Esther works as part of our Paid Social team, driving results and strategy for clients across their Paid Social channels.
Get to know Esther here…
Name: Esther Jackson
Role: Paid Social Analyst
What first made you want to pursue a career in Paid Social?
I fell into managing the organic social media for a retail company and then taught myself the Paid Social side – very much enjoyed both.
What’s your favourite thing about working at Circus (so far)?
How friendly everyone is and the general vibe in the office.
Who is your dream client?
Charlotte Tilbury.
If you could solve one Paid Social issue forever, what would it be?
The usability of the Meta platform.
What’s your dream holiday destination?
Sri Lanka.
What would your desert island meal be?
Rudy’s pizza.
Tell us something about you that might surprise people.
I was part of a Bollywood Commercial in India.
If you could guest star on a TV show, which one would it be and why?
The Traitors – I think I would make a good traitor.
PPC 2026: The Expert Predictions
The role of PPC has changed dramatically over the past few years – and 2025 accelerated that shift faster than most businesses expected.
Automation, AI-driven campaign types, and reduced data visibility have transformed how PPC is planned, managed, and measured. As a PPC agency working across multiple industries and platforms, we’ve seen first-hand which advertisers adapted – and which struggled to keep up.
Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond, successful PPC won’t be about chasing every new feature (though understanding new features will be paramount). It will be about strategy, creativity, and understanding how PPC fits into wider business growth.
In this post, our PPC agency experts share their predictions for what will matter most in 2026.
2026 PPC Predictions from Our PPC Agency Experts
To understand where PPC is heading next, we asked our PPC agency specialists one question: what do you think is going to change within the PPC landscape in 2026?
Inny Vaiciute, Senior PPC Manager:
“Google Ads will improve reporting and performance visibility for Demand Generation campaigns which will help us understand how to best use Demand Gen to support overall marketing activity.”
What this means for brands: Clearer reporting will help brands use Demand Gen more intentionally to support awareness, consideration and performance goals. It should also make it easier to optimise creative and budgets based on real impact rather than assumptions.
“Next year, Google is likely to push its integrate AI or ‘Ads Advisor’ in Google Ads, particularly for creative development – making asset generation and optimisation a bigger part of PPC strategy in 2026.”
What this means for brands: This could help brands improve creative consistency and performance without significantly increasing production costs. It also places more importance on strong brand inputs and messaging frameworks to guide AI outputs effectively.
Ahmed Chopdat, Chief Strategy Officer:
“First party data is going to be gold dust. With it comes clearer insights that will allow advertisers to make much better decisions around account optimisation.”
What this means for brands: Access to high-quality first-party data will allow brands to optimise accounts with greater confidence and precision. It also increases the value of investing in data infrastructure beyond paid media alone.
“In 2026, winning PPC will start earlier than the search. Upper funnel and demand gen investment will drive cheaper CPCs, warmer audiences, and more efficient performance than ‘traditional’ search alone.”
What this means for brands: Building demand earlier should make search activity more efficient by lowering CPCs and improving conversion rates. It also encourages brands to think beyond search as a standalone growth lever.
Chloe Tetmajeris, Senior PPC Manager:
“Phrase Match is finally going to be sunset by Google, and we’re just going to have access to Broad Match and Exact Match.”
What this means for brands: Simplifying match types could streamline account management and testing. However, brands will need to be comfortable trusting automation while tightening safeguards elsewhere.
“Google will continue its expansion of ad placements across more than traditional search ads.”
What this means for brands: Broader placement expansion could support discovery and consideration alongside traditional search. Brands that adapt creative and measurement accordingly are likely to benefit most.
“Advertisers will see a bigger spike in cross-network conversions from video ads, especially if Google continue to push the likes of video shopping in YouTube Shorts.”
What this means for brands: Video ads could play a bigger role in driving downstream conversions across Google’s network. This gives brands more reason to invest in video earlier in the funnel to support performance.
“Old school PPC strategies will be left in the dust when ads come to the AI overview.”
What this means for brands: This shift could favour brands that already think beyond search as a conversion-only channel. It also creates new opportunities for those willing to experiment early.
Paid Search In 2026: The Key Takeaways
We don’t want to state the obvious, but AI is going to continue to be a BIG player during 2026 and beyond.
Not only are brands seeing the effects of AI-driven changes to the search engine results page, but also how Google is pushing the AI agenda with campaign types, agentic features, and more.
The buyer journey will only become more complex, meaning that it’s more important than ever for brands to focus not only on driving conversions, but reaching those earlier on in the journey with focused upper funnel activity and brand awareness campaigns.
Data is, of course, another huge topic that will continue to be at the forefront of strategy moving forward. First-party data will become hugely important for brands and advertisers, not just for targeting, but for giving platforms better signals to optimise against as automation continues to increase.
As Google takes on more of the decision-making within accounts, the role of PPC will shift away from manual levers and toward strategic input – from defining the right audiences and conversion signals to feeding platforms with strong creative and brand messaging.
Winning in 2026 won’t be about finding loopholes or clinging to legacy tactics, but about understanding how paid search fits into a wider marketing ecosystem and using it intentionally to support long-term growth, not just short-term results.
Ready to future-proof your PPC strategy for 2026 and beyond?
Circus PPC Expands Service Offering With Paid Social Department
Circus PPC is excited to announce the expansion of its service offering with the launch of a dedicated Paid Social department, marking an important milestone in the agency’s continued growth as a performance-driven marketing agency.
As client needs evolve and the digital landscape becomes increasingly multi-channel, Circus PPC is investing further in specialist talent to ensure clients can reach and engage audiences across every relevant touchpoint through strategic campaigns. The new department strengthens the agency’s ability to deliver joined-up strategies that combine performance, creativity and insight across platforms.
Welcoming New Talent
To lead this expansion, Circus PPC has welcomed Caitlin Dillon as Senior Paid Social Manager and Esther Jackson as Paid Social Analyst, both of whom joined the agency at the beginning of 2026.
Caitlin joins Circus PPC from fellow Leeds agency Journey Further, where she built extensive experience managing and scaling campaigns for ambitious brands across multiple platforms. In her new role, Caitlin will head up the new department, working closely with clients and internal teams to develop high-performing strategies across platforms.
Esther brings a strong mix of in-house and agency experience, giving her a well-rounded understanding of how paid social supports wider business objectives. As Paid Social Analyst, Esther will play a key role in campaign execution, testing and performance analysis, ensuring insights are translated into continual optimisation and growth.
Strengthening a Multi-Channel Paid Social Approach
The launch of the department reflects Circus PPC’s commitment to delivering integrated, multi-channel strategies that support long-term performance growth. By aligning paid social with the agency’s established PPC expertise, clients can benefit from a more holistic approach to performance marketing – one that considers the full customer journey rather than isolated channels.
The expansion has been led by Chief Strategy Officer Ahmed Chopdat, who has overseen the agency’s growth as part of its long-term strategic vision.
“Bringing Caitlin and Esther on board marks an exciting chapter in our growth. By uniting their specialised skills with our established PPC team, we are strengthening our commitment to delivering the comprehensive, multi-channel strategies that allow our clients to reach their most ambitious marketing objectives. Very exciting times ahead!”
Paid Social Services: Looking Ahead
With the addition of paid social services, Circus PPC is even better positioned to support brands looking to scale through data-driven, audience-first marketing strategies. The new department enables closer collaboration between search and social, unlocking greater efficiencies, clearer insights and stronger overall performance.
As the team continues to grow, Circus PPC remains focused on what it does best: combining specialist expertise with a transparent, results-led approach to help clients achieve meaningful, sustainable growth.
If you’d like to learn more about Circus PPC or discuss how PPC and paid social could work for your business, get in touch with the team today.
Black Friday 2025: The Ultimate PPC Strategy and Checklist For Success
Black Friday 2025 is just around the corner – and with it, one of the biggest opportunities of the year for businesses to boost sales, attract new customers, and dominate their markets.
Whether you’re running an eCommerce brand, managing client campaigns, or planning your biggest sale of the year, now’s the time to build a powerful Black Friday PPC strategy that ensures you’re ready when the rush begins.
To help, we’ve created the ultimate Black Friday checklist – full of proven Black Friday PPC ideas, expert insights, and actionable steps to help you prepare, perform, and profit.
Download the checklist here, or read on for more useful tips and insights.
Your Black Friday 2025 Steps To Success
Plan Ahead For Black Friday
A winning Black Friday 2025 strategy starts long before the event itself. Early preparation is often what separates successful campaigns from the rest.
- Review last year’s data to understand what drove performance.
- Audit your website to ensure it’s fast, secure, and mobile-friendly.
- Prepare your ads, product feeds, and content well ahead of time.
Planning early gives you the flexibility to test, optimise, and launch with confidence when Black Friday 2025 arrives.
Craft Compelling Black Friday Campaigns
When it comes to Black Friday strategy, creativity and clarity are key. Your audience will be flooded with offers – so your message needs to stand out and inspire action.
- Write powerful, benefit-led copy that highlights your best offers.
- Use countdown timers, limited-time messaging, or exclusive deals to drive urgency.
- Keep branding consistent across all platforms, from ads to landing pages.
- Tease offers early to build anticipation, then maximise conversions on the day.
The best Black Friday strategies are those that blend creativity with strategy – connecting emotion and value for your customers.
Optimise Your PPC Performance
When Black Friday is in full swing, both speed and strategy matter. Keep your campaigns agile, and make decisions based on live data.
- Monitor performance and adjust bids or budgets in real time.
- Track which products and audiences are converting best.
- Ensure your analytics and tracking are up-to-date for accurate results.
- Review website performance and fix any slow-loading pages immediately.
A well-optimised Black Friday strategy means staying alert, flexible, and data-driven throughout the event.
Review, Learn and Keep the Momentum Going
The days following Black Friday are just as important as the sale itself. Analysing your performance helps you refine and improve for future events.
- Review campaign data to see what worked best.
- Continue remarketing to users who engaged but didn’t convert.
- Capture insights to shape your 2026 Black Friday PPC strategy.
A great campaign doesn’t end on Black Friday – it evolves from it.
Get Your Free Black Friday 2025 Checklist
Ready to make Black Friday 2025 your most successful sales event yet?
Download our complete Black Friday 2025 Marketing Checklist – designed to help you stay organised, optimise performance, and outperform the competition this peak season.
👉 Download the Black Friday 2025 Checklist and start building your most effective campaign yet.
Image Attribution: Black friday sale icons created by inkubators – Flaticon
How to Outsmart PPC Competition This Q4 (Without Blowing Your Budget)
Q4 is the quarter we all anticipate (and sometimes dread). With Black Friday and Christmas on the horizon, it’s no surprise PPC advertisers feel the heat – serving much bigger in-market audiences while bracing for fierce bidding wars and PPC competition.
Retail giants like Amazon and eBay dominate impression share with massive budgets, while smaller competitors deploy sneaky tactics like brand-term bidding to knock others off balance.
PPC is, at its core, a game of strategy – only you’re playing with real money that needs to deliver a return.
The Stakes: Why PPC Competition in Q4 Is Different
During Q4, search volumes don’t just rise – they surge. High-intent shoppers flood the SERPs, and with them comes intensified PPC competition. Additionally, higher CPCs mean mistakes are more expensive than ever.
Consumer expectations are sky-high: fast shipping, tempting discounts, and seamless mobile experiences. Even loyal customers are willing to shop around when every brand is shouting for attention. To win, advertisers must plan ahead, anticipate these shifts, and ensure every pound works harder.
3 Tips To Beat Your Competitors
We all know there is no one-size-fits-all strategy that drives ‘good’ PPC performance. The same goes for fighting PPC competition – success is dependent on a number of factors including industry, budget, and seasonality.
However, there are some things that shouldn’t be avoided when it comes to optimising your PPC ads against competitor activity.
1. Highlight Your USP
Even in crowded markets during a saturated time period, your USP can cut through. Tailor your messaging, and creatives to address customer pain points, and test ad variations early to get ahead of rising CPCs.
2. Defend Brand Terms
Competitors bidding on your branded keywords can drain traffic. Bid defensively, use compelling ad extensions, and monitor Auction Insights to respond swiftly.
Tools like Adthena’s Brand Activator can also help to strategically defend your brand without wasting spend where it’s not required – our fashion client saved a total £425k of budget across brand campaigns, with the Brand Activator recognising when competitors are bidding on brand terms, and pushing organic listings to save budget when competitor ads don’t appear. These savings were reinvested into Bing and drove an average 87X ROI during the summer months.
3. Analyse Competitor Campaigns
Use tools like SEMrush or SpyFu for competitor keyword research, set up Auction Insights alerts, and consider conquesting campaigns strategically. Staying informed lets you adapt faster and avoid costly missteps, whilst also remaining a step ahead by keeping your eyes peeled for competitor behaviours.
How To Get Started
Beating PPC competition isn’t about the biggest budget – it’s about the smartest strategy. Sharpen your USP, protect your brand, and study your rivals to thrive in Q4’s chaos.
We have plenty of tips, tricks and insights to help you to refine your strategy and make important changes in time for Q4. Check out our Black Friday Guide or Black Friday Checklist, or if you’re a homeware brand, download our Homeware PPC Tips Checklist to get ahead of the PPC competition and drive measurable growth.
Or chat to our team about how we can help you have the best and most profitable Q4 ever! Drop us line here.
Homeware PPC Tips: Tackle Ecommerce Challenges With Smarter PPC
This guide shares essential homeware PPC tips designed to help you overcome the biggest ecommerce challenges – from reducing wasted ad spend to aligning inventory and marketing.
The homeware sector is under pressure. From rising advertising costs to supply chain disruption and fierce competition, brands face more obstacles than ever in scaling profitably. For marketing professionals, the challenge is clear: how do you improve performance when so many challenges stand in the way?
PPC Tips for Homeware Brands
Before we dive into some of the biggest ecommerce challenges that homeware brands are facing right now, let’s talk about the positive – every online homeware retailer is in the same boat.
Rising ad costs, supply chain disruption, competition, and AI are just some of the struggles that stand between homeware brands and ecommerce success, but it’s those that adapt sooner, makes changes quicker, and work smarter, that are going to reap the benefits when others continue to fall behind.
Our smarter homeware PPC tips will help you to get rid of waste, optimise your strategy, and ultimately, improve efficiency and increase the ROI of your paid advertising efforts.
The 7 Key (Current) Homeware Challenges – and the Tips to Beat Them!
1. Rising Ad Costs
After comparing the CPCs of some of our homeware clients YOY, we saw a total 22% increase in CPCs – and they are only going up. Rising costs are especially painful for homeware brands, who often carry products with mixed margins and face longer buyer consideration cycles for big-ticket purchases.
Tip: Focus on smarter audience targeting, improve CTR and Quality Score with creative testing, and diversify spend away from Google Ads alone.
2. Supply Chain Disruptions
One of the toughest e-commerce challenges is ensuring ads reflect real-time stock levels. Running campaigns for unavailable products wastes budget, frustrates customers, and potentially sends them to competitors who do have the desired product in stock.
Tip: Use inventory feed automation to pause ads when stock runs out and test local inventory ads to highlight products available in-store.
3. Returns & Fraud
High return rates and fraudulent activity eat into profits – especially for bulky furniture that is expensive to ship, store, and handle.
Tip: Adopt value-based bidding to focus on customers with higher lifetime value, filter risky traffic, and ensure your ad copy sets clear expectations to reduce mismatched orders.
4. Inventory Management
Homeware brands often juggle overstock, seasonal peaks, and unpredictable demand. A lack of collaboration between inventory and marketing means campaigns can actually work against profitability – if the wrong products are being promoted.
Tip: Run dynamic campaigns linked to stock feeds so budget automatically flows to in-stock, high-margin products.
5. Tech & AI
Disconnected systems create data blind spots. Meanwhile, AI bidding strategies can seem daunting to implement, but the brands that lag behind risk missing out on insights that competitors are already leveraging to win customers.
Tip: Invest in feed automation tools and integrate CRM data for personalised targeting. Combine AI bidding with human oversight for the best results.
6. Labour & Talent
Logistics bottlenecks and talent shortages make it hard for in-house teams to manage both operations and advanced PPC campaigns.
Tip: Hire skilled logistics staff to strengthen fulfilment and partner with a PPC agency for homeware brands (like Circus PPC!) to ensure your campaigns are proactive and efficient.
7. Competition
From global retailers to niche DTC disruptors, competition in homeware ecommerce is intense. Some have larger budgets that make visibility more expensive, so using smarter PPC to your advantage is essential.
Tip: Defend your branded search terms, highlight your unique selling points in ad creative, and consider carefully targeted competitor campaigns.
Final Takeaway: Turning Pressure into Performance
These homeware PPC tips are designed to help brands face rising costs, inventory issues, and fierce competition head-on. PPC, when managed smartly, doesn’t just generate clicks – it increases efficiency and fuels growth.
💡 Bonus: Download our Printable PPC Checklist for Homeware Brands to put these tips into practice today.
Get Your Homeware PPC Tips Checklist 👇
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Common PPC Questions (That You Might Be Asking Too)
🤔 “What is PPC?”
PPC stands for ‘pay-per-click’ and is a type of online advertising where advertisers pay a fee to the associated advertising platform when their ad is clicked. It’s often used by advertisers and businesses to drive traffic and reach specific audiences by bidding on keywords that are relevant to the product they are advertising. When someone searches for one of these keywords, and clicks the ad, the advertiser pays for the click.
❓ “Who is the best PPC agency”
The best PPC agency partner for you and your business is completely dependent on your goals and needs. Some agencies (like Circus PPC!) focus solely on PPC and have the experience and expertise to effectively manage and improve PPC performance. Full-service agencies offer PPC management alongside other marketing channels.
🫰 “How much does a PPC agency charge?”
Different PPC agencies charge different management fees – and some of the things this can depend on are location, ad spend, and service offering. Some of the most common pricing models include percentage of ad spend, hourly rate, and fixed retainers.
Feeling the Pinch? How Ecommerce Brands Can Tackle Rising Advertising Costs
If you’re running an ecommerce brand right now, chances are you’re feeling the pressure from rising advertising costs.
Maybe your ad spend is creeping up, but your results aren’t.
Maybe the cost to get new customers is higher than it used to be.
Maybe your return on investment (ROI) just doesn’t stack up like it did last year.
You’re not imagining it – online advertising is getting more expensive. But the good news? There is something you can do. There are smart, strategic ways to turn things around and make PPC work harder.
What’s Causing Rising Advertising Costs?
Before you can fix the problem, it helps to understand what’s going on.
Here’s why so many ecommerce brands are facing challenges right now:
- More competition online: As more businesses invest in ecommerce, digital ad space has become crowded. This drives up costs for everyone.
- Consumers are more cautious: Tighter budgets mean people are taking longer to make purchasing decisions – and are harder to convert.
- Marketing platforms are changing: Google and others are using more automation, giving you less control over how your budget is spent.
- It’s harder to track what’s working: With new privacy rules and tech changes, measuring results is tougher than ever.
Put simply, it’s costing more to do what used to work – and it’s harder to know which parts of your strategy are paying off.
Cutting Spend Isn’t the Only Answer
Rising advertising costs are a challenge for many online advertisers, and it’s natural to want to cut back spend. But pulling your ad budget without a plan can mean losing visibility, sales, and momentum.
Instead, the key is to spend more wisely – focus on what works, get rid of what doesn’t, and find ways to make your budget stretch further.
Here’s how forward-thinking ecommerce brands are doing just that, and staying on top.
1. Focus on Best-Selling Products
Not every product needs the spotlight. Some sell better, earn more profit, and attract more interest than others.
Start by identifying your best-sellers, best performing campaigns, and highest-margin products. Then, focus your advertising around those – it’s a smarter way to use your budget and put your account in the best possible position to drive performance and results.
Think of it like this: would you rather spend £1,000 promoting five top sellers, or spreading that budget across 50 products with mixed results?
2. Don’t Let Platforms Make All the Decisions
Tools like Google’s Performance Max and Smart Bidding promise to do the hard work for you. But here’s the thing:
- They don’t know your business like you do.
- They don’t know which products are most important to your brand.
- And sometimes, they spend your budget where it doesn’t really help.
It’s OK to use automation – but it works best when paired with a clear strategy and regular check-ins.
3. Make Your Website Work Harder
If you’re spending money to get people to your website, make sure it’s set up to convert those visitors into customers.
Here’s what top-performing ecommerce sites are getting right:
- Clear, fast, mobile-friendly design
- Strong product descriptions and photos
- Trust-building elements like reviews and delivery info
- Easy-to-use filters and search for large product ranges
Even a small improvement in your website’s conversion rate can have a big impact, and more sales from the same traffic means a better return on investment.
4. Know Where Your Budget Is Really Going
When you’re busy running a business, it’s easy to ‘set and forget’ your ads. But without regular check-ins, you could be wasting money on:
- Ads targeting the wrong audience
- Products that never convert
- Traffic that doesn’t turn into sales
That’s why PPC audits are so valuable – they helps you to spot what’s working, what’s not, and what to do next.
The Bottom Line: Growth Is Still Possible
Yes, ecommerce is more competitive. Yes, rising advertising costs are a challenge. But that doesn’t mean growth is out of reach.
The brands that are succeeding right now aren’t always spending more – they’re spending smarter:
- Prioritising what works (and what sells)
- Simplifying their strategy and using automation where needed
- Improving the customer journey
- Keeping a close eye on performance
Not Sure Where to Start?
If rising ad costs are eating into your profits, it might be time for a fresh perspective.
We’re here to help you drive growth, remove budget waste, and run PPC campaigns that convert!
Common Questions About Rising Advertising Costs (That You Might Be Asking Too)
⬇️ “How do I reduce ecommerce advertising costs?”
Start by focusing on your best-performing products and campaigns, monitoring where spend is being allocated, and improving your website’s ability to convert.
🤔 “Why is my ROAS dropping?”
It could be a combination of higher ad costs, lower conversion rates, or campaigns that aren’t well-optimised. An audit can help pinpoint the issue.
👀 “Does Performance Max actually work?”
Yes – but it’s not a magic solution on its own, and it’s not one-size-fits-all. Success will depend on a number of factors such as business goals, industry, and campaign setup.
Google Marketing Live 2025: The Updates
We’re back! Last year, you loved our round-up of Google Marketing Live 2024… so we’re back again for Google Marketing Live 2025. And let’s just say, the focus is still very much on, you guessed it – AI.
Earlier today, and marking it’s 12th year, our Google friends from across the pond brought us the updates we’ve all been anticipating – from AI Max for Search and Smart Bidding Exploration, to more Generative AI and Demand Gen.
The event homed in on how Google products and services are leveraging AI and new technology to create a hyper-personalised search experience, and how advertisers can use this to their advantage, reaching new audiences that are making quicker purchasing decisions.
What is Google Marketing Live?
Google Marketing Live, or GML, is an annual event hosted by Google for advertisers and marketers worldwide. During the event, the company’s latest innovations in digital are shared and promoted, with discussions around popular platforms such as Search, YouTube and the Google Display Network (GDN). The event is highly anticipated and treated as a source of what’s to come from Google over the next year.
For agencies, brands, and freelancers alike, the event isn’t one to be missed – with the updates shared highlighting future online consumer behaviours and providing insight to help advertisers adapt to these changing behaviours.
Google Marketing Live 2025: Our Key Takeaways
Throughout this year’s event, there remained a strong focus on AI, but to the surprise of many, there was an equally as present focus on providing more transparency and control to advertisers.
AI Max for Search
Let’s start with the star of the show, shall we?
AI Max for Search is really tapping into the predictive power of AI and search algorithms, taking the study of online consumer behaviour to an entirely new level that provides users with an experience unique to them.
The new feature promises advertisers that they can reach new audiences and drive conversions from users they might never have reached before through search term matching and keywordless campaigns, learning from landing pages, ads and keyword lists to infer what you sell and when it’s relevant to show your ads.
There’s so much more to AI Max that we’re excited to delve deeper into, but right now, another huge selling point is that it’s a ‘one-click’ enhancement in existing campaigns.
That’s right – no new campaign creation. AI Max for Search can be implemented immediately.
AI Mode
We knew it was coming after its announcement at Google I/O.
AI Mode is transforming search, and making it super-personalised to each and every individual, so that no two people see the same SERP. It was made clear that this new development will absolutely change the way ads worked as part of the SERP, but reassured, this is for the better.
Google has been no stranger to criticism over the preferential treatment of newer SERP features (AI overview, PAA, featured snippets etc.), so it was great to hear that ads would begin showing up in AI overviews.
In the post-show Q+A, questions around how AI Mode works with paid ads were raised. Global Product Lead, Cecilia Wong, said:
“Users are able to explore more complex topics or questions, and our AI isn’t only able to understand the ‘what,’ but the ‘why’ behind every single search they’re making. By understanding both the user’s query as well as the content of the AI response, we’re able to generate the most relevant ad alongside that experience, and make sure that ad might be the best next step for a user’s journey.”
Smart Bidding Exploration
Last year, we complained about the lack of insight around Lead Gen.
This year, the focus remained in favour of Retail and eCommerce, but the announcement of Smart Bidding Exploration opened a new chapter in AI for lead generation.
Built to work alongside other AI features such as AI Max for Search, Smart Bidding Exploration will allow advertisers to use flexible ROAS targets and leverage AI to bid on ‘less obvious, but potentially highly valuable queries more often.’
This means that advertisers can capture high-intent, quality leads that they otherwise may never have even come across. It was also Ginny Marvin’s second top feature announcement of the day… so that means it must be pretty cool!
Agentic Action
VP of Advertising & Commerce, Vidhya Srinivasan, spoke about Agentic Action and how, despite it being in its early days, can help customers take action and make decisions faster.
She demonstrated how this could work using a natural, long-tail keyword and showing how relevant ads appear. However, this comes with the ability to dive further into specific needs, with Agentic AI assisting in the buying journey – asking the right questions, tracking product prices changes, and even completing the purchase.
It felt like a chatbot, but much more advanced, and much more zoned in on the needs of the specific user – a built in Gemini (or ChatGPT 👀), if you like.
Channel Performance Reporting
Hurrah! We finally have a confirmed plan for additional visibility across Performance Max campaigns.
One of the biggest surprises during this year’s Google Marketing Live was the commitment from Google to give advertisers what they’ve been asking for – better reporting for PMax.
Back for Google Marketing Live 2025 was Global Product Manager, Sylvanus Bent, who explained the new and improved reporting capabilities:
“Last year alone, we made over 90 improvements in PMax that boosted conversions by more than 10% – and this was without you having to do anything at all. But you asked for more visibility, so we built it. We recently announced Channel Performance Reporting in PMax, and soon, you’ll be able to see exactly how Pmax is performing across formats and channels.”
Channel Performance Reporting entered Open Beta today, so it might still be a while until many advertisers see the benefits, but the announcement alone was enough cause for celebration.
Asset Studio
This was impressive.
Asset Studio is Google’s improved Generative AI experience, sitting within Google Ads to seamlessly integrate professional and relevant AI-generated assets into ad campaigns.
By uploading a product image, or pulling it directly from the Merchant Centre, advertisers can then tell AI how they want their images to look, and an entire bank of images are produced. For example, an image of a dress could be uploaded, and with a prompt such as:
‘woman wearing dress walking through european city and smiling’
The next thing you know, you have your images, and you’re ready to go.
Adding to the spectacle is the ability to turn images into video, have AI analyse new and relevant campaign trends to inspire asset creation, and image resizing for platform variation.
What’s Next?
Google Marketing Live 2025 ended, as usual, with some food for thought that reemphasised the importance of harnessing new technologies and products to stay ahead of the curve and tap into ever-changing user behaviour.
Like last year, amongst AI, there were discussions of leveraging YouTube and Demand Gen to serve the full funnel and appear at every stage of the customer journey, leading them from discovery to decision.
But there was nothing that could overshadow the biggest takeaway from the event, which was of course, AI Max for Search. No matter whether we like it or not, search is changing, and we have to change with it.
We’ll leave you with our favourite quote from the event (which Sylvanus’ ‘Let’s Rock N ROAS’ came a very close second to):
“You’re not competing against AI, you’re competing against those already using it.”
3 Common PPC Challenges and How To Overcome Them
PPC is a constantly evolving landscape that brands and advertisers need to keep up with in order to succeed, with many common PPC challenges that need to be overcome along the way.
In our latest blog, we discuss how you can overcome these challenges and learn how to drive better ROI with PPC!
Top 3 Common PPC Challenges
Rising Competition and Costs
With more businesses investing in PPC, competition for high-performing keywords has intensified, leading to higher CPC (cost-per-click). These CPCs can eat up budget, making it difficult to achieve a strong ROI. Read more about the importance of CPC and other metrics for budget efficiency here.
How To Overcome Rising PPC Competition and Costs:
Niche Targeting: reduce your CPC and reach high intent audiences by focusing on long-tail keywords that capture said intent, whilst reducing competition. Higher cost keywords can be a huge drain on your budget – especially if you aren’t seeing the conversions to stay efficient. For example: instead of bidding on ‘digital marketing agency,’ bid on ‘affordable digital marketing agency for startups.’
Retargeting Campaigns: retarget website visitors and past customers with personalised ads, increasing conversion rates without needing to constantly attract and rely on new traffic.
Geo-Targeting and Ad Scheduling: optimise bids for locations and times that drive the best conversions, preventing unnecessary ad spend in low-performing areas or during time periods that are ‘off-peak.’
Staying Ahead of Platform Changes
Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, and other platforms continuously update their algorithms, bidding models, and ad formats. If advertisers don’t adapt, they risk losing visibility, efficiency, and ultimately falling behind the competition.
How To Overcome PPC Platform Changes:
Follow Industry Trends: stay informed by following trusted PPC blogs and sources such as like Search Engine Land, PPC Hero, Google Ads Blog, and Circus PPC (😉) for algorithm updates, new ad formats, and the all of the information you need to remain ahead of the game.
Utilise AI-Powered Bidding: Google’s Smart Bidding and Microsoft’s Automated Bidding adjust bids in real time to maximise campaign performance while keeping costs under control and line with your daily budget.
Test and Adapt Quickly: never stop testing! By regularly A/B testing different strategies in your PPC account, you can identify and evaluate what works and what doesn’t work alongside the newest platform updates.
Managing Resource Constraints
Small businesses or marketing teams with limited budgets, expertise, and time often struggle to manage PPC campaigns efficiently. Without the right tools, campaign optimisation can become time-consuming and costly.
How To Overcome PPC Resource Constraints:
Prioritise What’s Working: if resources are limited, focus on getting the most from your budget and driving any spend towards best-performing areas and strategies.
Leverage Automation: some campaign types such as Performance Max are AI-driven, and can automate bid adjustments, audience targeting, and reporting. Third-party platforms that help flag account issues, write ad copy, and help with organisation are also extremely useful for those with limited resource.
Work With Specialists: we might be biased, but the best possible solution for those with limited resource is to outsource your PPC management to specialists. There is a cost that comes with that management, but the knowledge and expertise that comes along with it can take your account to the next level, driving you closer towards your KPIs, achieving the best possible ROI and making sure that PPC is working for you!
Read about how we turn LESS BUDGET into MORE REVENUE for our client, Booths.
Final Thoughts: Turn PPC Challenges Into Opportunities
PPC often presents challenges. However, they can be overcome with strategic targeting, automation, and adapting to the fast-paced and ever-changing PPC industry. By doing so, you can maintain cost-effective campaigns that drive higher conversions, generate a stronger ROI, and ensure your budget is working in the most efficient way possible.
Ready to take your PPC strategy to the next level? 🚀
Register to download our free budget efficiency focussed whitepaper for expert insights and techniques to optimise your ad campaigns and make your PPC budget work harder for you!
Driving Budget Efficiency With PPC
Last year, global marketing spend saw a decline, with many businesses looking to cut budgets, and reducing marketing spend as a result. It’s true that marketing can be expensive, however by looking at your current PPC budget efficiency, it’s possible to save money without completely cutting out one of the most successful sales-generating channels.
PPC, unlike other marketing channels, is extremely tangible, with platforms able to report on exactly where budget is being spent effectively. Or more importantly, where budget is being spent ineffectively.
Through consistent analysis and optimisation, PPC can be an extremely cost-effective way to continue marketing your brand and see heightened return-on-investment.
Discover where your PPC budget efficiency could be improved with a free account audit.
The Cost-Saving Potential of PPC
The transparent nature of PPC means that we are given insights into what’s going well, and also what isn’t. These insights allow brands and advertisers to recognise where budget is being wasted, and where it can be better allocated to improve efficiency. In addition to these insights, there are a number of best practices and possibilities that allow for optimal PPC account health.
Precise Targeting
Effective targeting is crucial to ensure that every pound spent is directed towards reaching the most relevant and high-intent audiences, reducing wasted spend on uninterested users.
Using demographic and geographic targeting can filter audiences by location, age groups and user behaviours, whilst utilising keyword targeting allows you to use high-intent, long-tail keywords so that only those actively searching for your product or service see your ads.
Additionally, audiences segmentation allows retargeting to previous site visitors, and segmenting audiences based on behaviours such as cart abandonment can often lead to heightened CVR.
Budget Control
Being able to see where budget is being spent effectively, and where it’s being wasted, means that brands and advertisers can optimise accounts reactively, taking budget from where it might go to waste and reallocating it to high performing areas.
Additionally, daily and lifetime budget caps are in place to ensure that your ads spend only what you want them to, with the ability to change these caps when necessary.
Testing & Optimisation
Ever heard the phrase ‘try before you buy?’
PPC allows for testing, and whilst some additional budget is required to go towards trialling new strategies, it’s an effective way to explore previously untested strategies and activity that could work for your account.
Without testing, it’s hard to uncover the true potential of your marketing as there could always be something out there that works even better than what you’re already doing. And hey, if you find out something doesn’t work, it means that no additional budget needs to be put towards it!
Key Metrics for Budget Efficiency
Certain key metrics indicate how well PPC is performing, and the continuous measurement of said metrics provide insights to brands and advertisers around account changes that might need to be made to increase budget efficiency.
CPC
CPC (or cost-per-click), is the amount of budget used each time someone clicks on a PPC ad.
Lower CPCs mean that you’re getting more traffic for less money, whilst higher CPCs could indicate high competition or inefficient targeting. Regardless of whether CPCs are high or low, focussing on the quality of traffic from PPC ads is essential to drive conversions.
By optimising keywords, improving ad relevance, and adjusting bidding strategies, CPC can be reduced whilst driving and maintaining traffic quality.
Conversion Rate
Conversion rate is the percentage of users who complete a desired action after clicking an ad. Depending on the business, some examples of this could be making a purchase, submitting a form, or signing up to a newsletter.
The higher your conversion rate, the more value you’re getting from your ad spend, whereas if conversion rates are low, this highlights potential issues with ad messaging, landing pages, or audience targeting. Once these issues have been identified, optimisations can be made to improve conversion rate and in turn, increase budget efficiency.
ROI
ROI (or return-on-investment) measures the revenue generated from PPC spend. For example, if you spend £100 on ads that generate £500 in revenue, this is a 5X (or 500%) ROI, as you’ve made back 5 times as much money as you’ve invested.
Often, brands have a specific ROI they want to meet in order to be profitable, and ROI is a good indicator of whether PPC is performing efficiently – as it shows exactly what return is being made from PPC efforts.
Want to see a better ROI? Contact us for a free account audit.
Real Examples of Efficient PPC Campaigns
Last year, Circus PPC worked with Booths, a luxury supermarket chain based in the north of the UK.
For Booths, the festive period is extremely busy, and they utilise PPC to promote specific online services available during this time.
By focusing on budget efficiency and making the most out of a lower yearly spend, Circus were able to drive impressive improvements to Booths’ PPC performance, including YOY increases in ROI (return on investment), AOV (average order value), CvR (conversion rate), and revenue.
Daily optimisations and precise targeting put the account in optimal health, driving relevant and intentional traffic, and ultimately leading to a YOY ROI increase of 96%, despite a 29% decrease in spend.
Read more about how we drove budget efficiency to increase ROI for Booths here.
Final Thoughts: Optimise for Better Results
By regularly analysing and optimising your PPC campaigns, you can maximize efficiency and reduce waste without cutting a key sales-driving channel. With its clear measurability, PPC offers a cost-effective way to maintain brand visibility and achieve a strong ROI, even in a tighter budget landscape.
Ready to take your PPC strategy to the next level? 🚀
Register to download our free budget efficiency focussed whitepaper for expert insights and techniques to optimise your ad campaigns and make your PPC budget work harder for you!