by Austin LeClear
on September 29, 2025
We’ve talked to hundreds of companies just this year alone about their Google ads accounts, and we’re seeing a disturbing pattern that’s costing businesses serious money. Here’s what we keep hearing: “We are seeing an increase in our Google ads conversions, but our backend sales are either down or our new customer acquisition is down. What is going on?“
Sound familiar? Google’s telling you one thing, but you’re seeing something completely different on the back end. Every time you try to scale, costs go up. You don’t believe Google’s numbers because you’re not seeing an actual increase in sales that justify the spend.
Good news: there are companies that have found their way around this issue and they’re printing money, acquiring customers daily. Then there’s the majority right now that are absolutely stuck. Fortunately, we can help.
Prefer video? Check out The Google Ads Strategy That’s Printing MILLIONS Right Now over on YouTube now:
Still with us? Good, let’s dive in.
The Performance Max Problem That’s Killing Your Business
The biggest thing we see companies doing is overinvesting in Performance Max campaigns. Don’t get us wrong – we’re not completely against Performance Max. It’s actually a great campaign type, especially when you’re in the early stages. If you’re under $10-15,000 per month in advertising spend, Performance Max gets you going and helps you measure initial performance effectively.
However, eventually your growth will plateau. What do most people do when they plateau? Unfortunately, they either increase budget even further or get more aggressive on their bidding because those are the only two options they can control in the black box that is Performance Max.
The result for many advertisers? They end up paying more for the same sales they’re already getting on the back end. At least, that’s what happens when you understand your backend numbers and you’re properly tracking what’s going on with your actual business performance versus Google Ads metrics.
The Customer Journey Attribution Problem
Here’s a quick example that illustrates how we like to think about customer acquisition cost (and where new customers actually come from).
Let’s say someone sees a Meta ad for a spill-proof tumbler. They think, “Wow, this product looks interesting. We’ve heard about microplastics and how bad they are. Maybe we need to get away from water bottles.” So they click it, browse for two minutes, then leave without making a purchase.
Three days later, they start searching. That product they saw on Meta was cool, or maybe they’re now genuinely interested in that topic. So they start searching on Google for tumblers, doing their research.
Then they remember that ad, or if you are running Google ads (especially a Performance Max campaign), it might start remarketing to them. Google knows they were on your website just a couple days ago, so they get pulled into your remarketing audience pool.
Day four, they’re ready to purchase. Performance Max picks them up through search ads, brand search, remarketing ads – whatever channel is most relevant. Performance Max will scoop them up throughout the entire ecosystem of Google advertising channels and inventory.
The (Fatal) Attribution Mistake 98% of Companies Make
From an in-app standpoint in Google ads, 98% of people right now are making decisions based off of this last click that went to Performance Max. They’re thinking, “Wow, Performance Max is doing absolutely amazing for us. We should spend more there and continue to optimize this campaign.”
But here’s the problem: they’re making incorrect decisions based off of how they’re looking at the metrics inside Google Ads. Performance Max was bottom of the funnel in this entire customer journey. Did it play a role? Absolutely. But it probably wasn’t what actually acquired the new customer.
So, how would you acquire more new customers in this example?
The answer likely isn’t spending more on your Performance Max campaign. Instead, the better move is often to spend more on the Meta ad that generated the top-of-funnel first-click traffic to your website. Technically, from a first-click attribution perspective, that Meta ad is what acquired your customers. If you want more new customers, you should actually be spending more money on that top-of-funnel marketing effort and let Google then scoop them up as they come back through their research phase.
What Performance Max Data Reveals
Here’s a real example from one of our clients using Wicked Reports, a third-party attribution tool that provides much better measurement than what you’ll find in your Google ads account. This Performance Max campaign had $14,000 in spend and generated $22,000 in total revenue. Most people would look at that performance and think it’s decent – maybe even good depending on their goals.
However, when we dug deeper into what Wicked Reports was actually showing, their new visits from Performance Max hovered at just 56%.
So that $22,000 in total revenue? Performance Max only generated $9,000 in actual new customer revenue. This company spent $14,000 to generate $9,000 in new customer revenue – and that math definitely doesn’t work for most companies.
When we clicked into the individual sales data in Wicked Reports, we found repeat customers everywhere. One customer first ordered back in January 2025, then Performance Max somehow scooped them up again in July for another purchase. That’s not new customer acquisition – you’ve acquired that customer months ago.
If we acquire customers and never have to spend ad money on them again to get them to come back and buy, that’s the goal. Every time they purchase organically, that customer lifetime value continues to climb without any additional customer acquisition cost eating into margins.
The Framework That Works for Our Clients
We are not saying companies should get rid of Performance Max campaigns completely. What we have found that’s working really well requires having your data architecture on the backend completely dialed in. This can be a Google sheet tracking your backend numbers, or you can use more sophisticated software – it doesn’t matter as long as you have clarity on your business performance.
At Grow My Ads, what we’ve found incredibly effective for many of our clients is turning Performance Max into a remarketing campaign. For clients running this strategy, PMax is there to scoop up middle-of-funnel and bottom-of-funnel traffic.
Here’s the setup: We run what we call “feeder campaigns” – and shout out to John Moran who coined this term in the Google ads space. These are standard shopping and non-brand search campaigns that serve as our primary acquisition engines for cold traffic. We bid aggressively here to attract potential customers who have never heard of the brand.
This traffic follows the customer journey we outlined above. Instead of a Meta ad being the first touchpoint, the prospect searches on Google for “tumbler.” They click an ad, browse around, but they’re not ready to buy yet – they’re cold prospects who are interested, but they are not converting today.
However, eventually Performance Max starts playing a role because it’s designed to target warm audiences who have shown previous engagement. Performance Max takes the traffic we’ve generated through feeder campaigns and starts following up.
The Technical Setup That’s Generating Millions
Here’s how we structure this Google Ads strategy for maximum effectiveness:
We run Performance Max campaigns at a higher ROAS goal than what we set for Standard Shopping and non-brand Search. We’re very aggressive on our bidding with Standard Shopping and non-brand Search campaigns to acquire new customers at acceptable costs that make sense mathematically.
We have brand terms completely excluded from Performance Max. We also have brand excluded from standard Shopping and non-brand Search campaigns. We build brand traffic out in separate brand protection campaigns – dedicated brand Search and brand Shopping campaigns. Ideally, brand traffic should not be mixed into non-brand acquisition efforts because this will skew the data.
In this way, Performance Max becomes a back-channel remarketing campaign for all the cold traffic we’re feeding it.
Why This Strategy = Taking Back Control
At Grow My Ads, we’ve noticed that this approach helps companies take back control of their growth when they’ve been plateaued and stuck. Often, these businesses don’t have clarity, and are feeling lost and unsure about where to move the dials in their Google Ads account to drive meaningful growth.
This “feeder strategy” helps companies take back control of new customer acquisition by cross-referencing with backend data and allowing them to focus on cold, new traffic that actually grows their business.
Final Thoughts
Think about the customer journey from a strategic perspective: How do you get more new customers? It’s not at the bottom of the funnel with remarketing – it’s often at the first click, at the top of the funnel where you’re creating awareness.
To sustainably grow your business, you need to understand exactly where you’re acquiring new customers and determine if you’re doing so at a customer acquisition cost that mathematically makes sense for your specific business model and customer lifetime value.
That’s how companies today are getting away from the plateaued black box of Performance Max. They’re taking back control of new customer acquisition with better measurement, clearer attribution, and smarter campaign structure – and they’re printing millions in the process.
The result? Companies who figure this out continue to grow, while their competitors stay stuck wondering why their Google ads performance has plateaued despite increasing their advertising spend.
