Our Google Ads budget got drained in 3 hours by a bad keyword list

I set up a new campaign for a family law firm client last Wednesday, forgot to add negative keywords for 'free consultation', and watched $1,200 vanish before I noticed the alert at lunch - has anyone else had a PPC budget burn through like that from one simple oversight?

3 comments

3 Comments

jessica1301mo ago

$1,200 is a cheap lesson compared to the six figures some firms burn on bad click traffic before they figure it out. A couple hours of lost budget is nothing if it saves you from making that mistake when the stakes are higher.

jamie9401mo ago

Is it just me or is that $1,200 basically the price of skipping a few happy hours to save your whole campaign? I blew about $800 on bot clicks my first month running ads and it stung at the time, but looking back it was the best money I ever spent on learning. Better to take that hit early and fix your targeting than to let bad traffic drain your budget for months on end.

wesley_jones1mo ago

Actually Jamie, $800 on bot clicks is more like skipping ten happy hours not a few.