PPCChat | Biggest Changes in PPC in 2025 | 9th December 2025

Greetings readers! Here is a quick recap of this week’s PPCChat session, inspired by Google Ads’ recently released year in year-in-review graphic. Hosted by Julie F Bacchini, this session focused on the biggest changes seen across major PPC platforms in 2025.

Q1: What do you think was the biggest change in general in PPC in 2025?

Brand media buys are finally becoming mainstream for Performance marketers. @navahhopkins

The AI -everything acceleration. @JuliaVyse

Probably the overall deterioration of match types as a whole, it’s been happening for years but 2025 has given me some of the craziest “matches” I’ve seen in my short 7 years of doing this. @Josephwilliams

I have never felt more “get off my lawn” in PPC than I have in 2025. @NeptuneMoon

It’s really hard for match types to continue to be useful when placements evolve (including SERP queries) @navahhopkins

I would say or hope – the biggest change would have been in how we look at PPC as a while. And zoom out of channels, platform, etc. and think strategy first instead of numbers. @alimehdimukadam

@navahhopkins I really think platforms need to go hard on a whole repositioning of what digital advertising is TODAY. Like educational content for brands and PPC pros. There is way too much happening and not enough being done in ways that speak the language of those who need to really hear and absorb it. This goes for all platforms. @NeptuneMoon

The lemming-like plunge into AI-iffication of everything. @Pete_Bowen

And what I mean is “this is how it works now” type of easy-to-understand content. Oh, you used to target very specific keywords and have efficient conversions come from them? Well, that’s not how things are set up to work now. Here is how it works, instead and why and how you can think about it differently. @NeptuneMoon

Any business who has advertised for any period of time beyond 2 years needs this. The pros who work with them need this. Here is why these strategies stall today. Here is what you can test instead. Here are the tradeoffs you might experience. @NeptuneMoon

@NeptuneMoon you me and Navah might do well to make a short series on this. from a consultant, a big agency pov, a search engine pov? @JuliaVyse

Very fair! I’ve observed that there’s a big lack of trust when it comes from content from the platform. Maybe it’s a two way conversation of platforms offering more transparency and education + advertisers believing content shared comes from a good place @navahhopkins

@JuliaVyse I would love that. So I think it is a lack of acknowledgement of this whole piece too that contributes to that feeling of lack of trust. @NeptuneMoon

I’d like to join in this trinity as well. @alimehdimukadam

A little validation of – yes, things are moving fast in whole new pathways and we see you navigating it. @NeptuneMoon

From a practitioner perspective, I feel my trust in the platforms is at an all-time low. It seems so many product decisions are being driven by desire for revenue/profitability of the platform at the expense of the advertiser.@robert_brady

All of the AI is for shareholders/Wall Street and that does not feel nice either. @NeptuneMoon

Ads does not produce the same revenue it once did and small/medium businesses are modifying their budgets with that in mind. Taking away controls for marketers did not help at all. They got more $$$ from the massive brands, so it looks like it helped their revenue, but at what cost in the LONG run with that have? I also don’t think they are looking at things with innovation in mind if I am being honest. Whatever gets a quick revenue bump to help with the market is their focus in the near term. Great for investors, not so great for advertisers. Long term it may also not be great for investors either, but short term it has worked quite well. @Ichasse

Digital advertising platforms, Google in particular, seem to believe that all advertisers want to grow at any cost. They don’t seem to understand that outside of venture-backed companies, the average advertiser is focused on revenue/cash flow/profitability and are fine not chasing conversions that aren’t profitable. @robert_brady

“So I think it is a lack of acknowledgement of this whole piece too that contributes to that feeling of lack of trust.” Agreed on this point, Julie. I feel like there are many examples of Google/MSFT not listening. Or giving the perception of listening while making incremental adjustments that do not benefit the brands I manage. The way in which placements are forced upon us before we’re able to judge them ourselves. Or auto-applied recommendations that focus on feature-alignment over profitability. The UI using dark design components to force adoption, leaving us to find hacks or workarounds to continue to do our jobs. Don’t get me wrong – my job is to make money for my clients. If there are smart features or new placements or new campaign types that will make my clients more money and make me look good in the process – I’m not going to fight that. And I’d say most of us would agree on that point. Then we need to ask: why is their hesitance, or resistance? Chalking it up to PPC marketers are used to “the way things are done” isn’t a useful argument. Sure, there are some who are resistant for the sake of being resistant. But that’s the minority. We’re all chasing that “bag”. Give me a way to make it easier or more efficient and I’m listening. @timmhalloran

Q2: What do you think were the biggest changes in Google Ads in 2025?

Here is the Search Engine Journal write up on the Google Ads changes if you need a quick refresher: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/what-googles-2025-year-in-review-tells-us-about-the-future-of-ppc/562795/ @NeptuneMoon

Maximizing the Max-ification. @alimehdimukadam

The rise of Overviews for me. @JuliaVyse

The AI of everything covers it generally. @NeptuneMoon

AI in all the places I don’t really want AI. @Josephwilliams

It felt like the biggest changes were in matching keywords to search terms. Exact match barely served in some accounts, broad match was surprisingly profitable and phrase match hasn’t been worth a barrel of warm spit @Pete_Bowen

The matching changes have been huge this year. Getting some insight into PMax channels was nice @NeptuneMoon

AI being pushed even though it is nowhere near ready. Matching changes killed some campaigns performance numbers. I agree PMax insights were nice, but we need to be able to do something with the data as well. I just don’t think we are ready and by we I mean the platforms are creating an eco system for something that is not performing nearly as well as ads did pre-Covid. @Ichasse

I agree with @JuliaVyse Google seems to be undergoing a paradigm shift where they’re even more comfortable never having a search user leave Google and click a link to another site (unless it’s a paid ad) @robert_brady

It very much remains to be seen how AI Mode being shoved front and center impacts everything in search, not just ads. @NeptuneMoon

+1 to AI Mode @revaminkoff

One thing I keep coming back to is that we have spent 25 years teaching people how to find things online. That is A LOT of inertia. The general public is not tech-savvy. And they just want to have things work like they expect. I am watching that truth collide with AI everywhere with great interest. @NeptuneMoon

Are we pro-broad match now? @williamhboggs

Q3: What do you think were the biggest changes in Microsoft Ads in 2025?

I did not have much going on the Microsoft Ads platform this year so I am interested to hear how you all answer this question! And will be taking notes…@NeptuneMoon

I honestly wish there was more volume there because same, and the overall decrease in control on google doesn’t seem to be happening as hard there. @Josephwilliams

From my POV, it’s the year I have started considering it as a small part of the plans. Beyond Google & Meta and others. Ads in Copilot look like an early test use case of how effective LLM Ads can be. @alimehdimukadam

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alimehdimukadam_ads-in-gemini-or-chatgpt-yesterdays-adweek-activity-7404202984990998528-LSss And to be fair it only happened coz @navahhopkins  is an active member of the group. They do need to position themselves as an alternative to gain top of mindshare for ppc pros. @alimehdimukadam

Microsoft is always interesting to me because they will follow Google in some ways – they don’t want to make it such that you can’t take what’s working in Google and import it into Microsoft. But, at the same time they are being different or more thoughtful in how some things work and not just blindly following Google’s lead in everything. I appreciate that. @NeptuneMoon

They’re way ahead of the game when it comes to putting ads into Copilot where they make sense to the user and advertiser @robert_brady

The fact that Impression Based Remarketing and LinkedIn profile targeting in PMax haven’t come up is really interesting @navahhopkins

Microsoft is the boring advertising platform (sorry @navahhopkins) They kind of just go with the flow for the most part following Google. The increase in costs for advertising with Google has opened Microsoft budgets for some of my clients too so it is unfortunate. This is the time when Microsoft could take market share if they looked at ads with a fresh perspective. They don’t have the audience Google does, but it is still a very profitable audience and has the potential to do very well if they really dug in. I root for Microsoft and hope they can figure out the formula independent from Google, because I do think they are least evil of the 3 biggest platforms when it comes to how they do things. I think they have a LOT of upside potentially. I mean just look at all the platforms they are a part of with Xbox, LinkedIn, etc… They have some big ones. @Ichasse

@Ichasse lots of exciting updates coming on the XBOX side! Would you say your feedback is mostly due to the UI (which I agree is clunky) or that most of the interesting settings are ad group level. @navahhopkins

I also think it is probably fair to say that many of us want to put budget on Microsoft platform. Some case studies that show non household brands finding success there would be helpful to have…B2B in particular (pretty please!) @NeptuneMoon

Adpulse & Microsoft: SMB Growth with Performance Max | Microsoft Advertising. @navahhopkins

Honestly there is a lot. I want to give you more money (seriously), because Google’s return on ad spend has gone down over the years. The interface for Microsoft is s pain point for advertisers for sure. Providing better targeting and integrating more of your platforms (easily) would go a long way. Microsoft is literally primed to be the go to platform for B2B if they put in the effort with the data they have vs. Google. Microsoft could own the B2B market. I would honestly try and push to just integrate the advertising folks do on LinkedIn with Microsoft. I am sure if I was in charge there and had a team with a white board, it would be fun to think outside the box for a few days on what could be possible and how could you win specific markets. You have the pieces IMO. @Ichasse

Full integration of LinkedIn and Microsoft Ads is the dream of many PPCers @NeptuneMoon

Including IBR cross-pollination between MSFT <> LI. And IBR Seasonality hold-outs so I can build BFCM audience signals from IBR lists from the previous year across platforms. I would pay a premium for that. @timmhalloran

It’s our dream too. LinkedIn targeting is available for Microsoft campaigns – I’ve seen LinkedIn placements happen in Audience ads prior to joining Microsoft as well. @navahhopkins

Q4: What do you think were the biggest changes in paid social ads (Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, Reddit, Snapchat, Pinterest, etc.) in 2025?

I have not done any Meta advertising in several years, but hoo boy, I do follow folks who do and this year has been wild. @NeptuneMoon

i don’t run Meta ads but from people I follow, sounds like the Andromeda update was significant this year along with the emrgence of Axon (Applovin) @Jordanfry

I feel like I heard next to nothing about TikTok this year which was in huge contrast to 2024. @NeptuneMoon

I do a ton of ads on FB still and yeah it has been a bit different this year. Because of the decline of Google though, FB has actually become much better in the portfolio. I am even getting some great traction for B2B on FB vs. Google. The remarketing has been solid. I have brands where we work with creators on TikTok and other platforms, but yeah we don’t run any ads on those platforms. They just don’t seem to perform as well as platforms like Google, Microsoft, FB/Insta and Amazon. @Ichasse

Yeah Lawrence, Meta has been a consistent revenue driver for a few brands I’m managing. It’s not consistent across the board but it’s felt somewhat less volatile lately. Knock on wood. I’ve been impressed with Reddit more too lately. Good leadgen CPAs for SaaS & B2B based on like 4 tests I’ve done since June. Doing TikTok but I find it aggravating – it’s tricky. LinkedIn is great for audiences. When I reign in the manual CPA adjustments and get a small, incredibly relevant audience, I can make it work. But it’s expensive so I usually pass on it for smaller brands. Not much of anything on Snapchat, Pinterest. @timmhalloran

Pinterest is rolling out a new customer acquisition beta. Not widely available yet but I just got access. It will be more of a 2026 story. @Jordanfry

Andromeda and GEM for Meta. Applovin as a platform had a breakout year. @alimehdimukadam

1. FB has been more profitable on some accounts that I would have thought would do better on Google Ads.
2. We’ve also seen Adv+ performing much better compared to detailed targeting.
3. Retargeting is pretty much a bust these days. @williamhboggs

Q5: What was the biggest change for you and PPC in 2025? Could be how you do things, how you manage your business, etc.

I spent a lot of this year thinking about what I want my next 10 years of work to look like. The pace of change in general in the industry has felt like warp speed this year. @NeptuneMoon

I realised that I’m more uncomfortable working in a non-deterministic environment (ie the same work doesn’t produce the same outcomes) than I had thought. Figuring out how to accept that, change what I offer without throwing away 18 years of PPC advantages. @Pete_Bowen

I used to think long engagements were my holy grail of business but not any more. Now I want shorter engagements and want to help problem solve, get some changes in place and then move on a lot more than I used to…@NeptuneMoon

We all have to dip our toes into everything AI to at least learn and start becoming familiar with the tools. We have no idea which tools will win the AI war so to speak, but we need to be at least familiar with the capabilities and how to use them effectively. I also realized that my plans and thoughts on how things would change need to be accelerated, because things are changing much faster than folks even thought. Even the aggressive change folks may have been too conservative in their thinking with how fast things are moving. The number of massive data centers being built right now and power requirements, etc… tell you they want this stuff to move way faster than what everyone is ready for. Tons of jobs have already been lost as we prepare for the AI changes (coders, data folks, etc…). I also took an inventory of everything I pay for this year and am planning changes for 2026 based on the rising cost of platforms that I used to help support my clients. Some pricing models for tools have gotten out of hand for smaller shops like mine, but there are newer tools popping up so I am looking at them instead or in some cases APIs that connect current tools. @Ichasse

I’m seeing the combo of Local SEO and PPC is helping my clients dominate their markets. Multi-channel approaches are working better than a single-channel approach. We are seeing jumps in ROI of about 5x for our multi-channel clients. @Asanaselli

Honestly, joining Microsoft. I never thought I would work for an ad platform and I’m extremely grateful to you all for how easy you make it to provide actionable feedback. @navahhopkins

@navahhopkins Thanks for taking our feeback to the powers that be too @NeptuneMoon

I’ve felt the “warp speed” too. Also felt like I’m trapped in a corner – I need results, but in order to do that I need high performing campaigns, in order to get those I need to understand what works best, in order to get that, I need to test and experiment with what’s working for others and find approaches that will work for my portfolio. That requires justifying experimental budget, which requires trust. Trust is built by delivering results. One reason why I love working agency-side as I’m able to compound my learning across brands so I can speak confidently when ideating with clients. But still in 2025 it’s been like, take a week off work to get house projects done, and by the time you return, there are 3 new core updates in-platform, and 12 new podcasts explaining how they increase sales by 130%. Still loving it — but it’s been a year. Finding balance AND triplicating myself with some agents in all of it will be a nice NY resolution. @timmhalloran

I am adopting an approach of positioning myself as a second opinion for agencies and brands alike. Be it for audits, agency ops or working with brands in-house team. I think there is always a tension between brands vs agencies, and that is going to keep increasing coz of the nature of how things are setup (very few outliers). More often than not, brands don’t need to change agencies – it’s either a system issue or a communication issue. Experimenting with this approach. @alimehdimukadam

For me this year, it was a deeper understanding on data and taking that comparison of data to a deeper level to make the link always back to the business goals. @Josephwilliams

Q6: What is something different that you are planning for or hoping for in PPC in 2026?

I am kicking around the idea of a book… on what I call “the business of PPC” so not so much how you do PPC but how you run the business side of it, deal with clients, etc. @NeptuneMoon

A grounding in ethics and that people do well by doing good as a rule. This might seem “preachy”, but 2025 really tested a lot of our moral lines. @navahhopkins

I already have a couple clients reducing budgets in Google and wanting me to test other platforms. We will still be there, obviously, but the past year and now 2026 most clients have not increased their budget like they used to. The diminishing returns on spend have driven this with the changes to the platforms. Other than that, just looking at potentially semi-retiring in the next couple years potentially. Still enjoy the work but maybe not doing 60-70 hours a week anymore, lol. @Ichasse

@NeptuneMoon Do it! The new folks to the industry could 100% get great value from that and even veterans would probably find some value in it as well. @Ichasse

Just a little less reliance on AI as a way of making products better would be great. It’s a great tool, not a one size fits all solution for everything that takes place on the internet. @Josephwilliams

My book is idea is – Beyond ROAS. What other metrics are more important since ROAS is no longer a reliable metric. And educational content on how things are evolving. 2026 will be a year for me to come back to LinkedIn after a brief hiatus. @alimehdimukadam

Figuring out the trick to winning more RFPs. And finishing them faster. @timmhalloran

I have actually spend WAY less time on any social stuff this year. Honestly, been pretty non-existent, lol. @Ichasse

PPCChat Participants

• Julie F Bacchini @NeptuneMoon
• Tim Halloran @timmhalloran
• Reva Minkoff  @revaminkoff
• Ali Mehdi Mukadam @alimehdimukadam
• Julia Vyse @JuliaVyse
• Boggs @williamhboggs
• Navah Hopkins @navahhopkins
• Peter Bowen @Pete_Bowen
• Joseph Williams @Josephwilliams
• Robert Brady @robert_brady
• Lawrence Chasse @Ichasse
• Jordan Fry @Jordanfry

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