Brad Geddes on the Evolution of PPC and the Role of AI
Apply Geddes' lessons by focusing on creative strategy and avoiding SKAGs in your PPC campaigns.
Apply Geddes' lessons by focusing on creative strategy and avoiding SKAGs in your PPC campaigns.
Summary
Brad Geddes shares his experience from the early days of SEO in 1996 to becoming a prominent educator in the PPC community. He discusses Google’s rise to dominance, the introduction of ad groups, and the shift from manual bidding to automated bidding, which freed up time for creativity and strategic account management. Geddes highlights outdated tactics such as SKAGs and the loss of features like ECPC and hyper‑specific geo‑targeting.
He warns against the misconception that AI can fully run an advertising account, emphasizing that human creativity will remain critical for success. Geddes predicts that the industry will reward creativity, strategic tactics, and business optimization over basic button‑pushing. He also reflects on mobile adoption, voice search overblown, and the importance of testing campaigns.
The interview provides a historical perspective on PPC, lessons on avoiding outdated tactics, and insights into the future of search and advertising.
Key changes
- Google introduced ad groups, forcing weekly management
- Automation freed time for creativity
- SKAGs were over‑segmentation
- ECPC feature now missing
- AI cannot fully run accounts
- Creativity will remain critical
- Voice search overblown
- Mobile adoption slower than predicted