Straight talk on
Google Ads and profit.
No vanity metrics. No agency spin. Every piece here is written from the perspective of a specialist who only wins when your bottom line does - covering the frameworks, diagnostics, and decisions that separate accounts that scale from ones that spin their wheels.
All Articles
The Kiezo 3-Step Framework
The no jargon, straightforward breakdown of how I approach taking on a new account. The opposite of how most agencies operate.
Read the articleThe Google Ads KPIs That Actually Matter
ROAS isn't a business metric - it's a platform metric. This guide breaks down which KPIs to set as north star metrics, why agencies prefer ROAS and why optimising for Google's numbers is often working against your P&L.
Diagnose key Google Ads Account issues in 20 mins
You get access to a google ads account for the first time. Before touching bids or budgets, there's a logical order to diagnose what's actually broken.
Why premium furniture D2C needs a completely different Google Ads strategy
High AOVs, 100,000+ SKUs, long consideration cycles and offline behaviour - why the cookie cutter approach fails and what to do instead.
The 5 Shopping feed mistakes I find in 9 out of 10 accounts
The feed is the engine - no bid strategy fixes a broken foundation. Titles, reviews, product types, attribute coverage and delivery policies.
Are you over-priced vs your shopping competitors?
How to find out if your pricing is suppressing visibility - the Shop Quality tab, Merchant Centre price comparison reports, and what to do when dropping RRP isn't an option.
New customer acquisition is stalling – check these 5 things today
When new customer volume drops, there's usually one of five culprits. A quick diagnostic to find the leak before you start pulling budget levers.
What your breakeven ROAS actually is – and why your agency's number is almost certainly wrong
Most agencies use a simplified breakeven ROAS that ignores returns, variable costs and contribution margin. Here's how to calculate the real number.
What is a good ROAS for my Google Ads account?
There's no benchmark answer - a good ROAS is whichever number clears your breakeven and delivers the profit you've decided you want. Why ROAS is a dial you set, how Google's attribution inflates it, and what to measure instead.
Is your retargeting audience cannibalising your prospecting budget?
Without clear separation, you risk diluting new customer prospecting on existing customer retargeting. How to diagnose it and fix the overlap.
How to actually calculate your NCAC
Wrong inputs, wrong denominator, wrong definition of a new customer. How to build an NCAC number that connects to your P&L - and set an allowable ceiling that means something.
Custom labels: everyone says use them – here's how to actually do it
Using custom labels is the floor. How you build and maintain them is what separates campaigns that scale from campaigns that plateau – margin tiers, SKU roles, age of stock and more.
Scaling Google Ads might be the wrong move for growth
Scaling the wrong channel doesn't just plateau – it actively shrinks your new customer pool. Understanding whether a channel generates demand or simply captures it changes everything about where your next pound of spend should go.
Performance Max: built to run itself – here's how to take control
PMax was sold as the campaign you don't have to manage - but the accounts getting real results manage it anyway. The levers that actually move the top line.
Why Google Ads certifications don't matter & Premier Partners are a scam
Certifications and Premier Partner status don't count for anything anymore - and should make you more wary of an agency, not less. What the badges actually measure.
5 signs it's time to fire your Google Ads agency
Growth has slowed, new customers are drying up and the strategy is unclear. Five signs it's time to jump ship rather than stick it out.
Should you bid on your own brand terms?
Brand bidding reports a flattering ROAS, but the only question that matters is incrementality. How to read the SERP and run a holdout test to find out if the spend is working.
How to optimise towards new customers in Google Ads
Google's algorithm optimises towards the easiest sale, not the most valuable one. Five ways to steer it away from existing customers and towards genuinely new, cold traffic.
Contribution margin in ecommerce: CM1, CM2, CM3
Revenue is what a campaign generates - contribution margin is what the business keeps. The margin waterfall from gross revenue down to CM3, and how to build a Google Ads account around it.
Why Kiezo Growth works on a flat fee, not a percentage of spend
How an agency is paid decides what it's quietly rewarded for. Percentage of spend, revenue share and media markup all pull the wrong way - a flat fee rewards a more profitable account, and nothing else.