
Google Ads customer support representatives may seem helpful, but in practice, they often do more harm than good. Over 15 years of working with them daily, we surely know all their tricks. Whether you’re a small business owner trying to improve your campaign performance or an experienced PPC manager fine-tuning accounts, the advice from Google reps frequently leads to wasted ad spend, poor performance, and frustration. I’ve seen colleagues fired for listening to them. We as an agency have lost clients over following recommendations over the phone and we hear of this all of the time.
In this chapter, we’ll break down why you should be extremely cautious when dealing with Google Ads reps and the common mistakes they push onto advertisers that can tank your campaigns if followed blindly.
They Always Push to Increase Spend—No Matter What
One of the most frustrating aspects of working with Google Ads reps is their obsession with increasing your budget, regardless of whether it makes sense for your account.
Even if you’re missing fundamental conversion tracking or struggling to achieve positive returns, their go-to solution is always:
“Just increase your budget.”
This happens on every call—they rarely analyze campaign performance, consider your business objectives, or provide real strategic insights. Their primary goal is to get you to spend more, whether or not your account is optimized or not.
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: The Revolving Door of Google Ads Reps
Remember, Google Ads representatives are temporary—they are in and out of your account within 90 days. That means whatever advice they give, changes they make, or damage they cause may not even be fully realized until long after they’ve moved on to another assignment.
The consequences? You’re left holding the bag.
Google reps do not have to live with the aftermath of their recommendations. If a poorly executed strategy tanks your conversion rates, inflates your CPCs, or destroys your account structure, they won’t be around to help fix it.
But you will.
- They won’t be there when you have to answer for the lost budget.
- They won’t be there when your boss demands to know why the account performance collapsed.
- They won’t be there when your agency loses a client over failed Google Ads performance.
Even when they are still assigned to your account, they will stand by their changes no matter how bad the results. They will tell you to give it time, to trust the algorithm, or that your account just needs to “adjust”—even when it’s obvious their recommendations were a mistake.
And when their 90 days are up? Poof—they’re gone.
They Assume They Know Your Business Better Than You Do
Reps will boldly tell you to increase your target CPA (cost per acquisition) without understanding your actual profit margins or internal business economics.
For example, a Google rep once told an account manager that because the account was technically profitable based on their limited platform data, it made sense to increase CPA targets to drive more conversions.
The problem? Google can’t see the full picture.
- They don’t know your product margins,
- They don’t understand customer lifetime value,
- They have zero insight into operational costs.
Yet, they will push for aggressive spending decisions that could wipe out your profit margins—and they’ll do it with complete confidence.
They Push Performance Max (PMax) Relentlessly
Google Ads reps love PMax campaigns—and they’ll advise you to shut off all other working campaigns just to “test” PMax.
Bad idea.
While PMax has its uses, blindly shifting all budget into it can:
- Disrupt existing profitable campaigns
- Throw accounts into learning mode (which can take weeks to recover from)
- Result in uncontrollable placements
Many reps insist that PMax requires your full budget to be effective, but this is misleading. You can (and should) run PMax alongside other campaigns, not in place of them. In fact, we have found the opposite to be true. Starting PMax with a smaller budget forces the algorithm to perform more efficiently, it will take longer but if you take your time 30 days 60 days and increase slowly it can be quite beneficial.
The bull in the china shop is out. Sticking with your gut is in.
Never let a rep pressure you into shutting off proven campaigns for the sake of their recommendation.
They Push Broad Match Keywords Recklessly
Broad match can be incredibly dangerous if applied carelessly.
Reps frequently suggest switching all your keywords to broad match under the guise of increasing volume. However, broad match should only be used in highly controlled cases, such as:
- High-budget accounts that have exhausted exact and phrase match
- Accounts with tight negative keyword lists When actively testing new queries
- For most small and medium businesses, broad match leads to wasted spend on irrelevant search terms.
- But if you ask a rep? They’ll tell you to turn it on everywhere—without considering if it makes sense for your account.
The Language Barrier Can Cause Major Issues
Google’s customer support is outsourced to various countries, meaning that communication issues are common.
Marketing spend is sensitive—one miscommunication can lead to:
- A drop in conversions
- A budget wipeout
- Settings being changed incorrectly
Even if you clearly explain an issue, reps often misinterpret your request or apply the wrong fixes, leaving you worse off than before.
They Push Too Many Changes at Once
Good PPC management involves controlled A/B testing—one change at a time, with enough time to evaluate the results.
Google reps, on the other hand, will suggest:
- Changing bid strategies
- Modifying conversion tracking
- Adjusting audience targeting
- Switching campaign settings
All in one session.
This is extremely dangerous because:
- If something breaks, you won’t know what caused it.
- Google’s learning phase resets, delaying optimization.
- There’s no time to test changes properly.
Every change should be tested individually, with at least two weeks in between to measure results. Don’t let a rep rush you into a disastrous overhaul.
They Don’t Have Real Answers
If you ask a specific question, Google reps often don’t know the answer—so they’ll redirect the conversation back to increasing spend or pushing PMax.
Try it yourself:
Ask a rep to help set up a brand search campaign or show you how to implement complex conversion tracking—they’ll struggle.
Most Google Ads reps are not PPC experts.
- They don’t have advanced campaign management experience.
- They don’t understand real-world PPC strategy.
- They only read from scripts and push Google’s automated features.
This means their advice is not tailored to your account—and following it blindly can cause serious harm.
They Have Minimal Training & Experience
After speaking with multiple Google reps, a pattern emerged:
- Many only had 2–4 weeks of training
- They never managed real accounts before taking support calls
- Their advice is based on scripts, not actual PPC experience
When you consider that they’re advising businesses spending thousands per month, it’s terrifying.
Would you trust a junior intern with no experience to run your entire PPC budget?
That’s essentially what’s happening when you follow Google rep advice.
They Push Auto-Recommendations & Automated Assets
Google Ads is constantly adding auto-generated features like:
- Automatically created assets
- Display expansion
- Auto-apply recommendations
While some automation can be helpful, allowing Google to take full control removes advertiser oversight and leads to:
- Ads with poor messaging
- Unwanted placements
- Lower conversion rates
If a rep recommends enabling auto-generated assets, decline unless you fully understand the impact.
They Do Not Know How to Optimize—Period
At the end of the day, Google Ads reps are not PPC experts.
They do not:
- Understand bid strategies beyond surface-level recommendations
- Optimize accounts for profitability—just more spend
- Provide real strategic insights
Their job is not to improve your business—it’s to increase Google’s revenue.
That’s why you should never trust their advice blindly.
Great, you made it to the end. We hope you found this to be helpful.
Playing Nice: Something Good that Google Ads Reps Can Help With
While Google Ads reps often push recommendations that don’t align with every business’s goals, they do have their uses. One of the positives of working with them is that they occasionally spot settings or opportunities you may have overlooked. However, if you are using the Optimizer Handbook weekly checklists and monthly checklists from the Agency Starter Kit Download Bundle, you would not need that assistance. Waiting for them would be reactive.
Sometimes it’s a new beta feature, a tweak in audience settings, or a different way to structure Performance Max campaigns, they can sometimes provide insights to improve performance. Even seasoned advertisers can occasionally pick up something useful from their calls—if approached with the right level of scrutiny.
Another benefit of working with Google Ads reps is their ability to escalate support tickets. Be prepared to wait, and be persistent. They will drop the ball. If you’re dealing with a disapproved ad, expedited ad review for time-sensitive campaign approvals, a suspended account (good luck), or a billing issue, having a rep on your side can speed up the resolution process significantly. They have direct access to Google’s internal teams and can sometimes get issues resolved faster than submitting a ticket alone. While not every conversation will be valuable, keeping an open line of communication with reps can be a strategic advantage.
If you have a suspended account contact us now for a Free consult.
Final Takeaway: Hire a PPC Expert, AI Hasn’t Taken Over Yet!
Google Ads reps are not your allies—they are salespeople in disguise. Better yet, ask us for a second opinion. Ask Starling Support a question. Ask Stacy Cook, or Micahel Goldberg authors of this book, right now.
You can download a Free copy of the Optimizer Handbook here, and the Agency Starter Kit Download Bundle.
If you want to:
- Optimize campaigns for profitability
- Avoid wasted ad spend
- Make data-driven decisions
Then trust yourself, your team, or a real PPC expert—not a Google rep reading from a script.
Rule #1 of Google Ads:
- Never blindly follow a Google Ads rep’s advice.
- Always verify, test, and make informed decisions.
This is how you win in PPC—by outsmarting the system and putting your business first.
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