Your PPC campaigns might be wasting budget without you realizing it. How can that be? You’re in your Google Ads account daily, and everything looks good. So what’s the issue?
Turns out, if your GA4 setup is broken, it can sabotage your campaigns. Inaccurate conversion data, bad optimizations, and wasted ad spend can all stem from faulty analytics. Here are some key reasons why your PPC campaigns might not be performing as well as you intended:
1️. Google Consent Mode & Cookie Banners
If your cookie banner and Google Consent Mode settings aren’t aligned, GA4 won’t pass conversion data to Google Ads—meaning your campaigns aren’t optimizing based on accurate data.
- Most Cookie Banner setups require more than just adding a banner on your site. Usually, some settings need to be correctly configured in the cookie banner admin in addition to installing the banner on the site. If not correctly configured, you could stop data from getting to Google Ads, GA4, etc., or worse, not respect what the user chose for consent.
- Using Microsoft Ads? Microsoft is rolling out its own consent mode, adding another layer of complexity to tracking.
2️. Simple Errors in Paid Search Conversion Tracking
- Many Google Ads conversions set up in Google Tag Manager are incorrect from the start, making optimization nearly impossible. Or, if you import GA4 Key Events to use as Conversions in Google Ads, the GA4 Conversions are often misconfigured.
- Incorrect GTM trigger setups can mess up data tracking. Example: If you’re running a Google Ads campaign that leads to a form fill, some setups track button clicks instead of actual submissions. If users click multiple times due to form errors, your conversion numbers will be artificially inflated.
- Duplicate conversion tracking across multiple triggers or platforms makes data messy and difficult to analyze.
💡 The Solution: Regular Audits
You don’t always need a full-blown overhaul—just a quick 15-minute audit can potentially catch issues upfront. (Some problems may require more in-depth audits if there aren’t initial signs)
- Check GA4’s change history—Has the setup been updated or neglected?
- Compare form submissions in GA4 vs. your CRM (Marketo, HubSpot, etc.)—Do the numbers align?
- Clean up old, inactive Google Ads conversions—Bad data skews your campaign performance.
Bottom line: If your analytics (or any other things too) aren’t tracking correctly, your paid media strategy might be affected. Curious about the status of your analytics? Our free tool gives you a quick peek into what’s working and what’s not. Check it out here: