YouTube Help Help! I don't understand google ads

[Katie Sutherland]

Okay ya'll I need help big time! So i used google ads just to promote some of my videos and they did good and got out to people and then My last two videos I didn't use google ads and they did terrible!!! Before I used google ads my videos were doing decent for a small channel with 180 subs! Then after I used google ads my channel went downhill! Is this something google ads does so you can keep using it?? What should I do? Should I delete my google ads account? Has this happened to anyone else? Someone help lol!!!

 

[Damon]

Well, think about it from Google's perspective:

Okay, you paid us to drive traffic to your channel, then you quit paying us. What happens whenever you quit paying the bills?

Seriously, Google ads is best for driving traffic to a landing page, Web site where you are selling a product, service, or trying to get people to opt-in to your e-mail list. Organic traffic is always best and most reliable. Your channel is still young. Let's get you up to about 113 videos, then have this conversation.

 

[Stanley | Team TB]

Yeah they are going to push you for as long as you pay them... but that is all inflated traffic with a completely different set of standards regarding the audience they are serving it towards. Rather than spending money on ads your time/effort would be better spent targeting more specific keyword phrases and search terms/improving thumbnails IMO.

 

[The Jungle Explorer]

I think you are correct that "You do not understand Google ads", at least from the perspective of how it affects your YouTube traffic. You put gas in your YouTube car when you paid for Ads. The gas ran out and now you are confused as to why the car is not moving. It is not that difficult to understand, but I think your issue is not that you don't understand it, but that you did not get the result you expected. Here is what I think is bothering you. You can correct me if I am wrong.

You thought that if you paid for some ads, this would get some momentum going on your channel and that momentum would generate a snowball effect that would continue to travel and gain speed even after you stopped pushing it. Am I hitting close to home on this? I think I am. Unfortunately, when you stopped pushing the snowball, it did not keep going and it just stopped dead. So, what does that tell you? Here is what it should tell you. You were not pushing the snowball down a steep enough incline. Let me explain.

You thought that paid promotion was a shortcut to get your channel going. Paid promotion is a powerful tool, but the key is, you have to have a great product too. If you have great promotion promoting a not-so-great product, it is not going to get you anywhere. What your experience with Google ads has revealed is that your channel does not have to appeal to keep going on its own. You did not do the groundwork to get your channel ready for paid promotion. You were pushing the snowball uphill, so to speak. So what is your takeaway from this valuable experience?

1. You need to invest more time in building your channel organically before you try paid promotion again. If it won't grow on its own, it is not gonna maintain momentum if you try to grow it artificially with paid promotion.

2. Make sure that when you do decide to pay for promotion again, you have everything in order to capitalize on it. You want the skies waxed with silicone and ready to go down a black diamond. When those paid ads start bringing in new customers, you want the bait and hooks to keep them on the line.

 

[groovy horrror scifi]

I think you are correct that "You do not understand Google ads", at least from the perspective of how it affects your YouTube traffic. You put gas in your YouTube car when you paid for Ads. The gas ran out and now you are confused as to why the car is not moving. It is not that difficult to understand, but I think your issue is not that you don't understand it, but that you did not get the result you expected. Here is what I think is bothering you. You can correct me if I am wrong.

You thought that if you paid for some ads, this would get some momentum going on your channel and that momentum would generate a snowball effect that would continue to travel and gain speed even after you stopped pushing it. Am I hitting close to home on this? I think I am. Unfortunately, when you stopped pushing the snowball, it did not keep going and it just stopped dead. So, what does that tell you? Here is what it should tell you. You were not pushing the snowball down a steep enough incline. Let me explain.

You thought that paid promotion was a shortcut to get your channel going. Paid promotion is a powerful tool, but the key is, you have to have a great product too. If you have great promotion promoting a not-so-great product, it is not going to get you anywhere. What your experience with Google ads has revealed is that your channel does not have to appeal to keep going on its own. You did not do the groundwork to get your channel ready for paid promotion. You were pushing the snowball uphill, so to speak. So what is your takeaway from this valuable experience?

1. You need to invest more time in building your channel organically before you try paid promotion again. If it won't grow on its own, it is not gonna maintain momentum if you try to grow it artificially with paid promotion.

2. Make sure that when you do decide to pay for promotion again, you have everything in order to capitalize on it. You want the skies waxed with silicone and ready to go down a black diamond. When those paid ads start bringing in new customers, you want the bait and hooks to keep them on the line.

I may be wrong Jungle explorer and I can see where you're coming from but I think you might actually be the one who has misunderstood Katie's post as it came across as a little condescending too even though you've possibly misunderstood it yourself (Katie will have to clarify this though) .

Katie said her channel was doing alright BEFORE using google ads and she used it I assume to hopefully generate even more interest and views but since she stopped using it her views and traffic have declined massively.
I think she was wondering why it's not gaining the same sort of views BEFORE using google ads since she used and then stopped using Google ads.
Re-read her original post again and you may grasp what she meant as it seems pretty straight forward to me so you may have just skimmed through her initial post and misunderstood .

 

[MattCommand1]

Re-read her original post again and you may grasp what she meant as it seems pretty straight forward to me so you may have just skimmed through her initial post and misunderstood .

Hi Groovy,

As most TB forum regulars know, I am not shy about jumping in with a perspective if I feel I have something to offer. I was almost going to reply to the OP but I just didn't understand her scenario because it is very rare I run into someone using Google Ads to boost their channels. I think you did a much better job interpreting her than I did.

I am old-school. I believe I need to earn views and subscribers. I just can't imagine myself directly advertising my videos or channel. That doesn't seem to be congruent with my understanding of YT Discovery system. I have long been a believer of the value of organic SEO, traffic, etc.

So, I chalked it up to my own ignorance about Google Ads and how it interacts with YT. Damon, Stanley, and JE offered their perspectives and I took it in.

I was kind of hoping someone was experienced enough to expand on the impact of Google Ads to promote YT videos. I've heard of people doing Google Ads to promote their channels or videos but I have very limited understanding.

 

[The Jungle Explorer]

I may be wrong Jungle explorer and I can see where you're coming from but I think you might actually be the one who has misunderstood Katie's post as it came across as a little condescending too even though you've possibly misunderstood it yourself (Katie will have to clarify this though) . Katie said her channel was doing alright BEFORE using google ads and she used it I assume to hopefully generate even more interest and views but since she stopped using it her views and traffic have declined massively. I think she was wondering why it's not gaining the same sort of views BEFORE using google ads since she used and then stopped using Google ads. Re-read her original post again and you may grasp what she meant as it seems pretty straight forward to me so you may have just skimmed through her initial post and misunderstood .

I did not misunderstand her. I read every word. My comment was looking behind what was said and addressing what I believe was the psychology behind the confusion. As most people on this forum who have known me for any time will tell you, I never took ballet lessons as a child, so I am not very good at tiptoeing around people's sensitive feelings. I am a straight shooter. I call things like I see them, and I don't mince words. It is not condescending, it is honest. I am also a person who prequalifies statements so that the reader has the opportunity to understand that what I am saying is an assumption or an opinion. Unfortunately, reading comprehension these days is less than what it should be, and many people fail to read the pre-qualifiers that I intentionally put in my sentences to avoid misunderstanding.

I prequalified my statements to the OP with this statement. "Here is what I "THINK" is bothering you. You can correct me if I am wrong." From this statement here, I expect the reader to understand that the statements I am about to make are assumptions and that I acknowledge that they could be less than accurate, and have offered the target of them the opportunity to correct them if they are.