ppc tips

Google open-sourced a read-only Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Google Ads that lets AI assistants securely query account data and return natural-language diagnostics. It cannot change campaigns, but it can accelerate audits and reporting for contractors by surfacing waste, schedule and geo issues, device splits, and competitor pressure. The post outlines practical workflows like weekly waste checks, call-quality comparisons, geo/schedule guardrails, seasonal budget pivots, and ad asset triage—all with humans making the final changes. It warns about attribution quality, least-privilege access, and building guardrails now to prepare for potential future write access.

The article argues that SEO is entering a period of normalization, where durable fundamentals like intent, trust, and consistent local presence matter more than gimmicks. For contractors in HVAC, plumbing, and electrical, growth comes from intent-driven pages that convert callers, not from chasing high-volume keywords. It emphasizes grounded local visibility via a well-optimized Google Business Profile, steady reviews, authentic location/service pages, and solid site fundamentals. Finally, it insists on proving business value with call tracking, attribution hygiene, and unit economics tied to booked jobs and revenue, supported by a simple, sustainable playbook.

The article argues that AI search responses overwhelmingly cite brand-controlled sources—your website and local listings—rather than forums like Reddit. It reports that 86% of AI citations come from websites and listings, with some variance among models and industries. For HVAC, plumbing, and electrical contractors, the priority is to build clear service pages, optimize Google Business Profiles, and maintain consistent listings to earn AI citations and drive calls. It provides a practical playbook and a 30-day action plan emphasizing structured data, availability signals, GBP hygiene, and NAP consistency.

Apple’s rebrand to Apple Ads doesn’t change the core task: drive profitable acquisition, with App Store Search Results remaining the top-performing placement. Run Advanced (not Basic) with a four-lane structure—Brand, Category, Competitor, Discovery—enforced by negatives, and use Custom Product Pages to align creative to intent for measurable conversion lifts. Bid to a CPA target using observed CVR, adjust bids gradually, avoid early CPA caps, and focus targeting on keywords and geo rather than demographic filters that limit reach. Scale budgets incrementally, measure with an MMP and AdAttributionKit (consider VTA), and prioritize ROAS or LTV/CAC over vanity metrics like impression share.

The article argues that AI visibility—being cited by AI engines like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, and Gemini—matters more than traditional keyword rankings. For home service contractors (HVAC, plumbing, electrical), it recommends authoritative content, proof of real-world expertise, clean structure, comprehensive schema, strong UX, and locally cited brand mentions. It emphasizes making content easily accessible to LLMs and aligning pages with real homeowner questions. Finally, it outlines a simple weekly measurement routine: test key queries across AI engines, log citations, validate technical factors, and correlate visibility with business metrics.

Google has expanded its AI-powered Virtual Try-On to include shoes and rolled it out to Australia, Canada, and Japan, allowing users to upload full-length photos so the AI can render apparel and footwear on their bodies. While this is a retail feature, it signals Google’s broader push toward immersive, visual-first shopping experiences. For home-service advertisers, creative quality and rich visual assets increasingly influence delivery, engagement, and costs across Search, Performance Max, YouTube, Demand Gen, Local Services Ads, and Google Business Profile. Contractors should upgrade photos and video, leverage visual ad formats, and rigorously track calls and booked jobs to ensure performance translates into revenue.

Google introduced a new Campaign Type attribute within the Channel Performance report, added ROAS and CPA metrics, and enabled network-level splits for PMax at the Asset Group level. While the view remains PMax-only for now, the inclusion of Campaign Type signals expansion to additional campaign types, likely starting with Demand Gen, and programmatic (API) access is expected. These changes move reporting toward a unified, cross-network view that may replace parts of the older Network report. For contractors, the upgrades improve accountability and control by revealing which networks actually drive qualified calls, separating brand from non-brand, and curbing waste on low-intent video/display.

Sam Altman, long skeptical of advertising, is now open to ads if they genuinely help users and maintain a good experience. With OpenAI targeting $1B in revenue from free users by 2026 and an 800M-user footprint, ChatGPT could become a high-intent paid media channel, potentially using affiliate-style or outcome-based models. For contractors in HVAC, plumbing, and electrical, conversational, context-aware recommendations could drive booked calls if operations, tracking, and offers are prepared. Operators should optimize for qualified calls and scheduled jobs while guarding against lead-quality drift, attribution gaps, hallucinations, and fast-changing policies.

AI agents are evolving from recommending options to executing tasks like selecting contractors and booking services, which means contractor websites must be agent-readable and optimized for fast conversion. The article stresses surfacing clear, structured information up front—services, service areas, hours, pricing, booking links, licensing, reviews, and trust signals—using clean HTML and schema. It recommends crawlable site architecture with one page per service, logical internal linking, consistent NAP in the footer, and no critical content hidden behind JS. Content should answer buying questions in seconds and include schema types such as LocalBusiness with niche types, Service, FAQPage, Review/AggregateRating, and openingHoursSpecification to support agent-driven discovery and actions.

This article argues that AI already powers most PPC optimization (e.g., Google Performance Max, Meta Advantage+), so contractors should steer it with better inputs, strict constraints, and business-level success metrics. It recommends importing offline conversions and revenue signals, enforcing geo/service and schedule constraints, and using negative lists to protect budgets and lead quality. The author stresses human QA for AI-generated assets, search terms, placements, and lead quality, alongside iterative prompting with tight formats and compliance rules. AI is positioned as a tool for speed in copy, analysis, and research, while cautioning to preserve privacy and avoid exposing sensitive CRM data.