Copy for Originals · Google Ads in the USA
Copy for Originals manages Google Ads campaigns in the United States for Swedish companies that want inquiries from American customers. The campaigns are run by Jesse Bastide, an American who lives in Tidaholm, Sweden, writes the ads in his native language and has managed more than SEK 20 million in ad spend, most of it in the US market.
Google Ads in the US is the same tool as in Sweden, but most things around it are different: clicks cost more, the country has four time zones, and the buyer expects American English, prices in dollars and a reply the same day. I build the campaigns one region at a time, write the ads and the landing page copy, and measure what a qualified inquiry costs. The fee is 12% of ad spend, with a SEK 10,000 monthly minimum and no lock-in. Send the page you plan to send American visitors to, and I’ll reply in writing with the first thing I’d change.
| Service | Management of Google Ads Search campaigns targeting the US, with ad copy in American English and a landing page review |
|---|---|
| For whom | Swedish companies that sell to customers in the US, where the purchase starts with an inquiry |
| Who does the work | Jesse Bastide, an American from Maine who lives in Tidaholm, Sweden |
| Experience | More than SEK 20 million in managed ad spend, most of it in US lead generation |
| Price | 12% of ad spend per month, SEK 10,000 minimum, excluding VAT. No setup fee, no lock-in. |
| Meetings | In person in Västra Götaland and Stockholm, remote in the rest of Sweden. Meetings and calls are in English. |
| First step | A free written reply: the first thing I’d change on the landing page |
| Contact | Contact form or phone +46 70 306 64 82 |
Google Ads works the same way technically in the US and in Sweden, but six things differ: the language, the geography, the click prices, the time zones, the buyer’s expectations and the rules. Anyone who runs a translated Swedish campaign at the whole United States gets all six working against them at once.
| Difference | In Sweden | In the US |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Swedish ads and a Swedish page | American English, written from how Americans search and not translated from Swedish |
| Geography | One country and one time zone | Fifty states and four time zones in the contiguous US. Start in one region. |
| Click prices | No reliable, dated average has been published for Sweden | LocaliQ’s 2026 averages are $5.42 per click and $66.69 per lead in search advertising, across 20+ industries |
| Time zones | The customer gets in touch during your working day | East Coast office hours are 3 PM to 11 PM Swedish time |
| Buyer’s expectations | A Swedish address and a Swedish phone number are enough | Prices in dollars, American formats and a clear statement that you deliver to the US |
| Rules | The Swedish Marketing Act | The FTC’s requirements: truthful, non-deceptive and backed by evidence |
The LocaliQ averages are based on its own customers’ campaigns, and the report doesn’t state which country they cover. An average also mixes every keyword and city, so the keywords many advertisers compete for can cost several times more. Use your own cost per click from Google’s Keyword Planner, set to the region you plan to advertise in.
Start in one or two states or metro areas, not the whole United States. A test budget spread over fifty states produces too few clicks in any one place to show anything. Pick the region where you already have customers, a distributor or a warehouse, and where someone can answer during office hours.
A test budget for Google Ads in the US has to buy enough clicks that zero inquiries can no longer be bad luck, which is three times the expected cost per inquiry. Cost per inquiry is cost per click divided by conversion rate. For a high-competition service business, Copy for Originals plans on a test budget of $5,000 to $10,000.
| Cost per click | Share of visitors who get in touch | Cost per inquiry | Clicks for $5,000 | Expected inquiries | Minimum budget to judge the campaign |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5 | 5% | $100 | 1,000 | 50 | $300 |
| $10 | 4% | $250 | 500 | 20 | $750 |
| $25 | 2.5% | $1,000 | 200 | 5 | $3,000 |
| $50 | 2% | $2,500 | 100 | 2 | $7,500 |
The last column is three times the cost per inquiry, from the PPC Gumball Rule. In the last row, $5,000 isn’t even enough to tell whether the campaign is broken or just unlucky. The choice then is to raise the budget, pick cheaper keywords, or not start. These are worked examples, not averages.
That has to be decided before the campaign starts, because 9 PM in Sweden is the middle of the working day in the US. In a Harvard Business Review study of 1.25 million sales leads at 42 US companies, firms that tried to contact the customer within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to have a qualifying conversation as those that waited another hour, and more than 60 times as likely as those that waited 24 hours or longer.
| Time zone | Examples | Hours behind Sweden | Office hours in Swedish time | Overlap with a Swedish 8–17 working day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern | New York, Boston, Atlanta | 6 | 15:00–23:00 | 2 hours |
| Central | Chicago, Dallas, Houston | 7 | 16:00–24:00 | 1 hour |
| Mountain | Denver, Salt Lake City | 8 | 17:00–01:00 | None |
| Pacific | Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle | 9 | 18:00–02:00 | None |
For a couple of weeks in March and a week around the turn of October to November, the difference is one hour less, because the US and the EU switch between daylight saving time and standard time on different dates.
There are four ways to solve it, and one of them should be chosen before the first click:
Yes, almost always. An American visitor who clicks an ad wants to see prices in dollars, American formats for dates and measurements, a clear statement that you deliver to the US, and copy that sounds written for them. A translated Swedish page rarely provides that.
I write the ad and the page so they say the same thing: what the ad promises is at the top of the page. What to change and why is covered in English copywriting for Swedish companies that want to reach customers in the US. The changes to the page are made by whoever maintains your website. From me you get the copy and a clear description of what to change.
Inquiries from the US are measured as submitted forms and phone calls in Google Ads, and then supplemented with what happened next: which inquiries were qualified and which became customers. That information is in your own system and can be imported into Google Ads as offline conversions, so bidding learns which searches lead to business.
At Copy for Originals, Google Ads management costs 12% of ad spend per month, with a SEK 10,000 monthly minimum, no setup fee and no lock-in. The ad spend is paid directly to Google and comes on top. The price is the same for campaigns in the US and in Sweden.
| Ad spend per month | Fee (12%) | Total per month |
|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | $1,200 | $11,200 |
| $25,000 | $3,000 | $28,000 |
| $50,000 | $6,000 | $56,000 |
The SEK 10,000 monthly minimum applies when 12% of ad spend is less than that. The fee is invoiced in kronor, excluding VAT. Ad copy is included in the fee. A new landing page in English is quoted separately once I’ve read the current one.
Google Ads in the US fits Swedish companies that sell something with a high order value where the purchase starts with an inquiry, and that can already deliver to American customers. In 2025 the United States was Sweden’s third-largest export market for goods, after Germany and Norway, with goods exports of about SEK 169 billion according to Statistics Sweden.
It fits best when three things are in place:
Not included: advice on company formation, taxes, customs and law in the US. The service is the advertising and the copy.
The campaigns are run by Jesse Bastide, an American Google Ads consultant and copywriter from Maine who lives in Tidaholm, Sweden, and runs Copy for Originals. He has managed more than SEK 20 million in ad spend and has among other things run Google Ads for a healthcare provider with clinics in several US states.
For a Swedish company, that means one person who knows the American market and the American language, and who can be met in person in Västra Götaland and Stockholm. More on the background is on the page about Google Ads lead generation in Sweden.
No, not for the advertising. A Swedish company can target its Google Ads at locations in the US from its own account. Questions about company structure, tax and liability in the US are for you to settle with your accountant and lawyer.
The currency and time zone of a Google Ads account are set when the account is created and, according to Google, can’t be changed afterwards. If you want budgets and reports in dollars and in US time, you need a new account. Otherwise a separate US campaign in the existing account works fine.
When someone can answer. If inquiries are answered from Sweden during Swedish working hours, the overlap with the East Coast is about two hours, 3 PM to 5 PM Swedish time. Campaigns that collect forms instead of calls can run through the whole American working day, if the reply is in the customer’s inbox when they start work the next day.
Yes. Copy for Originals writes the ads and the landing page copy in American English and runs the campaigns. Then one person is responsible for the whole path from search to inquiry.
No. Results depend on the competition in the ad auction, on the offer and on the landing page. What I promise is to work out what an inquiry may cost before we spend anything, and to turn off what isn’t working early.
Meetings and calls are in English. Jesse Bastide is American and a native English speaker.
No. Google Ads management at Copy for Originals has no lock-in and no setup fee. You can cancel whenever you like.
Two questions and a link: What do you plan to spend on ads in the US per month? What is a new American customer worth? Then paste the address of the page.
I’ll reply in writing with whether I think the numbers can work, and the first thing I’d change. No charge, and you don’t owe me a call.
The form is on copyfororiginals.com. Phone: +46 70 306 64 82.
Related: English copywriting for Swedish companies selling to the US and Google Ads lead generation in Sweden.
Sources were read on October 13, 2026.