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Just realized my buddy in Bakersfield was right about ad tracking | Free Speech Finance - Free To Speak

Just realized my buddy in Bakersfield was right about ad tracking

He said letting Google auto-target my local business ads was a waste, but I defended it until I saw a $300 charge for clicks from people in Canada. Which side are you on, do you hand-pick every setting or trust the algorithms to figure it out?

4 comments

4 Comments

sanchez.mary4mo ago

Trust the algorithms to figure it out" is exactly what got you that $300 Canada charge, it's like letting a GPS decide to take you through a lake. I hand-pick every setting because automated targeting grabs clicks from anywhere that matches a broad keyword instead of your actual service area. Algorithms are great for big brands with huge budgets, but for a local business you gotta babysit that stuff or you bleed money on useless traffic.

jamief674mo ago

The real issue nobody talks about is how algorithms use past data from other accounts to make decisions, so your local plumbing ad might get grouped with a national campaign's settings and blast your budget worldwide. You're not just fighting bad targeting, you're fighting Google's assumption that every account should behave like a giant corporation.

wade2504mo ago

300 bucks for clicks in Canada is a pretty expensive geography lesson, that’s for sure. I mean, I guess your buddy’s business was getting some international exposure, just not the kind that pays the bills. Letting Google’s algorithm run wild on a local ad budget is like handing the keys to a teenager and telling them to just drive, you’re gonna end up in a ditch eventually. I’ve seen people get charged for clicks from halfway across the globe because the algorithm thinks a broad keyword like “plumber” means anyone in the whole world needs pipes fixed. You really gotta lock down that location targeting or you might as well just flush that money down the toilet yourself.

willowg882mo ago

Is it really that serious though, $300 is like a bad night out on the town. I bet the guy learned a valuable lesson about checking his settings before he blames the algorithm for everything. Sometimes a little oopsie is just the cost of figuring out how the machine works.