While the AI advice sounded logical on the surface, applying it without understanding the account context created skyrocketing ad spend and declining conversions.

Jyll breaks...

In this special episode 138 of Inside Google Ads, host Jyll Saskin Gales gives an exclusive preview of her upcoming conference talks across Europe and Canada. Preparing for six presentations in 30 days, Jyll shares brand-new strategies, real client case studies, and actionable insights that she has never discussed online before.

You will get a sneak peek at multi-stage lead generation bidding strategies, updates on Performance Max targeting exclusions, and the counterintuitive benefit of removing negative keywords from your campaigns. Jyll also explores how YouTube video advertising complements SEO strategies, and explains why high cost-per-click metrics can lead to...

Competitor targeting in Google Ads is widely misunderstood. After seeing so much misinformation online, Google Ads Coach Jyll Saskin Gales sets the record straight in episode 137. She breaks down common competitor targeting myths, explains what Google’s policies actually say, and shares how to run competitor campaigns that drive great results - while staying fully compliant.

You will learn how automation features like text customization and broad matching can accidentally trigger ads that impersonate other businesses, putting your account at risk. Jyll walks through practical settings to protect your brand, including negative keywords, brand exclusions, and unbranded ta...

AI is not taking your job, but sticking to outdated manual tactics just might. In episode 136 of Inside Google Ads, Jyll Saskin Gales shares an excerpt from an interview she recently did with Erum Shaheen about the evolving role of the Google Ads media buyer. As Jyll says, AI is not new to Google Ads, but the shift from manual execution to strategic direction changes how accounts must be managed.

Instead of fighting automation, Jyll says that media buyers who thrive will be the ones who master the strategic levers needed to guide AI. Success no longer...

Are you tired of the same old recycled Google ads tips, tricks and "hacks"? Get ready for something new! In episode 135, host Jyll Saskin Gales shares a fresh perspective on a Google Ads strategy that works well for sensitive interest categories, highly competitive industries, tiny B2B niches, and more. It's called non-linear targeting, and it may be just what you need if your Google Ads have "stopped working" and you're not sure what to try next. 

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2016 may be trending on social media, but it has no place in your Google Ads strategy! In special episode 134, Google Ads Coach Jyll Saskin Gales sits down with conversion optimization expert and Heart Before Cart podcast host Talia Wolf to discuss how Google Ads has shifted, and what it really takes to succeed today. We break down how to give AI algorithms the right signals, starting with a rock-solid conversion tracking foundation, why so many ads sound identical, and how you can "TikTokify" your headlines to grab attention in search results. Plus, we discuss why your landing page, offer...

If PMax is just a black box, doesn't that mean you can't optimize it? Wrong on so many levels! In Episode 133 of Inside Google Ads, host Jyll Saskin Gales breaks down five common Performance Max mistakes that even experienced digital marketers and agencies make. While PMax can be a powerful tool for scaling performance, misinterpreting its mechanics can waste your money and limit your success. In this in-depth episode, Jyll outlines practical, data-backed adjustments to help you align your strategy with how Google's AI actually works.

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Quality Score is one of those foundational Google Ads components that every practitioner knows is important, but figuring out how to improve it can be surprisingly difficult. In episode 132, host Jyll Saskin Gales shares her practical, step-by-step framework for increasing your Quality Score. Jyll breaks down what the three diagnostic columns actually mean: ad relevance, landing page experience, and expected click-through rate. You will learn how to audit your auction competitors using the Google Ads Transparency Center and how to borrow the best aspects of their ad text to boost your own click-through rates. Finally, Jyll examines a real-world...

How can you navigate the sheer volume of changes coming to Google Ads every week?

In this special episode, Google Ads Coach Jyll Saskin Gales is joined by agency owner Duane Brown in a conversation hosted by Lunio's James Deeney. They dissect the latest announcements from Google Marketing Live (GML) and separate the genuine opportunities from the pure marketing hype. Together, they share their hands-on experiences with Google’s evolving ecosystem, offering a reality check on the tools you should actually be using—and the ones you should avoid for now.  They dive deep into the limitations of th...

Google announced a change to how budget-limited campaigns on target-based bid strategies will work... is it time to freak out? Hardly! In episode 130 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, host Jyll Saskin Gales cuts through the hyperbole to tell you what's changing, what you need to know, and what it ACTUALLY means for your campaigns. While social media is filled with "hot takes," the reality of this update is much more straightforward than the rumors suggest.

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How do you actually manage your Google Ads on a day-to-day, week-to-week, or month-to-month basis? In episode 129 of Inside Google Ads, host Jyll Saskin Gales breaks down exactly how to approach campaign management across three distinct scenarios: launching a brand new campaign, maintaining a campaign that is already performing well, and diagnosing a campaign that is struggling. Whether you are dealing with skyrocketing CPCs or trying to figure out when to let machine learning do its job, this episode offers a practical framework for confident account management.

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What should you do when your search campaigns are maxed out? In episode 128 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, host Jyll Saskin Gales shares a story about a Google Ads coaching client who runs an agency, and achieved incredible results for a local service business... until he hit a wall when trying to scale the budget. She discovers that his client has a non-brand search impression share of 91% (!), and discusses what this means, and what to do next.

If you feel stuck with a budget that will not spend, or CPCs that keep rising, this episode provides...

We were promised that AI would save us so much time, we could lie on the beach while automation handled our business. The reality so far? Quite different! In this conversation between Fred Vallaeys, CEO of Optmyzr, and Jyll Saskin Gales, Google Ads Coach & host of the Inside Google Ads podcast, we discuss how AI isn't actually making our jobs shorter, it's pushing us to work harder, think deeper, and become better marketers.

Join us for special episode 127 to find out what it truly means to be an AI-powered marketer. We talk about why human creativity and...

Is it still worth learning Google Ads, or is AI making us obsolete? In episode 126 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, host Jyll Saskin Gales addresses the growing apprehension and fear surrounding the future of Google Ads and the PPC industry. While the shift away from traditional keyword control and the rise of AI-driven search experiences feels different, these changes actually present the most significant opportunity yet for strategic marketers.

By breaking down the platform into its three core components - bidding, targeting, and creative - Jyll illustrates how artificial intelligence acts as an efficiency multiplier rather...

Customer Match is the holy grail of modern marketing, yet many Google Ads practitioners still aren't using it. In episode 125 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, host Jyll Saskin Gales explains why uploading your first-party customer data to Google is one of the single greatest competitive advantages you have left in the AI era. As third-party tracking declines, Customer Match serves as a critical bridge to campaign stability, allowing you to reactivate dormant clients, cross-sell new offers, and feed invaluable signals to smart bidding algorithms.

Jyll breaks down the requirements for using Customer Match, including the $50,000 lifetime...

If you're used to the way search ads work, switching to Demand Gen can feel like an insurmountable challenge. In episode 124 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, Google Ads Coach Jyll Saskin Gales shares a real world example of two agency marketers who were struggling with ad fatigue. When your audience sees the same image too many times, they can stop noticing your ads entirely. Jyll walks through the exact steps she took with her clients during a live account audit for a flooring company to refresh their Demand Gen performance.

You will learn why benefit rich...

Yes, keyword research still matters in Google Ads. And no, AI can't do it for you! The most successful Google Ads advertisers are the ones who provide campaigns with the foundation they need to learn from, and that includes properly selected and themed keywords. In episode 123 of Inside Google Ads, Google Ads Coach Jyll Saskin Gales explains why keyword research is still your steering wheel for Google's most powerful AI features like Smart Bidding, Broad Match and AI Max for Search campaigns. She shares her 10-step process for effective keyword research, moving from initial customer data and keyword selection...

Should you wait to gather data before using Maximize Conversions bidding? In episode 122 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, host Jyll Saskin Gales provides a definitive answer: you can start your campaigns with Maximize Conversions bidding, even in brand new accounts. While many believe manual bidding is safer for new setups, Jyll explains how manual CPC and Maximize Clicks often result in low-quality traffic that only converts by accident. This episode explores how Google's AI uses millions of real-time signals to find the right users. even without a long history of data. Jyll also addresses the fear of high...

Should you wait to gather data before using Maximize Conversions bidding? In episode 122 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, host Jyll Saskin Gales provides a definitive answer: you can start your campaigns with Maximize Conversions bidding, even in brand new accounts. While many believe manual bidding is safer for new setups, Jyll explains how manual CPC and Maximize Clicks often result in low-quality traffic that only converts by accident. This episode explores how Google's AI uses millions of real-time signals to find the right users. even without a long history of data. Jyll also addresses the fear of high...

It's hours after #GML2026, and Inside Google Ads host Jyll Saskin Gales is reporting live from Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California with special guest Ginny Marvin, Ads Product Liaison at Google and host of the Ads Decoded podcast. In this special episode, Jyll and Ginny share the biggest news from Google Marketing Live 2026: what's changing in Google Ads, and what it means for your campaigns in 2026 and beyond.

Be sure to tune in to the Marketing O'Clock podcast on Monday, May 25, 2026 as I'll be sitting down with the hosts of my favourite marketing podcast to get...

Google Ads is no longer just about search. While search ads are a marketer's dream, they rely on users actively typing queries. If you are already dominating your core keywords, adding more budget often just leads to higher costs rather than more growth. To break through this ceiling, you need a strategy that includes visual campaigns like Video and Demand Gen to reach potential customers who are not searching for you at this exact moment, but are still a potential fit for your business.

In episode 120 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, Jyll Saskin Gales explains the...

Most people panic when they see a red warning in Google Ads, but it might actually be the best news you get today. In episode 119 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, host Jyll Saskin Gales explores a scenario that most advertisers dread: seeing the red "Limited by Budget" warning in their account. Using a real client case study as an example, she dives into why this status appears, how to distinguish between a helpful suggestion and a critical performance bottleneck, and the specific metrics you need to check before touching your daily spend. This episode provides a clear framework...

If you're still running search ads with basic headlines and descriptions, you are firmly average. And in 2026, average just doesn't cut it anymore! In episode 118 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, Google Ads Coach Jyll Saskin Gales walks you through all 15 types of Google Ads assets (formerly known as Google Ads extensions) to help you increase your click-through rate and drive better results from Google Ads. From essential tools like sitelinks and callouts to little-known assets that can significantly boost performance, she provides a technical roadmap for both universal and industry-specific assets. She also addresses the critical "automated" side...

Are the official Google Ads certifications actually worth anything in 2026? In episode 117 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, host Jyll Saskin Gales tackles this question that every digital marketer has asked themselves at least once. After recently renewing her own certifications to maintain Google Partner status, Jyll reveals the frustrating reality of Skillshop’s current state. From out-of-date questions featuring retired campaign types to assessments that favor rote memorization over actual tactical skill, she pulls back the curtain on why these "official" badges often fall short of proving real-world expertise. She then introduces an unconventional initiative that real Google Ad...

Stop fighting for the same tiny audience as your competitors. If you've been running Google Ads for a while, you might notice that the old-school tactics of hyper-specific targeting are not performing like they used to. In episode 116 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, host Jyll Saskin Gales shares a story from one of her Google Ads coaching clients. She took her client's "upside down" strategy and flipped it for better results. Find out how you can, too, in this short & sweet but action-packed episode.

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Smart Bidding is only as smart as the data you provide. If you feed Google Ads low-quality conversions, you will get low-quality results. In episode 115 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, host Jyll Saskin Gales steps back from the technical "how-to" and focuses on the strategic foundation of conversion tracking. Whether you are managing a high-volume e-commerce store or a niche lead-generation business, understanding how to lay the foundation your true business goals is the difference between a campaign that prints money vs. one that lights money on fire.

Jyll breaks down the seven critical nuances of...

The "learning period" is often treated like a ghost story in the world of Google Ads - something to be feared, to avoid at all costs. In episode 114 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, Google Ads Coach Jyll Saskin Gales aims to calm your anxiety, and bring some much needed TRUTH to all the learning myths out there. By diving into the technical reality of how Google's machine learning models actually process your data, Jyll explains why your campaigns are in a constant state of evolution rather than a fixed "on or off" learning switch.

You will...

Should you be paying for ads when people are already searching for your business by name? This "brand tax" is one of the most debated topics in the Google Ads community, but the decision should be based on data, not a gut feeling. In episode 113 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, #1 Most Influential PPC Expert Jyll Saskin Gales dives into the branded search debate to help you determine if those clicks are actually incremental or if you are simply paying for traffic you would have received anyway.

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If you work in a so-called "Sensitive Interest Category" like healthcare, finance, legal, or real estate, you’ve likely stared at that "Eligible (Limited)" status in Google Ads with frustration. Operating in a sensitive interest category means that standard Google Ads tactics like retargeting or basic demographics are often off the table. But "limited" doesn't mean "impossible." In episode 112 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, host Jyll Saskin Gales breaks down why being in a restricted category isn't a dead end, but rather a call to get more strategic with the tools you still have at your disposal.

It's frustrating to watch those Google Ads bills roll in while your campaigns have zero conversions! Whether you're an experienced agency pro or a business owner managing your own account, this is one of the most common Google Ads challenges you'll experience. In episode 111 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, host Jyll Saskin Gales walks you through the exact process she uses with her Google Ads coaching clients to diagnose and solve conversion issues. In this real life example, Jyll figures out why a client's search campaign hadn't seen a single conversion in six weeks. Then, Jyll uncovers the...

Running Google Ads for B2B is notoriously more complex than any other vertical. With longer sales cycles and higher stakes, the usual "best practices" and "ALWAYS do this" don't apply. In episode 110 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, Google Ads Coach Jyll Saskin Gales maps out the essential frameworks she's developed specifically for B2B advertisers to attract high-value business customers while repelling low-value consumer leads.

She starts with the non-negotiable foundation: full-funnel conversion tracking. Jyll explains why optimizing for simple form fills is a recipe for failure and why you must connect your CRM to...

Performance Max is no longer the "black box" it used to be; it's now a "clear box" offering full transparency. So how do you USE that transparency to optimize your Performance Max campaign? In special episode 109, Inside Google Ads host Jyll Saskin Gales shares an exclusive excerpt from her SMX Master Class, "Google Ads Beyond Search." You'll learn how to interpret the latest reporting features - including search term reports, channel performance, and asset-level data - to understand exactly where your budget is going and how to steer it.

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Imagine waking up to find your entire agency’s Google Ads Manager account has been compromised. In just minutes, hackers can remove your employees, lock out your clients, and rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent spend. In this urgent episode of Inside Google Ads, host Jyll Saskin Gales pulls back the curtain on the sophisticated phishing tactics currently targeting agencies and high-level practitioners.

We move beyond the basic advice of "use a strong password" to break down how hackers are bypassing two-factor authentication and using "shell" login pages to steal access in real-time. Jyll sh...

There are naysayers who claim Google Ads Quality Score is just a diagnostic tool and doesn't matter. They're wrong. In episode 107 of the Inside Google Ads podcast, host Jyll Saskin Gales walks you through exactly how to find your Quality Score, how to interpret the data, and most importantly, how to improve the three core components that define it. Plus, she's briefly joined by a very special guest, Fred Vallaeys, CEO of Optmyzr one of the original Google employees who built AdWords, to settle the debate on whether Quality Score is just a vanity metric or a crucial performance...