Last 28 Days — Google Ads
Google Ads account 764-012-9081. Last 28 days (Mar 31 - Apr 27) vs previous 28 days (Mar 3 - Mar 30).
Spend pulled back 10% but conversions collapsed 76% (35 vs 145). That's the headline. Two things changed at once: the WMA color and wood campaigns that ran in the prior period are dark this period (worth ~$11K of last period's spend), and Caskets - Custom went from 13 conversions to zero on $5,947 of spend. Shopping conversions also dropped from 69 to 7. Brand search conversions fell from 18 to 6, suggesting fewer high-intent brand queries.
Spend pacing tracks the previous period closely — same Sunday/Saturday dips, same daily shape. The scale just stepped down ~10%. So the conversion drop isn't a "we spent less so got fewer" story. Conversions per dollar fell from 2.7 per $1,000 to 0.7 per $1,000.
Other key metrics
Impressions up 21% on 4% fewer clicks means CTR fell. Combined with the conversion collapse, the campaigns are reaching more people but converting fewer. CPC dropped from $3.17 to $2.95 (impression mix shifted toward Shopping which has lower CPCs). CPA exploded from $370 to $1,379.
Channel breakdown
| Channel | Spend (last 28d) | Spend (prev 28d) | Δ | Conversions (last) | Conversions (prev) | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Search | $22,782 | $33,640 | -32% | 28 | 76 | -63% |
| Shopping | $25,490 | $20,046 | +27% | 7 | 69 | -90% |
Search spend cut by a third (mostly the disappeared WMA campaigns) and conversions cut by two-thirds. Shopping spend up 27% but conversions cratered 90% — that's the suspicious one. Same Shopping budget, same Shopping campaigns, almost no conversions. Worth checking the conversion tracking and the merchant feed for issues.
Campaign breakdown
| Campaign | Spend (last) | Spend (prev) | Conv (last) | Conv (prev) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | $254 | $263 | 6 | 18 |
| Caskets | $6,685 | $7,199 | 4 | 16 |
| Caskets - Custom | $5,947 | $7,223 | 0 | 13 |
| Caskets - Metal | $2,858 | $4,812 | 1 | 8 |
| Caskets - Military | $7,038 | $2,867 | 17 | 7 |
| WMA | Caskets - Color | — | $6,635 | — | 10 |
| WMA | Caskets - Wood | — | $4,641 | — | 5 |
| Shopping All States_Top_Seller | $14,630 | $12,735 | 6 | 30 |
| Shopping All States_Other_Caskets | $10,860 | $7,311 | 1 | 39 |
The campaign view tells the real story:
- WMA campaigns went dark. Color and Wood drove ~$11K of spend and 15 conversions last period. Zero this period. Were they paused intentionally, or did something break?
- Caskets - Custom: 13 → 0 conversions on similar spend ($5,947 vs $7,223). That's $5,947 spent with no return. Top priority to investigate. Either a landing page issue, conversion tracking break, or audience/intent shift on custom casket queries.
- Caskets - Military up sharply ($2,867 → $7,038, 7 → 17 conv). The one bright spot — looks like budget was reallocated here and it's working.
- Shopping conversions collapsed across both campaigns. Top_Seller 30 → 6, Other_Caskets 39 → 1. On increased spend. Strong signal that something in Shopping is broken (feed disapprovals, conversion tracking, checkout issue). Audit first.
What to do next
- Audit Caskets - Custom landing page and conversion tracking immediately. $5,947 spent with zero conversions is the largest single hole. Check the destination URLs, GTM, and the "lead form submitted" event for that campaign.
- Diagnose the Shopping conversion drop. Both Shopping campaigns lost 80%+ of conversions on increased spend. Check Merchant Center for disapprovals, check that purchase events are firing, and run a placement diagnostic.
- Confirm WMA campaign status. Color and Wood were active in March, dark in April. If paused intentionally, fine. If not, restart. They were converting at ~$1,100 CPA which is below the SKY portfolio average.
- Lean into Caskets - Military. It's the only campaign that improved. Audit search terms and pull learnings (which queries, which ad copy) that could apply to other custom-themed campaigns.
- Reconcile with GA4. Last 28d organic dropped 7% but GA4 conversions across all channels dropped 28%. Combined with Google Ads conversions down 76%, total business activity feels meaningfully softer than the surface-level spend numbers suggest. Check that the storefront, checkout, and conversion tracking are all healthy.