Senior Paid Search Manager, Marcus Thomas LLC

Stop renting your Google Ads success. Build an asset you own.

I am The In-House PPC Consultant. My mission is to eliminate agency dependency and transfer full control of your paid search success back to your team within 90 days.

After 17+ years deep inside the agency world, I saw the truth: the traditional retainer model incentivizes dependency and activity, not lasting client profit or internal competence. It is fundamentally broken.

My Role: Temporary Strategic Architect. I don't sell a monthly retainer or ongoing management. I act as a temporary strategic architect for 90 days, building a fully-owned, high-performing Google Ads system tailored to your specific business logic.

The process (The 90-Day In-House Method):

The Build (Weeks 1-4): Strip down the account, implement my High-Intent Systems, and rebuild campaign structure to match your sales territories and/or business logic (not the generic agency playbook).

The Proof (Weeks 5-8): Turn the machine on, validate that the system captures High-Intent buyers, and gather data to prove the system is stable and profitable.

The Transfer (Weeks 9-12): Train your internal team on the "15-Minute Weekly Check" protocol, hand over SOPs, custom dashboards, and fire myself—leaving you with a self-sufficient, durable in-house advantage.

The Outcome: You transition your current agency budget into an investment that builds lasting internal competence, achieving independence and measurable profit.

Google Ads isn’t matching intent anymore. It’s matching predictions...

It is not...how it used to be...that era is over.

This is why 

CPCs feel disconnected from competition
Broad Match is being forced into AI surfaces

This is also why performance feels unstable.

Sarah Stemen, MBA

💰 Google Ads ‘In-Housing’ Consultant (without the retainer)

Open article: Google Ads: Intent vs. Predictions in 2026 | Sarah Stemen — Sarah Stemen | Paid Ads Consultant by thesarahstemen.com

Google Ads: Intent vs. Predictions in 2026 | Sarah Stemen — Sarah Stemen | Paid Ads Consultant

If you are running PPC campaigns for lawn mowers, this isn't your week right now.

Just an FYI.

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For someone who seriously complains about the shady side of our industry and accounts being held hostage and all the BS I learned something new today...

Brace yourself...

Apparently, people SELL "aged Google Ads accounts"...

The promise faster approval or better performance...

Just so you know...if you were tempted this violates Google’s terms of service and will eventually be suspended.

NO.

Perfect keywords and no sales is the real red flag.
I’ve seen this more than once this year.

When the Search Terms are perfect but the revenue is zero, the problem isn’t the ads.

It’s the business.

Does the pricing make sense compared to competitors

Is the offer confusing

Do customers even want the product

Is the landing page creating friction

Is the value proposition emotionally mismatched

This isn’t “optimization” in the traditional sense.
But it’s still optimization.

AI (Google Ads) can bring the horse to water.
It can’t tell you why the water smells funny.

Only a human can do that.

"Optimization" is a fancy word for guessing.

In the almost 20 years I have been in marketing I never stopped to evaluate that word.

Probably because I optimize based on data, what I know based on best practices and my experience but an “optimization” is not a 💯guarantee of a success…

Its just making changes based on a system not working as effectively as it could with all the new information that we have in a moment of time.

If optimizing was a guarantee, I’d be incredibly ridiculously, and insanely wealthy, just saying.

Most people think bidding on their Brand name is 'playing it safe.' 

I call it the Red Ocean. 

As a business you are trapped in a defensive bidding war for customers who already know you. True growth happens when you use Data-Driven Attribution to find your Blue Oceans...the undervalued searches that introduce your brand to the world for the first time.

I wrote a full blog post about this on my personal blog which I will link in the comments.

I had my final straw with LinkedIn last year...will I still post here in 2026? Yes but with way less expectation.

Some of you probably remember I wrote a post here that was copied word‑for‑word.

I looked at my year‑end stats:
317 posts

and I don’t wanna say that it was necessarily my best work, but my posts were bids for conversations and attention…because I do run a business obviously.

And yet… the reach kept shrinking. 

I also deep down know I was regurgitating the same recycled takes…not always but my thoughts were not where they are today.

So I went back to the thing that I do and started writing on my own blog. 

I figured the worst that could happen was… I could articulate my thoughts and then define how I am different than the industry in this absolute sea of sameness.

I stopped trying to “perform” here and started taking my own writing seriously again on my own site, in my own voice, without worrying about algorithms or trends.

But then another layer got added…I started feeling vulnerable to share because I’m not just writing “how to” content.

That’s my rule in my blog. 

I’m analyzing how the platforms behave and the land grab and deeper impacts of changes. 

And every time I did share one of my articles here, even though the reach was throttled, something interesting happened:

The comments were the most meaningful I’ve ever received.  Less clearly AI stuff…

Anyways in 2026, I’m doubling down on depth, originality, and asking myself the deeper questions about what’s happening at Google, Microsoft and with AI and the Amazon -ification of chatbots offering ads…

If you want the recycled stuff, there’s plenty of it in your feed…

If you the work I pour myself into — it’s on my blog.

So here buried in this post are my thoughts on the Campaign Total Budgets Google rolled out…

Open article: Campaign Total Budgets in Google Ads: The Hidden Behavioral Shift No One Is Talking About — Sarah Stemen | Paid Ads Consultant by thesarahstemen.com

Campaign Total Budgets in Google Ads: The Hidden Behavioral Shift No One Is Talking About — Sarah Stemen | Paid Ads Consultant

Some days I feel like half my job is just…translating.

A business owner will come to me and say something like:

“Hey, I don’t know how to explain this, but our Google Ads feel weird.”

Not “broken.” 
Not “failing.” 
Just… weird.

It feels to easy.

Because when I dig in, it’s almost never the dramatic thing people imagine.
It’s usually something small, human, and oddly relatable:

A setting that got clicked by accident that I feel like I write about in every single blog post. 
A campaign that quietly ballooned. 

A targeting option that drifted over time. 
A landing page that loads perfectly on desktop but looks bad on mobile.

It’s never the monster under the bed.
It’s the sock stuck in the dryer vent.

And I love that moment when the client sees it and goes:

“Oh. That’s it? That’s what was throwing everything off?”
Yep. That tiny thing. That’s the culprit.

Small business owners especially can FEEL when something is off long before they can explain it. 
They’re not wrong. They’re not “bad at marketing.” 
They’re not missing some secret knowledge.
They’re just too close to their own business to see the loose thread.
We all are. I am wayyyyy too close.

I do the same thing with my husband when I say, “The car is making a noise,” and he’s like, “Okay… what kind of noise?” and I’m like, “I don’t know, a noise noise.”

He doesn’t need me to describe it perfectly. He just needs to know something feels off.
Same with me and Google Ads.

You don’t need the perfect vocabulary. 
You don’t need to diagnose it yourself. 
You don’t need to pretend everything is fine.
If something feels weird, it probably is. 

And that’s usually the beginning of the fix and not the end.

I’ve been working with this client in a coaching capacity every week for a full year.

They do all the heavy lifting.
I guide the thinking.

And for most of that year, their biggest question has been the same:

“Can we squeeze more out of PPC?”
“We just want to increase our ROAS.”
“How can we grow?”

Here’s what I tell them every single time:

Growth being slow doesn’t mean growth is gone.
It doesn’t mean the market is tapped.
It doesn’t mean you’re “maxed out.”

And I repeat this line so often it’s practically a chant:

“The cheapest conversions of tomorrow are created by the upper‑funnel ads you run today.”

So here’s what we changed over the past year — slowly, consistently, intentionally:

Ran YouTube campaigns year‑round (not just during sales)

Added a strong CTA + promo to YouTube during sales windows

Launched a year‑round Demand Gen campaign

Matched search ad copy tone to the YouTube creative

Added urgency to search ad copy

Fixed the data feed so PMax could actually see 40% of their best products

None of this was flashy.
None of it was “hacky.”
None of it was overnight.

It was just… good decisions, stacked.

Result: +$1 million year‑over‑year growth on a flat budget.

This is why I love coaching.
Not because I stopped managing but because I help people think clearly about where growth actually comes from.

Slow doesn’t mean stuck.
Flat budget doesn’t mean flat results.
And upper‑funnel isn’t a luxury — it’s the engine.

In 2026 if you say you are an expert in 15 marketing channels, I am super scared.

Many of the clients I work with are just trying to make sure current spend is actually hitting buyers vs just buying bot traffic.

A lot of clients come to me saying:

“Something feels off in our Ads account.” or "This used to work but now it doesn't"

They might not necessarily have the words for it, but they know something is going on...

They don't need the vocabulary or the reason.

That’s my job.

You don't need another person to "run ads." You need a system and business knowledge that ensures your ads actually work.

There are a ton of people that don't want to stand out in 2026. They just want to stand on solid ground.

I find a common pattern when I start an audit: business owners assume the value is in the technical fix.

They're right to a degree. 

An ad account can have obvious, small errors an incorrect setting, a wasted budget line, or a poorly implemented tracking tag. 

I clean those up first. It's necessary and non-negotiable.

But fixing the technical issues is the floor of my work, not the ceiling. Fixing the wrong settings or tags brings the account up to par.

The real power and the ultimate reason a client hires me is what comes AFTER the technical check.

It’s the clear thinking:

Prediction: Based on the data, what is the single 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 place to put the next $5,000?
Judgment: What are we deliberately choosing not to do, and why?
Simplicity: How can we restructure this ads account for maximum clarity so the core decision-maker can understand the profit mechanics instantly?

The technical fixes are tasks. The strategic direction is the partnership...

That's where the big bucks are...and what I strive for long term for my clients...

If your PPC only works when you run a sale… it’s not actually working. 

2026 data shows discounts are pulling in bargain hunters while pushing away the customers who actually stay.

Open article: The Death of the Discount: Why Value-First PPC Wins — Sarah Stemen | Paid Ads Consultant by thesarahstemen.com

The Death of the Discount: Why Value-First PPC Wins — Sarah Stemen | Paid Ads Consultant

So curious what everyone thinks about the AI - with the "I shop for you" announcements coming out this week...

I have thoughts and I will post in the comments...

Some data that stood out to me this week:

Locally made is the new ⭐: 
75% of consumers are now willing to pay a premium for local goods. For Gen X, it’s even higher 99% consider it a buying priority.

The "Sustainability table stakes": 
52% of consumers now view eco-friendly products as a must-have, not a nice-to-have.

The BOPIS effect: 
45% of shoppers will choose a store specifically because they offer "Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store" (BOPIS).

The takeaway: 
Trust is moving local, and convenience is non-negotiable. If you aren't highlighting where your products come from or making the hand-off seamless, you're leaving revenue on the table.

Can we talk about how good enough is someones great???

The one thing I can appreciate about AI is that it makes up stuff and is okay and good enough.

I was in the grocery store and I wanted to make a salad the lazy mom way based on what I had already.

I Google'd standing looking at the black beans and pictures of what I wanted to make and when I clicked the the website it was a 5 or 6 step recipe. Nope.

Since I am lazy I clicked AI mode and got...use zesty italian dressing...my salad was AMAZING.

“Good enough” today is a death sentence for tomorrow. Remember Google+?


The holiday season is officially here and LinkedIn is still super broken. 
(And yes — I’m writing this in November 2025, so I’m assuming nothing has improved.)

I’m sitting at my kitchen table watching everyone scream into the void for reach that just isn’t there anymore. 
We’re exhausted. We’re annoyed. We’re ready to hibernate.
And the funniest part? 
The second people admit “the algorithm is failing me,” they suddenly get a little traction. 

Why? Because nothing is more relatable right now than collective burnout.

Let's be real...
If your entire lead flow depends on the “reach” of a broken social platform… or the “good enough” automation of a Google Ads account you don’t actually understand…

You’re in a fragile position. 
(Yes, I said fragile. Yes, I meant it.)

“Good enough” today is a death sentence for tomorrow.

I’ve been doing this long enough to watch platforms die and algorithms shift overnight. 

I’m very grateful I didn’t build my life on Google+.

The people who survive the “everything is broken” era are the ones who stop renting their success and start owning their space whatever that means for you:

Your ad account. 
Your data. 
Your systems. 
Your failures. 
Your wins.

Please don’t spend your holidays worrying whether a robot will show your content to three more people.

Spend it thinking about how to build a system where you own the levers, the logic, and the outcomes.

Now go eat a cookie and turn off your notifications. 

We’ll fix the ads in January.

You don't want to miss Brad Geddes and I live today!

https://lnkd.in/e3McqHPS

View company: Paid Search Association (PSA)

Just under two hours until Sarah Stemen, MBA and Brad Geddes chat about match types and bid strategies in what is sure to be the best way to kick off 2026. 

Free to attend and looking forward to seeing you all there!

More info:
https://lnkd.in/eEvEt3yC

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