The Google Ads Podcast with Fexingo: Search Ads, Display, and PPC Campaign Strategy

Episode 107 of The Google Ads Podcast with Fexingo breaks down the strategic split between brand and non-brand keywords in 2026. Lucas and Luna analyze a real mid-market e-commerce case — an outdoor gear retailer spending 80 percent of their budget on their own brand terms — and walk through how shifting 30 percent of that spend to non-brand search unlocked a 22 percent lift in new customer acquis...

In this episode of The Google Ads Podcast with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna dive into Performance Max campaigns, the evolution from Smart Shopping campaigns, and how Google's AI allocates budget across Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube, and Discovery in real time. They break down the asset group structure, the role of audience signals versus traditional targeting, and why conversion tracking is non-ne...

In this episode of The Google Ads Podcast, Lucas and Luna dive into Google Ads ad customizers—a feature that lets you dynamically insert countdowns, prices, and location-specific text into your search ads at scale. Using the example of a mid-market e-commerce brand running a seasonal sale, they show how ad customizers can double click-through rates without creating hundreds of individual ads. Luca...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how Google Ads' asset groups are changing the way advertisers organize their campaigns. They discuss the shift from traditional campaign structure to asset groups, how they simplify management, and what this means for performance. Lucas breaks down the differences between asset groups and ad groups, including how assets like headlines, images, and videos are...

In Episode 103 of The Google Ads Podcast, Lucas and Luna break down how call extensions actually work in 2026—when to use them, how Google charges for phone calls versus clicks, and why the conversion tracking setup is far simpler than most advertisers think. Lucas shares a concrete example from a local HVAC client who cut cost-per-lead by 30% simply by switching from click-to-call to a forwarding...

Lucas and Luna explore how Google Ads local campaigns use location extensions, store visit conversions, and local inventory ads to drive foot traffic in 2026. They break down a real-world case: a mid-sized coffee chain that used local campaigns to increase store visits by 22% quarter-over-quarter while keeping cost-per-visit under $1.50. The hosts discuss how machine learning optimizes bids based...

Lucas and Luna dig into the mechanics of Responsive Search Ads in 2026, focusing on how Google's machine learning mixes headlines and descriptions to generate ad combinations. They break down the new asset-level reporting, the impact of 'pinned' headlines on flexibility, and a surprising stat: only 15% of accounts use the maximum 15 headlines. Using a case study from a mid-size e-commerce client,...

In episode 100 of The Google Ads Podcast, Lucas and Luna dive into Google Ads auction-time budgeting, a 2026 update that changes how daily budgets are spent across the day. Instead of a fixed daily cap, Google now spreads your budget in real time based on auction competitiveness, search volume, and conversion probability. Lucas explains the mechanics using a concrete example: a $100 daily budget c...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna dig into Google Ads Automated Rules — a feature that lets you set up scripted triggers to pause underperformers, adjust bids, or even email alerts without manual oversight. They walk through a concrete example from a mid-size e-commerce account: a rule that automatically paused a search campaign when its cost per acquisition exceeded $45 for three consecutive days,...

In this episode of The Google Ads Podcast, Lucas and Luna dive deep into how broad match keywords have evolved in 2026. They explore Google's machine learning improvements that make broad match smarter than ever, using a case study of a mid-sized e-commerce brand that cut cost per acquisition by 22% after switching from phrase match. The hosts discuss the importance of negative keyword lists, the...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how Google Ads audience exclusions can save ad spend and improve campaign performance. They break down the difference between observation and targeting, discuss real exclusions like removing converters or existing customers, and share a case study of a B2B SaaS company that cut cost per lead by 28% by excluding irrelevant audiences. Listeners will learn prac...

Episode 96 of The Google Ads Podcast breaks down how Google Ads Shopping campaigns prioritize which product offers to show when multiple merchants sell the same item. Lucas and Luna explain the three main ranking signals — price, product data quality, and seller ratings — using a real-world example of two electronics retailers competing on the same Bluetooth speaker. They walk through how Google's...

Episode 95 of The Google Ads Podcast dives into broad match keywords in 2026. Lucas and Luna break down how Google's machine learning has transformed broad match from a budget drain into a precision tool, using a real mid-sized retailer's campaign as a case study. They explore the shift from phrase match dominance, the role of negative keywords, and why small advertisers should test broad match wi...

In this episode of The Google Ads Podcast, Lucas and Luna dive into how Google Ads Similar Audiences can expand your reach without sacrificing relevance. They break down how the algorithm identifies high-propensity users based on your existing customer segments, the impact of stricter privacy regulations on this feature in 2026, and practical tips for integrating Similar Audiences into your search...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down Google Ads demographic bid adjustments — how age, gender, parental status, and household income modifiers can reshape your PPC campaigns. Using a concrete example of a home services company, they explain why demographic data is often noisy, how to test adjustments without blowing your budget, and the surprising insight that broad negative adjustments can...

Lucas and Luna dive into Google Ads' Ad Strength metric, exploring how it actually affects auction performance beyond the account-level score. They break down a real example from a mid-market e-commerce client that saw a 28% higher click-through rate on ads rated 'Excellent' compared to 'Poor,' after controlling for keyword match type and landing page. The hosts discuss why Ad Strength isn't a dir...

Lucas and Luna dive deep into Google Ads placement exclusions, a critical but often overlooked tool for brand safety in programmatic advertising. They explore why exclusion lists matter more than ever in 2026, how to build them using Google's sensitive category exclusions and placement negative keywords, and a real-world case study where a retailer avoided a PR disaster by proactively excluding lo...

Episode 90 of The Google Ads Podcast with Fexingo dives deep into negative keywords – the unsung heroes of PPC efficiency. Lucas and Luna break down a real case study: a mid-sized e-commerce brand that reduced wasted spend by 34% in six weeks by carefully building a negative keyword list. They explain how match types work for negatives (phrase vs. exact), how to mine search term reports for irrele...

In this episode of The Google Ads Podcast, Lucas and Luna break down Google Ads Demand Gen campaigns—the evolution of Discovery Ads that now spans YouTube Shorts, Gmail, Discover, and In-Stream. They walk through a concrete example: a DTC skincare brand that tested Demand Gen against standard Discovery and saw cost-per-acquisition drop 28 percent while average order value rose 15 percent. They dis...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into Google Ads Customer Match in mid-2026. They explore how businesses can upload first-party customer data — email addresses, phone numbers, mailing addresses — to create targeted ad campaigns across Search, Shopping, YouTube, and Gmail. The hosts discuss the mechanics: how Customer Match works when users are signed in, the importance of data freshness and ma...

Lucas and Luna dive into Google Ads audience insights, the often-underused reporting tool that reveals who your ads are actually reaching and converting. They break down how to interpret affinity vs. in-market segments, why demographic data can uncover mismatches between targeting and performance, and a real example of how a home services brand used insight data to shift from broad age targeting t...

Lucas and Luna explore how Google Ads brand exclusions work in 2026, using a case study of a mid-size travel company that accidentally appeared next to a competitor's negative review site. They break down placement exclusions at the campaign and account level, how to build exclusion lists for brand safety, and the difference between content exclusions and brand exclusions in Performance Max campai...

Episode 85 of The Google Ads Podcast with Fexingo dives into Performance Max campaigns in 2026. Lucas and Luna break down how Google's AI-powered campaign type uses signals from search, shopping, display, YouTube, and more. They discuss a case study of a mid-size e-commerce brand that saw a 40% increase in conversion value after switching from standard Shopping campaigns. The hosts also cover how...

Lucas and Luna dive into how Performance Max campaigns now leverage seasonal signals to adjust bids and creatives automatically. With summer 2026 in full swing, they break down Google's updated seasonal adjustment tools for retail and service businesses, using a mid-size outdoor gear brand as a case study. Learn how to set up seasonal signals, avoid common pitfalls, and measure lift across channel...

Podcast hosts Lucas and Luna dive into Google Ads' asset-level reporting feature, which shows performance data for individual headlines, descriptions, images, and videos within responsive search ads and display campaigns. They discuss how to use this data to identify underperforming creative, run proper A/B tests, and improve ad strength scores. Lucas explains the difference between aggregate ad p...