Google Ads Management

Google Ads Management Built Around profit, not clicks.

Google Ads is the fastest way to put your business in front of people already searching for what you sell. It is also the fastest way to waste a budget. We manage accounts the way an owner would: tight tracking, disciplined structure and every decision tied back to cost per acquisition and return on ad spend.

Rated 5.0 by clientsGoogle Partner practices
Performance marketing dashboard showing paid search campaign results
Average return on ad spend
4.1×
Average return on ad spend
Typical cost per lead reduction
-37%
Typical cost per lead reduction
Ad spend managed
$4M+
Ad spend managed
To first structural rebuild
14 days
To first structural rebuild

Why businesses choose Thrive for google ads management

Intent-first targeting

We bid on the searches that indicate a buying decision, and aggressively exclude the ones that do not.

Tracking you can trust

Server-side conversion tracking and offline conversion imports so the algorithm optimises for real revenue.

Budget discipline

Spend is allocated to campaigns that clear your target return, and pulled from the ones that do not.

Fast structural fixes

Most accounts we inherit have wasted spend we can cut in the first fortnight.

Full channel coverage

Search, Performance Max, Shopping, Demand Gen, YouTube and remarketing under one strategy.

Senior operators

Your account is managed by a strategist, not handed to a junior with a checklist.

Why most Google Ads accounts underperform

When we audit a new account, the same five problems appear again and again. Conversion tracking counts the wrong actions, so the algorithm optimises towards noise. Campaign structure mixes unrelated intent into a single budget, so the machine cannot learn. Negative keyword lists are thin, so a meaningful share of spend goes to searches that will never convert. Performance Max runs unconstrained with no brand exclusions or asset group discipline. And landing pages are generic homepages rather than pages built to answer the search.

None of these are exotic problems. They persist because accounts get set up once and then only touched for budget changes. Our management model treats the account as a system that needs auditing, restructuring and continuous testing, and we start by fixing the measurement layer, because every other decision depends on it.

  • Full account and conversion tracking audit
  • Campaign restructure around intent and margin
  • Search terms mining and negative keyword architecture
  • Performance Max asset groups, audience signals and brand exclusions
  • Shopping feed optimisation for Shopify and WooCommerce catalogues
  • Ad copy and asset testing programmes
  • Landing page and conversion rate improvements
  • Bid strategy, budget pacing and geographic performance management

Measurement comes first

Smart bidding is only as good as the signal you feed it. If a form view, a phone click and a qualified sales-ready enquiry all count as one conversion worth the same amount, Google will happily buy you the cheapest of the three.

We rebuild the measurement layer before we touch bids. That means auditing GA4 and Google Ads conversion actions, deduplicating overlapping events, implementing server-side tracking where the browser is unreliable, assigning realistic values to each conversion type, and, for lead generation businesses, importing qualified and closed-won outcomes from your CRM so the algorithm learns what a good lead looks like.

The effect is immediate and compounding. Once the account optimises towards revenue instead of raw conversions, the same budget produces a different quality of customer.

Campaign structure and bidding strategy

We structure accounts around intent and margin. High-intent commercial searches get their own campaigns and budgets so they are never starved by broader research terms. Brand traffic is separated and measured honestly. Products or services with different margins are not forced to share a return target.

Match types are used deliberately. Broad match can be powerful when paired with strong conversion signals and a disciplined negative list, and destructive without them. We test rather than dogmatise, and every search terms report feeds back into the structure.

Bid strategies are chosen for the data volume available. Accounts with low conversion counts need different handling from accounts running hundreds of conversions a week, and moving too quickly to a fully automated strategy is one of the most common ways to stall an account.

Performance Max, Shopping and YouTube

Performance Max can be the strongest campaign type in an eCommerce account or a black box that quietly harvests your brand traffic and reports it as new demand. The difference is control: brand exclusions, well-segmented asset groups, deliberate audience signals, feed-only tests where appropriate, and constant review of the placement and search category reports.

For retailers, the product feed is the campaign. Titles, product types, GTINs, images, availability and custom labels determine which searches you show for and how profitably. We optimise feeds directly for Shopify and WooCommerce stores and use custom labels to bid by margin, season and inventory depth.

YouTube and Demand Gen extend reach once search demand is captured, and they work best when the creative is built for the platform rather than repurposed from a display banner.

Landing pages and conversion rate

Doubling your landing page conversion rate has the same effect on cost per acquisition as halving your click cost, and it is usually easier. Yet most accounts send every campaign to the same homepage.

We build and test campaign-specific landing pages that match the search, load fast on mobile, lead with the outcome the visitor wants, and remove every distraction between arriving and enquiring. Forms are shortened, phone numbers are click-to-call and tracked, and social proof sits where the decision is actually made.

Our step by step process

  1. 01

    Account audit

    A forensic review of structure, tracking, search terms, creative and wasted spend, delivered as a prioritised plan.

  2. 02

    Tracking rebuild

    Conversion actions, values, server-side events and CRM imports configured before spend decisions are made.

  3. 03

    Restructure

    Campaigns rebuilt around intent and margin with clean negatives and disciplined budgets.

  4. 04

    Launch and learn

    Controlled rollout with daily monitoring through the learning period.

  5. 05

    Test and scale

    Continuous ad, audience, landing page and bid testing, scaling only what clears your target return.

  6. 06

    Report and plan

    Monthly reporting on spend, cost per acquisition, return on ad spend and the next sprint of tests.

Industries we serve

We work with local businesses, startups, SaaS companies, professional services, eCommerce and enterprise teams. The strategy changes by industry, the standard does not.

Local service businessesProfessional serviceseCommerce and DTCShopify and WooCommerce storesSaaS and technologyHealthcare and clinicsHome improvement and tradesLegal and financial servicesB2B and industrialFranchise networksEducationTravel and hospitality

How Google Ads management is priced

Management fees scale with the complexity of the account and the amount of spend under management, not with a rigid package. A single-location service business running one search campaign needs a different level of attention from a retailer running Performance Max across thousands of SKUs in multiple markets.

We quote a flat monthly management fee after the audit, so you know exactly what you are paying before anything begins. Ad spend is always paid directly to Google by you, on your own account, which you own permanently.

Launch

New advertisers and local businesses

Account build, tracking setup, search campaigns and monthly optimisation.

Scale

Established accounts with proven demand

Full channel mix, testing programme, feed management and landing page work.

Performance

High spend and multi-market accounts

Advanced measurement, margin-based bidding, incrementality testing and dedicated strategy.

Warehouse and fulfilment operation for an eCommerce retailer
Case study

DTC equipment retailer

eCommerce, Shopify Plus

Challenge

A single unconstrained Performance Max campaign absorbed 80 percent of the budget while quietly reporting branded conversions as new demand. Reported return on ad spend looked healthy; actual revenue was flat year on year.

Solution

We separated brand, rebuilt the feed with margin-based custom labels, split asset groups by category, restored search coverage for high-intent non-brand terms and moved to value-based bidding using profit rather than revenue.

Non-brand ROAS
4.6×
Non-brand ROAS
New customer revenue
+58%
New customer revenue
Cost per acquisition
-29%
Cost per acquisition
Contribution margin
+31%
Contribution margin
The first audit found more wasted spend in an hour than our previous agency found in a year. Two months later our cost per lead had almost halved.
Michael T. · Owner, Home Improvement
They rebuilt our tracking before touching the budget. It was the first time anyone had explained what the numbers actually meant.
Priya N. · Head of Growth, DTC

Frequently asked questions

Something not covered here? Ask us directly on a free strategy call.

What is the minimum ad spend you work with?+

We work best with accounts spending enough to generate statistically useful data, generally from around a thousand dollars a month upward. Below that we usually recommend starting with a tightly focused campaign and strong tracking rather than broad coverage.

Do I own my Google Ads account?+

Always. We work inside your account, you pay Google directly, and everything we build stays with you if the engagement ends.

How quickly will I see results?+

Structural fixes and wasted spend reduction usually show within the first two to four weeks. Bidding strategies need a learning period, so a fair assessment of a rebuild takes 60 to 90 days.

Do you handle Performance Max and Shopping?+

Yes. We manage search, Performance Max, Shopping, Demand Gen, YouTube and remarketing, including full product feed optimisation for Shopify and WooCommerce.

Can you work alongside our in-house team?+

Frequently. We can own the account end to end, or provide strategy, audits and testing direction while your team executes.

What happens in the free strategy call?+

We review your current account or plan, identify the largest immediate opportunities, and tell you honestly whether paid search is the right channel for your business right now.