What PPC Troubleshooter does
PPC Troubleshooter diagnoses five common Google Ads problems: clicks but no conversions, a budget used up by a few expensive clicks, conversions that dropped after a good start, a cost per click that keeps rising, and ads that barely show or spend. For each problem, PPC Troubleshooter asks follow-up questions one at a time, then lists the likely causes in three groups: Fix first, Check and Good news. Each cause comes with the steps to take. Where your numbers matter, PPC Troubleshooter runs the math and shows it as a picture so you can tell bad luck from a real problem. Every cause it can return is written out below, so you can read the whole decision tree without running it.
Why is my Google Ads campaign getting clicks but no conversions?
With only a few dozen clicks, zero conversions is usually bad luck rather than a broken campaign; past a few hundred clicks, it almost never is. If 2.5 out of every 100 visitors become leads, a typical rate for lead gen, each click has a 97.5% chance of not converting. The chance that every one of 20 clicks misses is 0.97520, or about 60%. So more than half of perfectly healthy campaigns get zero leads from their first 20 clicks.
PPC Troubleshooter uses the formula chance of zero = (1 − conversion rate)clicks. It calls the result normal bad luck when that chance is 25% or more, unlucky when it is between 5% and 25%, and not luck when it is under 5%. At a 2.5% conversion rate, the tipping point is 119 clicks: past that, zero conversions happens less than 5% of the time, so something is broken. The same rule in one line is 3 ÷ conversion rate clicks, which the PPC Gumball Rule page explains in full.
| Clicks with zero conversions | 1% rate | 2.5% rate | 5% rate | 10% rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 82% | 60% | 36% | 12% |
| 50 | 61% | 28% | 8% | 1% |
| 100 | 37% | 8% | 1% | <1% |
| 120 | 30% | 5% | <1% | <1% |
| 200 | 13% | 1% | <1% | <1% |
| 300 | 5% | <1% | <1% | <1% |
| Clicks where luck drops under 5% | 300 | 120 | 60 | 30 |
Read the table across your conversion rate. At 2.5%, zero conversions from 50 clicks is normal (28%), from 100 clicks is unlucky (8%), and from 200 clicks is not luck (1%). At 1%, even 200 clicks with nothing is still inside bad luck (13%), which is why fixed rules like “wait 100 clicks” are too early at 1% and far too late at 10%.
Is 100, 200 or 500 clicks with no conversions normal?
It depends on your conversion rate, and most advertisers who ask are already past the point where luck explains it. In a study of 62 r/PPC and Google Ads Community threads where advertisers had clicks but no conversions, posters who gave a click count had a median of 190 clicks when they asked for help, and at a 2.5% conversion rate 15 of 23 were already past 120 clicks. Yet replies said “wait for more data” in 22 of the 62 threads, including to posters with 150 to 1,179 clicks. Full numbers and the coded data are in Google Ads no conversions: what 62 forum threads show.
So for a typical lead gen Search campaign: 100 clicks with no conversions is unlucky but possible, 200 is a problem, and 500 is a problem that more time will not fix. If you sell something that converts at 1% or less, such as a high-ticket B2B service or an ecommerce store with cold traffic, double those numbers before judging.
What does PPC Troubleshooter check when there are clicks but no conversions?
PPC Troubleshooter asks for spend and clicks, your expected conversion rate, whether you have tested your tracking, what the Search terms report looks like, the bid strategy, where the ads send people, and three campaign settings. It returns the causes below in order: tracking first, because until tracking is confirmed every other number in the account is suspect.
| Cause | How PPC Troubleshooter spots it | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Conversion tracking is broken, so leads happen without being counted | Your own test form or call didn’t show up in Google Ads | Check your inbox, phone log or CRM for leads during the campaign’s dates. Under Goals → Conversions → Summary, make sure the lead action’s status is Active and it is set to Primary. Use Google Tag Assistant on the thank-you page. Fix tracking before changing anything else. |
| Tracking never tested | You haven’t submitted your own form or made a test call | Submit the form, or call the tracked number and stay on for at least a minute. Within 24 hours, look for the test conversion under Goals → Conversions → Summary. |
| Too few clicks to judge | Chance of zero conversions by luck is 25% or more | Don’t pause or rebuild. Keep running until about 3 ÷ conversion rate clicks (120 at 2.5%). If there are still zero leads then, it isn’t luck. |
| Unlucky, but close to the line | Chance of zero by luck is between 5% and 25% | Work through the other causes here, and give it until 3 ÷ conversion rate clicks before calling it broken. |
| Not luck: something is blocking conversions | Chance of zero by luck is under 5% | Start with tracking, then search terms, then the landing page. |
| Paying for the wrong searches | The Search terms report is full of jobs, free, DIY, how-to, other cities or other businesses | Add the bad searches as negative keywords (the Negative Keyword Finder sorts a downloaded report). Switch broad match to phrase or exact. Add a shared negative list for jobs, careers, salary, free, DIY, how to and course. |
| Search terms never looked at | You haven’t opened Insights and reports → Search terms | Open it for the whole date range. Add anything a customer wouldn’t type as a negative. |
| Maximize clicks buys clicks, not customers | Bid strategy is Maximize clicks | Once tracking is confirmed, switch to Maximize conversions. Until then, set a maximum CPC bid limit. |
| A target CPA with no conversion history makes Google guess | Bid strategy is Target CPA (Maximize conversions with a target) and there are no conversions yet | Remove the target and run Maximize conversions until you have about 30 conversions, then set a target equal to your actual cost per lead. |
| Ads land on the homepage | Ads send people to the homepage rather than a page about that exact service | Point each ad group at the page for that service, with the phone number and a short form near the top. Submit the form yourself and check that the conversion records. |
| Three default settings leak budget | Display Network, Search Partners or “Presence or interest” location targeting are still on | Turn off Display Network and Search Partners in Campaign settings. Under Locations → Location options, choose “Presence: people in or regularly in your included locations.” The Lead Gen Search Campaign Checklist covers the rest. |
Why does my budget only buy a few expensive clicks?
Because the keywords that bring customers in competitive niches are expensive, and a small budget buys too few of them to expect a lead. Your expected cost per lead is your cost per click divided by your conversion rate. PPC Troubleshooter asks for your own average cost per click from your Google Ads account, or for campaigns that haven’t run, the Top of page bid (high range) from Keyword Planner.
PPC Troubleshooter asks for your conversion rate on a slider from 0.5 to 10 leads per 100 clicks, marked Low (1), Medium (2.5) and High (5). If you don’t know your rate, use Medium. Five in 100 is already a strong result for most lead gen Search campaigns.
Worked example: a personal injury firm’s account shows an average cost per click of $40, and its budget is $100 a month. $100 buys 2 clicks. At 2.5 leads per 100 clicks, the chance that both miss is 0.9752, about 95%, so roughly 95 out of 100 firms in this spot would get no lead that month. One lead costs about $40 ÷ 0.025 = $1,600. Getting at least one lead in 90% of months takes 91 clicks, or $3,640 a month. Giving Smart Bidding room to work takes a daily budget of at least 3× the cost per lead, about $4,800 a day or $145,920 a month (daily × 30.4).
| Tier | Formula | $40 CPC, 2.5% conversion rate |
|---|---|---|
| Expected cost per lead | CPC ÷ conversion rate | $1,600 |
| A lead in most months (90% chance) | CPC × ⌈ln 0.1 ÷ ln(1 − rate)⌉ clicks | $3,640 a month |
| Enough for Smart Bidding | 3 × cost per lead a day × 30.4 | $145,920 a month |
How many clicks a day does my Google Ads budget buy?
Divide the daily budget by your cost per click; under about 3 clicks a day, zero leads is the expected result, not a sign that something is broken. Google’s own guidance is a daily budget of at least 10 times your expected cost per click, or 2 to 3 times your target CPA. The table shows what common small budgets buy over a month (daily × 30.4) and how many leads to expect at a 2.5% conversion rate.
| Daily budget | $2 CPC | $5 CPC | $10 CPC | $25 CPC | $50 CPC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10 a day ($304 a month) | 152 clicks, 3.8 leads | 61 clicks, 1.5 leads | 30 clicks, 0.8 leads | 12 clicks, 0.3 leads | 6 clicks, 0.2 leads |
| $20 a day ($608 a month) | 304 clicks, 7.6 leads | 122 clicks, 3 leads | 61 clicks, 1.5 leads | 24 clicks, 0.6 leads | 12 clicks, 0.3 leads |
| $50 a day ($1,520 a month) | 760 clicks, 19 leads | 304 clicks, 7.6 leads | 152 clicks, 3.8 leads | 61 clicks, 1.5 leads | 30 clicks, 0.8 leads |
| $100 a day ($3,040 a month) | 1,520 clicks, 38 leads | 608 clicks, 15 leads | 304 clicks, 7.6 leads | 122 clicks, 3 leads | 61 clicks, 1.5 leads |
Anything under 1 expected lead a month means most months end with zero, and a “lead” at 0.3 a month means about one every three months. Smart Bidding also needs about 30 conversions in 30 days to judge a target, so a cell with 1.5 leads a month cannot run Target CPA well however long you wait. PPC Troubleshooter recommends either raising the budget to the tier that fits, or shrinking the campaign to fit the budget: one campaign, exact match on 3 to 10 high-intent keywords, a maximum CPC bid limit of about 60% of your current cost per click, a smaller area, ads only when someone can answer the phone, and Google Local Services Ads or Microsoft Ads where they fit.
Why doesn’t PPC Troubleshooter use industry average CPCs?
Because an industry average can be several times lower than what your own keywords cost. An average mixes every keyword, ad position and city in a niche, from cheap long-tail searches in small towns to the most contested terms in big cities. LocaliQ’s legal benchmarks put personal injury at $9.30 a click on average, while the keywords that bring injury cases in a large city cost far more at the top of the page. Budgeting with the average would make a $100 budget look like 10 clicks when it buys 2. So PPC Troubleshooter asks for your own number and uses averages only to say how expensive a niche is.
The averages below come from LocaliQ’s 2026 Search Advertising Benchmarks, which cover WordStream campaign data from April 2025 to March 2026. The average across all niches is $5.42. Use them to compare niches, not to set a budget.
| Niche | Average CPC |
|---|---|
| Animals & Pets | $4.06 |
| Apparel / Fashion & Jewelry | $4.44 |
| Arts & Entertainment | $1.63 |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | $9.87 |
| Automotive — For Sale | $2.27 |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | $4.35 |
| Beauty & Personal Care | $4.62 |
| Business Services | $5.87 |
| Career & Employment | $5.81 |
| Dentists & Dental Services | $8.00 |
| Education & Instruction | $4.81 |
| Finance & Insurance | $3.39 |
| Furniture | $3.97 |
| Health & Fitness | $6.17 |
| Home & Home Improvement | $8.33 |
| Industrial & Commercial | $5.87 |
| Personal Services | $7.17 |
| Physicians & Surgeons | $4.76 |
| Real Estate | $3.22 |
| Restaurants & Food | $2.05 |
| Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts | $4.14 |
| Sports & Recreation | $2.77 |
| Travel | $2.14 |
LocaliQ’s Legal Search Advertising Benchmarks break legal out by practice area, from a sample of 256 US search campaigns between April 2022 and March 2023. Criminal defense had the highest average at $12.30 and family law the lowest at $7.69. The same caution applies: these are averages across every keyword, and the keywords you want most will cost more.
| Practice area | Average CPC |
|---|---|
| Accidents & Personal Injury | $9.30 |
| Bankruptcy | $11.70 |
| Criminal Defense | $12.30 |
| Estate & Probate (incl. wills) | $7.92 |
| Family Law (incl. divorce) | $7.69 |
| General Practice | $9.97 |
| Tax Law | $11.82 |
How do I find my real cost per click?
If your ads have run, use the Avg. CPC column in the Campaigns table, with the date range set to the campaign’s whole life. If they haven’t, open Keyword Planner (Tools, Planning, Keyword Planner, Get search volume and forecasts), enter your main keywords and service area, and read Top of page bid (high range) for the keywords you care most about. Google describes the high range as about the 80th percentile of what advertisers paid for a top-of-page position, and the low range as about the 20th percentile. PPC Troubleshooter recommends planning with the high range, because the clicks that use up small budgets are the contested ones near the top of the page.
Why did my Google Ads conversions suddenly drop when I didn’t change anything?
A drop after a good start has three usual causes: the good start was partly luck, a change restarted the learning period, or a website change broke the tracking or the form. Which one it is usually shows in the shape of the drop. Conversions that stop dead on one day, while clicks continue, point to tracking: a site update, a new form tool, a cookie banner or a thank-you page moved to another domain. A gradual fade over weeks points to the auction: a new competitor, a falling Quality Score, broad match drifting into vaguer searches, or the season. Weeks that jump around a shared average point to small numbers and nothing else.
PPC Troubleshooter tests the luck explanation with your numbers. It asks how many leads came in during the good stretch and since, and over how many days. If the lead rate had stayed the same, the later period’s share of all leads would follow a binomial distribution. PPC Troubleshooter reports the chance of a drop at least as big as yours. At 10% or more it calls the drop likely luck; from 2% to 10%, probably real; under 2%, real.
Worked example: 4 leads in the first 7 days, then 3 leads in the next 14 days. The weekly rate fell from 4 to 1.5, yet with the same underlying rate a split this lopsided or worse happens about 17% of the time. That drop could easily be luck, and the right move is to change nothing for two more weeks.
“I didn’t change anything” is worth checking too. Open Tools → Change history for the two weeks before the drop and filter by user. Auto-applied recommendations and changes made by a Google representative appear there, and switching bid strategy, adding broad match, removing an ad schedule or raising the budget by more than about 20% all restart learning.
| Cause | How PPC Troubleshooter spots it | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A website change broke the tracking or the form | You changed the website, form or phone number right before the drop | Submit your own form and confirm the lead reaches you. Check that the conversion records in Google Ads within a day. If the phone number changed, update call assets and call tracking. |
| Tracking is broken | Your test conversion didn’t show up | Compare inbox or phone log with the Conversions column. Check the conversion action’s status and that it is Primary. Fix tracking before anything else. |
| The drop is small enough to be luck | A drop this big happens 10% of the time or more with nothing wrong | Change nothing for two more weeks. Judge on 30 or more conversions, not a few good or bad days. |
| You restarted the learning period | You changed the bid strategy, the target CPA, or the budget by more than 20% | Leave it alone for two weeks while the status says Learning. Next time, change targets by 15% or less, at least two weeks apart. |
| New keywords brought in different traffic | You added keywords or broad match | Compare conversion rate on the new keywords with the old ones. Pause new keywords that spent your cost per lead without converting. |
| Your new ads may convert worse | You edited or replaced ads | Compare old and new ads’ conversion rates in the Ads report. If the old ad did better, bring it back. |
| You’re paying more for each click | Average cost per click rose 25% or more | Check the bid strategy; Maximize conversions and Target impression share both raise bids as they chase volume. See the rising cost per click section below. |
| A competitor moved in | Auction insights shows a new name or higher overlap | Don’t outbid them on every term. Focus budget on the keywords with the cheapest leads, and give searchers a reason to pick you in the ad. |
| Paying for the wrong searches | Search terms are full of junk | Add negatives and tighten match types. |
| Some of this is the season | It is usually a slower time of year | Compare the same weeks last year, and check your main keyword in Google Trends. |
Why is my Google Ads cost per click so high all of a sudden?
Cost per click usually rises because of the bid strategy, not the market. Target impression share pays whatever it takes to reach the top of the page. Maximize conversions without a target CPA bids more as the budget grows. Broad match and AI Max reach into vaguer, pricier searches. New competitors in Auction insights and falling Quality Scores also raise prices. A higher cost per click is not a problem if cost per lead holds at or under target, so PPC Troubleshooter asks about cost per lead first.
Check in this order: 1) Did cost per lead rise too? If not, stop; Google is paying more for better clicks. 2) Bid strategy: Target impression share, or Maximize conversions with a recent budget increase or no target. 3) Broad match or AI Max turned on. 4) Auction insights, last 30 days against the 30 before, for new names and higher overlap. 5) Quality Score columns in the Keywords table.
| Cause | How PPC Troubleshooter spots it | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A higher cost per click isn’t a problem if leads cost the same | Cost per lead held steady or improved | Watch cost per lead, not cost per click. Act only if cost per lead goes above target. |
| No conversion tracking | You don’t track leads in Google Ads | Track form submissions and calls longer than 60 seconds as Primary conversions. Without them, cost per click can’t tell you whether a click is worth it. |
| Target impression share pays whatever it takes to be on top | Bid strategy is Target impression share | Switch to Maximize conversions with a target CPA. If you must keep it, set a low maximum CPC bid limit. |
| A bigger budget buys pricier clicks | Maximize conversions and you raised the budget | Add a target CPA. If cost per lead rose more than the budget did, go back toward the old budget. |
| No target CPA | Maximize conversions without a target | Once you have about 30 conversions, set a target CPA equal to the last 30 days’ cost per lead. |
| No maximum CPC bid limit | Bid strategy is Maximize clicks | Set a maximum CPC bid limit under Bidding. Switch to Maximize conversions once tracking works. |
| Broad match and AI Max reach for broader, pricier searches | Broad match keywords or AI Max are on | Check Search terms for costly searches that don’t convert and add negatives. Turn off AI Max until the campaign hits its target with phrase and exact match. |
| More competition means higher prices | Auction insights shows a new competitor or higher overlap | Don’t chase the top position; spot 2 or 3 often brings leads for less. Move budget to the keywords and hours with the cheapest leads. |
| Auction insights not checked | You haven’t looked | Compare the last 30 days to the 30 before for new names and higher overlap. |
| Lower Quality Score means you pay more for the same spot | Quality Scores went down | Put the keyword in the headline, split ad groups so each covers one service, and make the landing page about that exact service and fast on phones. |
Why are my Google Ads not spending or getting impressions?
Start with the Status column, because it usually names the reason: Google writes Limited by bid strategy, Limited by budget, Under review, Disapproved, Low search volume or Below first page bid estimate next to the campaign, ad or keyword. If the status is plain Eligible or Learning and the campaign still barely spends, the cause is usually a target or bid cap too tight for the auction, a net too small (exact match in a small area, a tight ad schedule), or a brand-new account that needs a few days. PPC Troubleshooter asks for the status, the bid strategy, match types, the size of the target area and the ad schedule.
Numbers from Google’s own help pages: new ads take one to two days to review; if there are no impressions after three business days, the bid strategy may still be learning; and the daily budget should be at least 10 times the expected cost per click, or 2 to 3 times the target CPA. A target CPA well below what the campaign has actually achieved will sit out most auctions, which is why the usual fix is to raise the target by about 20% and wait a week, or to remove it until there are about 30 conversions.
| Cause | How PPC Troubleshooter spots it | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Billing or account suspension | Status says the account is suspended or there is a payment issue | Open Billing → Summary and resolve any payment issue. For a suspension, read the email from Google and follow the appeal steps. Nothing runs until the account is in good standing. |
| Ads or keywords not allowed to run | Status says Not eligible, Disapproved or Under review | Hover over the status in the Ads table to see the policy. Fix the ad or landing page and appeal from the same place. Under review usually clears in one to two business days. Legal, financial and health advertisers may need certification first. |
| Target CPA too low to win auctions | Status says Limited by bid strategy target, or the strategy is Target CPA | Raise the target CPA by 20% and give it a week. With fewer than 30 conversions, remove the target and use Maximize conversions until you have them. |
| Not enough people search those exact words | Keywords say Low search volume | Use phrase match versions, and add the plain words customers use, like “plumber” instead of “residential plumbing contractor.” |
| Bids below what the auction needs | Manual CPC bidding | Add the “First page bid estimate” column in the Keywords table and raise bids on your best keywords to at least that estimate. |
| Your net is very small | Exact match only in a small town or tight radius | Add phrase match versions of your best keywords and widen the radius to the farthest place you would actually drive to. |
| Exact match only may be too narrow | Mostly exact match | Add phrase match versions and watch Search terms for junk. |
| Your area may be too small | A small town or tight radius | Widen the radius to the farthest customer you would serve. |
| Your ad schedule may be cutting out busy hours | Ads limited to certain days or hours | Run ads all the time for two weeks, then cut only the hours that don’t bring leads. |
| It may just need time | Status is Eligible or Learning and nothing else is wrong | A new campaign in Learning often spends slowly for its first few days. Give it a week before changing anything. |
What do Google Ads status labels mean, and what should I do about each?
Google’s status labels are the fastest diagnosis in the account, and each one maps to a fix. The definitions below are Google’s own, from the Google Ads Help pages on campaign, keyword, bid strategy and conversion action statuses, with the action PPC Troubleshooter recommends.
| Where | Status label | What Google says it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign | Eligible | The campaign is active and can show ads. | If it still barely spends, check bids, targets, match types, area and schedule, and give a new campaign a week. |
| Campaign | Eligible (limited) | Active, but showing ads only occasionally due to budget constraints or a limited bid strategy. | Hover to see which. Limited by budget: raise the budget or accept fewer clicks. Limited by bid strategy: loosen the target or bid cap by about 20%. |
| Campaign | Not eligible | Inactive because there are no ad groups, or all ad groups, ads or keywords are paused or removed. | Unpause or add an ad group, an ad and keywords. |
| Campaign | Pending / Ended | Scheduled to begin at a future date, or past its end date. | Check the start and end dates in Campaign settings. |
| Bid strategy | Learning | After a change, Google Ads needs time to gather the performance data it uses to optimize bids. Reasons shown: New strategy, Setting change, Composition change. | Leave it alone, typically one to two weeks. Each change restarts it. |
| Bid strategy | Limited | Active, but held back. Reasons shown: Inventory (eligible for few searches), Bid limits, Budget constrained, or a strategy that isn’t fully automated. | Inventory: add keywords or phrase match. Bid limits: raise or remove the cap. Budget constrained: raise the budget. |
| Bid strategy | Misconfigured (conversion setting) | A conversion-based strategy (Target CPA, Target ROAS, Maximize conversions) doesn’t have the right conversion action set up. | Under Goals → Conversions, make sure a working lead action is set to Primary. |
| Keyword | Below first page bid estimate | Active and can show ads, but the bid is below what the first page usually needs. | Raise the bid to the first page bid estimate, or switch to an automated strategy. |
| Keyword | Low search volume | Not eligible to show ads frequently because very few people search for it. | Use phrase match and plainer words. It reactivates on its own if searches pick up. |
| Keyword | Rarely shown due to low Quality Score | Rarely shows ads because of quality issues. | Match the ad and landing page to the keyword, or move it to its own ad group. |
| Keyword | Paused (low activity) | Google paused it because it had zero impressions in the past 13 months. | Unpause only if you also fix why it never showed. |
| Ad | Under review | Google is checking the ad against its policies. | Wait one to two business days. Nothing shows until it clears. |
| Ad | Disapproved | The ad violates a policy and isn’t showing. | Hover to read the policy, fix the ad or landing page, and appeal. |
| Conversion action | Active | Everything is working as intended. | Nothing. Make sure it is set to Primary if it is the lead you want. |
| Conversion action | Needs attention | There are action items to address, but conversions haven’t stopped recording entirely. | Open the action and follow the listed items. |
| Conversion action | Misconfigured | Conversions have stopped recording entirely because of a setup error or a broken tag. | Fix the tag with Tag Assistant before judging anything else. Smart Bidding is optimizing toward nothing until you do. |
| Conversion action | Awaiting conversions | No conversions recorded in the last 7 days. Typical when the action is under 48 hours old, campaigns are paused, or traffic is too low. | Make a test conversion. If it doesn’t appear within a day, treat it as broken. |
Why am I getting clicks but no phone calls from Google Ads?
A click on a call asset is not a call: Google counts the tap, and the person still has to place the call and stay on the line. Three things explain most “150 clicks, zero calls” threads. First, call reporting is off or unavailable, so calls happen but aren’t recorded; turn on call reporting on the call asset so the ad shows a Google forwarding number, and set a minimum call length of about 60 seconds for the conversion. Second, the clicks are on the headline, not the call button, and the landing page hides the phone number; put the number at the top of the page as a tap-to-call link and track it. Third, the campaign is a Smart campaign, which can also run on the Display Network and spend up to twice the daily budget; rebuild it as a Search campaign with call assets. Test it yourself: tap the ad on your phone, call, stay on for a minute, and check Goals → Conversions the next day.
Why am I getting conversions but the leads are spam?
Spam form fills are a false “it’s working” signal, and they are dangerous because Smart Bidding learns from them and buys more of the same. Spam leads most often arrive through the Display Network and Search Partners, which are on by default, and through “Presence or interest” location targeting, which shows ads to people anywhere who show interest in your area. Turn off both networks, set locations to Presence only, and check the Locations report by user location for the last 30 days. Then check whether the spam leads carry a Google click ID (GCLID); a lead with no click ID did not come from your ad at all and is a bot hitting the form directly, which reCAPTCHA or a hidden honeypot field fixes. Finally, make only real leads count: import qualified leads from your CRM as the Primary conversion, or set the form submission to Secondary, so Smart Bidding stops optimizing toward junk.
How long should I wait before changing a new Google Ads campaign?
Wait in clicks, not days: don’t judge conversions until the campaign has had about 3 ÷ conversion rate clicks (120 at 2.5%), and don’t change the bid strategy, target or budget by more than about 20% more than once every two weeks, because each change restarts learning. Google says a bid strategy keeps learning for one to two conversion cycles after a change and that Manual CPC has no learning period. What you can fix at any time, without restarting learning: negative keywords from the Search terms report, the three default settings (Display Network, Search Partners, Presence or interest), the landing page, and conversion tracking. Those are also the four things most likely to be wrong in a new campaign.
Frequently asked questions
How many clicks before I know a Google Ads campaign isn't working?
Divide 3 by your expected conversion rate. At 2.5 conversions per 100 clicks, that is about 120 clicks. A campaign that works would get zero conversions from 119 clicks less than 5% of the time, so zero conversions past that point means something is broken. Before that point, zero conversions is often just bad luck.
Is 100, 200 or 500 clicks with no conversions normal?
It depends on your conversion rate. At 2.5 conversions per 100 clicks, zero from 100 clicks happens 8% of the time, so it is unlucky but possible; zero from 200 clicks happens 1% of the time, and zero from 500 clicks almost never. At 1%, zero from 100 clicks is normal (37%). Advertisers who ask r/PPC and the Google Ads Community for help had a median of 190 clicks, which is past the point where luck explains zero at 2.5%.
How much budget do I need for Google Ads lead generation?
Your expected cost per lead is your cost per click divided by your conversion rate. For Smart Bidding, set a daily budget of at least 3 times that cost per lead, so one expensive lead can't use up the day. At $40 a click and 2.5 conversions per 100 clicks, one lead costs about $1,600, so that is about $4,800 a day. A smaller budget can still bring leads with manual bids and exact match, but results will be lumpy.
Is $10 a day enough for Google Ads?
Only if your clicks are cheap. $10 a day is about $304 a month. At $2 a click that is 152 clicks and about 4 leads a month at a 2.5% conversion rate. At $10 a click it is 30 clicks and most months bring zero leads. At $25 a click it is 12 clicks, and you would wait about three months for one lead. Divide your daily budget by your cost per click: under 3 clicks a day, zero leads is the expected result, not a sign that something is broken.
Should I use Maximize clicks or Maximize conversions when I have no conversion data?
Start with Maximize conversions once conversion tracking is tested and working, because Maximize clicks buys the cheapest clicks, which are often the least likely to call. If tracking isn't confirmed yet, use Maximize clicks with a maximum CPC bid limit so one click can't use up the day. Don't add a target CPA until you have about 30 conversions; with none, Target CPA has nothing to learn from and often stops bidding.
How do I know if my Google Ads conversion tracking is working?
Test it yourself. Click your own ad, submit the form or call the tracked number and stay on the line for at least a minute, then look for the conversion under Goals, Conversions, Summary within a day. The conversion action's status should say Active; Misconfigured means recording has stopped, Needs attention means it still records but has a problem, and Awaiting conversions means nothing has been recorded in 7 days. Also compare the leads in your inbox or phone log with the Conversions column: if people are contacting you and Google Ads shows zero, the tracking is broken, not the campaign.
Why did my Google Ads campaign work at first and then stop?
Usually one of three things. The good start was partly luck and later weeks fell back to normal. A change such as a new bid strategy, a new target or a large budget change restarted the learning period. Or a website change broke the conversion tracking or the form. With fewer than about 30 conversions in total, a drop by half can easily be luck.
Is a high cost per click a problem in Google Ads?
Not by itself. Cost per click is the price of one visitor; cost per lead is the price of a customer. If cost per click rises but cost per lead stays at or under your target, the campaign is fine. If both rise, check the bid strategy first, especially Target impression share, then broad match, competitors in Auction insights and Quality Score.
What does Eligible (limited) mean in Google Ads?
Google's definition: the campaign is active but showing ads only occasionally because of budget constraints or a limited bid strategy. Hover over the status to see which. Limited by budget means the daily budget is below what the campaign could spend; raise it or accept fewer clicks. Limited by bid strategy means a target CPA that is too low, a target ROAS that is too high, or a maximum CPC bid limit that is below what auctions cost; loosen the target by about 20% and wait a week.
My agency or Google rep says to give it time. How long is too long?
Count clicks, not days. A campaign has had enough clicks to judge when zero conversions becomes unlikely by luck: 3 divided by your expected conversion rate, which is 120 clicks at 2.5% and 300 clicks at 1%. A campaign at 50 clicks really does need more time. A campaign at 500 clicks and zero conversions is broken, and more time will not fix it. Ask for the Search terms report, the Networks and Locations reports and the conversion action status before agreeing to raise the budget.
Why are my Google Ads clicks coming from other countries?
Because the location setting defaults to Presence or interest, which shows ads to people anywhere who show interest in your area, and because the Display Network and Search Partners are on by default. Under Locations, Location options, choose Presence: people in or regularly in your included locations. In Campaign settings, Networks, turn off Display Network and Search Partners. Then check the Locations report (user location) for the last 30 days.
Related tools and guides
- The PPC Gumball Rule: the 3 ÷ conversion rate checkpoint behind PPC Troubleshooter’s luck test, with lookup tables and a calculator.
- Google Ads no conversions: what 62 forum threads show: how many clicks advertisers have when they ask for help, and what they are told.
- Lead Gen Search Campaign Checklist: set a Search campaign up right, including the settings that leak budget.
- Negative Keyword Finder: sorts a downloaded Search terms report into negatives.
- Keyword Triage: sorts keywords by profit against a target CPA.
- Target CPA & ROAS Calculator: works out the target that PPC Troubleshooter’s budget math depends on.
Sources
- Google Ads Help, Fix a campaign that isn’t running or performing: ten causes, the 10× CPC and 2–3× target CPA budget guidance, review and learning times.
- Google Ads Help, About campaign status, About keyword status, About bid strategy status and conversion action status: the label definitions quoted above. Accessed October 6, 2026.
- Google Ads Help, About the learning period.
- LocaliQ, Search Advertising Benchmarks 2026 and Legal Search Advertising Benchmarks: the average cost per click tables.
- Copy for Originals, Google Ads no conversions: what 62 forum threads show (October 2026): median clicks at the time of asking and the share of “wait for more data” replies.
- Hanley and Lippman-Hand, “If nothing goes wrong, is everything all right?”, JAMA 1983: the rule of three behind the 3 ÷ conversion rate checkpoint.