You inherited this Google Ads account. The agency charges $6K/mo and set up one PMax campaign for 1,200 products across 10+ categories. You asked for category-specific campaigns and they said 'PMax handles segmentation automatically.' You don't have enough Google Ads knowledge to know if they're right or lying. Your VP is threatening to hire a new agency OR bring it in-house with you managing it. And you need to prove whether these ads are driving incremental revenue or just capturing demand you'd get organically. No pressure.
0 per major category
Not 1 campaign for 1,200 products across 10+ categories
0% of spend
$6K/mo on $80K spend = 7.5% (normal range, but results matter)
0%
Compared to organic-only baseline in geo tests
0x
Depends on margin structure and brand awareness
Your agency set up a single PMax campaign for your entire catalog. 1,200 SKUs, 10+ product categories, one campaign. You asked about category-specific segmentation and they said 'PMax handles it automatically.' You suspect this is lazy, but you don't have enough Google Ads expertise to prove it.
Your VP wants to know: are Google Ads actually driving new customers, or just capturing people who would have bought anyway through organic or direct? You need an incrementality test but don't know how to design one — and your agency deflects every time you ask.
Your VP wants a recommendation: keep the $6K/mo agency, hire a new one, or bring Google Ads management in-house. Each option has risks. You need the technical knowledge to make the right call — and you need it fast because this is your first big strategic decision back from leave.
The current 2.8x blended ROAS might be fine — or it might be terrible. You don't know because you can't separate branded from non-branded, category from category, or new from returning customers. The 4x target might be realistic or it might be a fantasy. You need the data to answer that.
“We hired a PPC agency — they set up one campaign for 1,000 products across 10+ categories. Is this normal or lazy?”Reddit r/PPC
“How do you prove Google Ads are driving INCREMENTAL revenue, not just capturing demand?”Reddit r/ecommerce
“My VP wants to see a clear ROI report but our attribution is a mess”Reddit r/marketing
You don't need to become a Google Ads expert. You need enough knowledge to ask the right questions, evaluate the answers, and make the agency/in-house decision with confidence. That's a 20-hour investment, not a career change.
Campaign Structure
Blended ROAS
Incrementality Proof
Strategic Confidence
Each product builds on the previous one. Start where you are, progress at your own pace.
Run a systematic audit on the account your agency built. Find out if that one-PMax-campaign-for-1,200-products setup is lazy or legitimate. Get the evidence you need for the VP conversation.
Design and run geo-based incrementality tests that prove whether Google Ads is driving new revenue or capturing existing demand. Give your VP the data they're asking for.
The campaign structure your agency should have built: category-segmented PMax, proper asset groups, and feed optimization for a 1,200-SKU catalog. Use it as a blueprint for the agency — or bring it in-house.
If you decide to bring Google Ads in-house, this is the complete system: campaign architecture, team training, reporting dashboards, and QA processes for a $80K/mo account.
Tactics, case studies, and strategies for e-commerce marketing managers advertisers. No spam.
Agency or in-house? Keep the current setup or restructure? Your VP wants a recommendation and you need the technical knowledge to back it up. Start with the Diagnostic Toolkit to audit what your agency actually built — then you'll know exactly what to recommend.