PPCChat | What is in PPCers Mind | 3rd February 2026

Posted March 5th, 2026 by Amita & filed under PPCChat.

This week’s PPCChat was an open-format discussion where host Julie F Bacchini invited experts to share their biggest wishes for ad platforms, as well as their experiences and challenges when job hunting in PPC.

Topic from @navahhopkins: – what are you biggest wishes for ad platforms?

I’d like the Google Ads app to tell me which account it’s talking about when it sends me alerts. @InquisitiveMarketer

Better support from every platform. @NeptuneMoon

Maybe it’s “just me,” but I feel like I’m playing whack-a-mole. As I learn and understand something good enough to explain, another variable gets thrown in. @StephanieCockerl

@StephanieCockerl The number of days where I feel very much like an “old dog” these days. @NeptuneMoon

@InquisitiveMarketer or anytime I get an email about a support case, and they mention the case ID, but no mention of which account. I have a few ongoing cases at the moment, and it’s nearly impossible to figure out which is which without turning into sherlock holmes every time I check an email. Data Transparency, actual control over targeting, not just ‘suggestions’ @AnthonyMcDaniel

Honestly it would be refreshing to feel like a platform thought what we did was good/valuable/helpful @NeptuneMoon

Build back trust by exposing best and worst cases possible, increasing transparency. For example, change X will almost certainly cause spend to increase. With that, best case scenario is that we see Y revenue/leads increase, and worst case is we see minimal/no change. As the advertiser, please prepare for both outcomes. @teabeeshell

@teabeeshell Well that would be amazing. @NeptuneMoon

JUST ONCE, I’d like to see an ad platform actually recommend decreasing ad spend based on performance. Even if it was for a single campaign. That’d build a lot of trust equity for me, tbh. @AnthonyMcDaniel

@teabeeshell Microsoft is actively working on these recommendations/alerts and one of the big questions we have is how to ensure there’s trust when we make those sort of statements. Do you have thoughts there? @navahhopkins

@teabeeshell I’m working on something for that. @williamhboggs

For what it’s worth – I’m not seeing “innovation” tools in the wish-list – a lot of this seems more like quality of life and customer empathy moments? @navahhopkins

@navahhopkins I think sharing the possible positive and negative outcomes is a good start. It can feel like every suggestion from a platform is “super awesome” and will “perform so well in your account” and we all know that is not always what happens. @NeptuneMoon

Is that due to lack of trust in platforms to deliver innovation or is it because there’s no more spoons for innovation while balancing existing tools. @navahhopkins

Because we often have to pro/con suggested changes with clients and stakeholders and having more insight into the range of outcomes would be great. There is a lack of trust in platforms too. And not just because the interests of a platform and an individual advertiser can never be 100% aligned. It stems more from things being presented as universally applicable or great when they are not. @NeptuneMoon

Personally, I feel pretty “innovated-out”. Too many platforms pushing too many “innovations” that feel more like money-grabs than actual improvements. I’d rather have the existing tools work well before asking for anything “new”. @AnthonyMcDaniel

@navahhopkins I think that simulations work well, but they tend to favor spending more. Yes, there is sometimes transparency about if you spend X more, your CPA will rise $Y.YY per. That’s helpful, but almost like a color-banded visual would be helpful so an advertiser could know when they are A) pushing the envelope in hope, B) leaving results on the table, or C) within their sweet spot, per an established KPI. @teabeeshell

And it is ok that they are not, I’d just love some honesty about that. You know what else I would LOVE to see… @NeptuneMoon

Lead generation to get focus as a massive market
Real strategies for smaller businesses – one size most definitely does not fit all and yet that is what we get with rollouts
B2B to get some love as a massive market

I am not naive so I know things will probably move backwards more and not forward. These platforms all used to have amazing features and support, but money decides the direction (well stock price more importantly). I don’t see it ever changing. I would honestly be happy with the old support models the platforms had (less sleezy sales, gross feeling) and the new features they have developed. I would like exact to mean exact, and phrase to mean phrase again though (just sayin), lol. @Ichasse

Ooohhhh… Give us ways to talk to clients and stakeholders about changes to the platform. Changing the way something works? Give us the tools to really understand it and to explain it to business people who’s focus and expertise is outside of PPC. Address these things from the advertiser’s perspective. Like why is this good for advertisers? Not why does the platform think it is cool or is forging ahead into that arena? @NeptuneMoon

Better Support (for all of them x 1000) 2. Better agency support (at least acknowleging that agencies are different players) 3. More training and alerts when new things come out or the UX changes. 4. More innovations for SMALL advertisers. @revaminkoff

1) Improve the ads advisor to allow it to take actions on behalf of the user and to allow it to do deep analysis to determine the cause of issues (or improvements) in the campaign
2) Improve the UI/UX for Sitelinks. They are really a pain. They can clear up some things with their connections between campaigns and make search and replace possible.
3) Make it so that when you download change history, the actual changes download
4) Make it so that we can get an idea of what impact an individual negative keyword has. (eg – number of impressions you didn’t get)
5) Let us share filters between users
6) Let us use regular expressions for filtering search terms
7) Jumping back and forth between date ranges is really difficult. Make it so you can “favorite” a date range so you can easy move between date ranges for example if you’re trying to diagnose an issue
8) When you report on search terms, it should be possible to roll up search terms that are the same (even if another keyword triggered them)
9) Ability to add labels to things you can’t label right now (like geotargets)
10) Give us more clues on when the system is in learning mode and if you’re about to make a change that will trigger learning mode, tell us and estimate for how long. @EronCohen

@revaminkoff what’s an example of an innovation for smaller advertisers you’d like to see? @navahhopkins

@NeptuneMoon great call on tools to help relay info to clients. My clients aren’t interested in whether ad platforms are “forging the future of innovative ad ops”. They just want to know if a change impacts them, and if it’s good or bad for their bottom line. If innovations can be clearly presented in these terms, then I could see adoption rates increase. @AnthonyMcDaniel

Adding to my previous comment – when you work with businesses that have been doing PPC for a long time and things change like they have in the last 2 years, it puts a lot on us to have to explain why things that used to work amazingly no longer do. Or why they can’t see data they used to see and use for decision making? Or why costs seems to keep going up and up and up? Digital advertising is a mature system. And with that comes expectations of how things have run up until now. When things significantly shift we are left having to explain it and “well that’s just how platform A does it now” really does not always land very well with advertisers who are used to it being a certain way. @NeptuneMoon

@EronCohen your number 3 is reeaaallly interesting. I’d be fascinated to see that kind of data. @AnthonyMcDaniel

Thank you @AnthonyMcDaniel Among other things, it would help us to uncover “mistakes” and give consideration to what we might be missing. @EronCohen

@navahhopkins Things that don’t need a lot of money to be successful i.e. places where the recommended budget is not 10x the CPA. More examples of clients in those cases. More training and support for clients at that entry level. @revaminkoff

I also wish that platforms viewed PPC professionals as part of their sales forces too. Because we are. We are the ones making recommendations to clients about where to put their resources. But we are not treated often as bringers of business to ad platforms. And we are. @NeptuneMoon

@NeptuneMoon I could not agree more!! @revaminkoff

@revaminkoff re: small business innovations
Given that most SMBs don’t have huge budgets that allow them to farm data for modern campaign “best practices” to really be effective, I almost feel like the innovations for them would be to revert to more transparency and control over bidding, targeting, etc. But given how this is not the direction the industry is heading, I’m not sure how to make this a win-win for both the SMB advertisers and the ad platforms. @AnthonyMcDaniel

@NeptuneMoon in fairness – the world is rapidly changing so I think this goes deeper than ad platforms. That said, it’s a fair push that messaging is clearer and there’s more transparency on why things don’t work. When ad platforms say things like:

lean into PMax because it will help brands have an easier time securing and profiting off of AI surfaces.
tell practitioners to consolidate account structures so brands will hit conversion thresholds needed to see consistent success

Some will believe and others will believe anything ad platforms say are nefarious. So what needs to be done to repair the trust so helpful content is seen as helpful instead of self serving? @navahhopkins

I think small businesses need guidance more than ever though @AnthonyMcDaniel because of what you just said. The things that are rolled out often are not “for them” but they still have to figure out how to advertise reasonably efficiently in the ever changing systems. @NeptuneMoon

@navahhopkins I think even just differentiating that some types of businesses may benefit more from x, y or z would help. EVERYTHING is presented as being equally amazing for all advertisers. And we know from experience that just is not true.

So some acknowledgement of that would help a lot. Because when you don’t, it does start to feel like:

Well this is good for the platform but how good will it actually be for my accounts
It actually helps us if we know, from the platform, that a feature is designed with ecomm in mind for example.

But constantly getting things rolled out in the way they are with zero acknowledgement that businesses are different and even your mileage may vary gets old and makes us feel like “Sure Jan” more than we might otherwise? @NeptuneMoon

@navahhopkins re: what needs to be done to repair. I think a few things have been mentioned already in the thread. Another thing that just came to mind would be having better training for the ad reps working at the platforms. Not even talking about the third party contracted “reps” (aka salespeople). But the ones who actually work at the platforms. When something is announced, and I have questions or pushback, and the rep doesn’t even know what I’m talking about, it makes me thing that the product is rushed. Or depending on the question, the lack of transparency on an answer sometimes makes me wonder if the vague-ness is intentionally present in order to “mask nefarious intentions”. I’m not sure if that makes sense. TL:DR, quality training = improved trust @AnthonyMcDaniel

Oh! case studies from businesses that aren’t Coca-Cola or Apple. I wanna see how Andy’s Armchairs in suburban St. Louis used Pmax to drive sales/leads on less than $20k monthly budget. @AnthonyMcDaniel

A million times YES to case studies that are not household brands. You mean Levi’s saw a lift with YouTube? You don’t say…Sephora saw positive results with Demand Gen? Shocking. @NeptuneMoon

This is something we’re actively working on! If you have a story you want me to put forward, I’m happy to help put you forward! @navahhopkins

Oh! And if you give “results” give some more specificity. We grow weary of “saw similar results as similar cost” or “saw a 20% lift” – more context please. What level were the original results that they saw similar results to? Did a 20% lift mean 30 more clicks or views or conversions? Or did it mean 3000? Because that context matters and could help brands better determine if it was an experiment worth considering or pitching. @NeptuneMoon

We are always hungry for incredible stories from everyday marketers – we just need them to share. Here’s a great story from the wonderful from Jonathan Kagan ( https://about.ads.microsoft.com/en/resources/discover/case-studies/amsive-success-story) @navahhopkins

networks have to realize that most businesses cannot rely on just one network to sustain itself. they are only part of the strategy and need to provide solutions that allow us to take advantage of the individual network as part of a larger effort. and they should reward marketers doing the work, managing the ad spend. @Chriskostecki

I think support is key. I get random Google phone calls and just feels like it’s sales rather than support which is a shame because collaboration would be great @JoeWilliams

I literally keep forgetting how to switch my slack over, but I endorse that case study presented by @navahhopkins done by that incredibly handsome dude at Amsive. @JonathanKagan

Topic from @AnthonyMcDaniel – Job hunting in PPC right now

It’s rough out there! I’d say I’m highly qualified but I was unemployed for 12 months in the last 2-3 years (worked on a sinking ship of a business somewhere in there). Finally landed a job at an agency. Hundreds of job applications, a dozen or so interviews. My advice: Keep your head up and keep trying! @williamhboggs

I was searching for work back in Q4 of 2025, and even with 6-7ish years of PPC experience, it was rough. dozens of apps out with custom cover letters and almost no interviews. Seems to be a tough problem in every industry, but perhaps even moreso in our area of expertise, since many hiring managers are unable to properly determine the qualifications of pros in this space, and maybe just rely on referrals and connections? @AnthonyMcDaniel

I have been hearing for the last year from community members about how brutal the job market is if that helps anyone feel better @NeptuneMoon

I don’t know from what perspective this is, but I will say from 2 very different perspectives.

1 – If someone is new, I would find an agency you admire or 3 to try and get a starting role inside the agency, because what you will learn working with an agency will be so valuable to take to a brand or even if you want to venture out on your own one day. Agency work can be tough, because they will probably give you a handful of accounts to manage pretty quickly. However, in an agency setting you can ask questions of the folks there to help you and you have access to a lot of resources vs. starting out in a single brand where you may be the only person there who even has any idea what paid media is. 2 – If you have worked in the field for a while already 5-10 years and you are looking to find work. If you have worked over the years, hopefully, you made a lot of connections in that time. This is why an agency is probably a good start due to the folks in the agency and even clients you have met who moved onto different jobs, etc… Make sure you keep in touch with those folks, because you can always reach out to folks you have worked with in the past and ask if they have or know anyone who is looking for some help. This was how I started my own business doing marketing and it got me some of my first clients. Then always be asking your clients if they know anyone looking for help as well. The big thing is to participate, get to know folks and make genuine friends. None of us live on an island and I have had awesome folks who have helped me throughout the years. I have also made sure to help others (karma) when I could with finding work, mentorship, etc… We cannot sit at our desks with our heads down all the time. @Ichasse

It’s been years since I heard anyone in any field say the job market was good. @InquisitiveMarketer

I’m curious if anyone has had success running lead gen for themselves. On a daily basis, I get reached out to by entities offering this service. @teabeeshell

@teabeeshell Interesting, even if incredibly expensive. Seems to me that trying to get actual, physical face-to-face time would probably be less expensive and have a higher rate of returns. Although I see the parallel between that and the “old” practice of people using their socials as a portfolio in order to land social media/content jobs. @AnthonyMcDaniel

Yes, as others have said, the market is a LOT tougher out there for PPC folks lately. Agencies are able to be very picky on what they want. The other thing you may want to consider doing is to elevate yourself in the industry by volunteering to speak at not just the big events, but even moreso the local marketing or business events in your local town/state. They don’t have to be big events, but business owners go to these events and it can drum up some work for you or you could find the next brand you work full time at. The more they see you sharing and looking like an expert in the field, the higher profile your resume will be. You could even do YouTube videos on marketing or something if you are more comfortable speaking just into your own camera and mic vs. on a stage (small or large). @Ichasse

You can do a guest post here on a PPC topic too to add to your cred…@NeptuneMoon

Even just being active in this community is a big deal, I think. I landed my current job through someone sharing a job posting in this slack group, and during interviews was able to confidently reference this group as a way that I was staying up-to-date with things happening in the PPC industry. So get in here and be heard! @AnthonyMcDaniel

For what this is worth: gaming has made my career and being able to bond over games, make connections over games, and bridge technical gaps is a secret weapon in the job/gig hunting battle. also soft power in lifting other up – people see value in someone who empowers others. @navahhopkins

@navahhopkins I agree with you 100%. It is funny how folks see you as a leader and good potential hire because you do simple things like never take credit for jobs being done well, but taking blame if things don’t go well. Sounds funny, but company leaders recognize this as a good thing vs. what people generally try and do and take credit and blame something/someone else for fails. @Ichasse

@navahhopkins Interesting, can you expand on that? I game a bit myself (very casually, and mostly the basic, mass-market games), but I don’t think I’ve ever noticed it having an impact on my career one way or another. Maybe I’m doing it all wrong! @AnthonyMcDaniel

At marketing conferences, almost all of the technical leaders are gamers (worker placement games, mtg, etc) and offering to play games is a way to connect on a human level as well as show off strategic prowess (and gain a measure of how the person thinks). I’m co-hosting a MTG night at SMX Boston in June. Last year we had people ranging from VPs to entry level and none of that mattered. What mattered was connection and fun. @navahhopkins

@navahhopkins I was going to ask if it’s coming back – I have a title to defend! (and a new team member who is coming who is a gamer) @revaminkoff

I would train people on PPC by getting them to play games with me. I built friendships with engineers and product managers during weekly game nights that enabled me to champion customer tickets that would otherwise get ignored…and there are a lot of gamers at Microsoft. YAY!!!!! So excited you’re coming back @revaminkoff ! I’m making up Microsoft themed cards this time @navahhopkins

One of my team members actually manages PPC accounts like it’s his fantasy football team. So that’s another way gaming crosses in, just a little different. @revaminkoff

@revaminkoff I’d love to see how this is done, haha @AnthonyMcDaniel

Does anyone have any tips on branching out as a freelancer while also working an in-house job? I have experience creating strategies and running ads on all the platforms but my role is in-house. I’m wondering what the best way would be for me to frame taking on a couple small clients on the side without fully branding myself as a full time consultant. Any tips are welcome! And a side question – in an agency role, would the PPC expert also be expected to work on creatives, or is that normally another team member? @lilypolowin

A few things of note that I’ve found talking to agencies/friends the first few months, more specific to the market.

A lot of senior PPC-ers moved out of direct client work and into operations/management only – this “upper middle management” layer has gotten hit HARD so there’s a lot of folks at that level either free or demoted
There’s been a good bit of salary compression after people got basically whatever they want in 2020-2021 – salaries returning to 2018 levels. Prices are not
A lot of larger agencies took on PE investment in 2020-2021, and it’s likely that the buyers overpaid due to the market being “hot” – those investors are getting scared so forcing their teams to lean in to AI/offshoring/nearshoring
Blind applications (e.g. putting things into an ATS) vanish like a fart in the wind. Need to network to get on the top of the pile
Because of all of the above, remote positions are CRAZY competitive – like 200+ applicants in a day. If a job is easy to apply to, well, a lot of people will apply.
Advice I’m giving to people hunting in the industry is to GET ACTIVE!

FWIW I’m doing my best to be a conduit and reposting all my friends’ postings and making direct connections where I can. hang in there kids @Aaronlevy

@Aaronlevy great input, especially on the blind applications. It’s just so hard when even trying to get connected to people at some of these companies feels like an olympic sport. Not to mention that a lot of PPC agencies are small enough that you’re lucky to even find someone on LinkedIn or some other channel that is active enough to allow you an opportunity to connect. @AnthonyMcDaniel

indeed – butthat’s my thought behind the “be active” on linkedin – make yourself findable as best as you can! @Aaronlevy

@lilypolowin I’ve done a little bit of that in the past, but that was just being open to opportunities coming to me. I think being vocal about your work in your personal circles, and telling people you know (especially if they’re business owners or work in marketing to any degree) that you’re available to help them if they’re interested is a big piece of it. A lot of business owners I know in my personal life are more than interested in at least hearing your thoughts on marketing or the digital ad landscape. Offering to audit their existing strategies (maaaaybee for free if you know them well) could open the door for some of these opportunities, or at least showcase your knowledge so that they may refer you to someone else they know. @AnthonyMcDaniel

@lilypolowin As for working on creative on the agency side, this is not usually the case, in my experience. Even the smaller agencies I’ve worked at, there’s usually at least 1 designer to help with any kind of visual creative, or an option to hire that work out to fiver/upwork, etc. Although if you have that skillset, you could probably use it to stand out at a smaller, boutique agency. They’re usually happy to have people who are capable of wearing multiple hats. @AnthonyMcDaniel

i have been trapped in talking to my peers – which is great, and may lead to some gigs, but it is not where the work is.
I have had more success where i can find people to compliment, including production houses when they get media assignments, it/msp that do not provide valuable digital services, different sales roles that talk to digital decision makers, web developers, and organic social freelancers – support some of them to get access to their clients. they have the relationships built and their recommendation can get you in the door. in terms of gaming, I am pretty much zelda and cribbage on my phone, I am not making any networks there. @Chriskostecki

It’s very hard, I feel job titles are to blame, some mean something, some seem made up. I think recruiters can be to blame as they might not be ppc knowledgeable and don’t put you forward. If a person can get in front of someone and show their knowledge and excitement for the industry that is amazing and a door open @JoeWilliams

Job titles are WIDELY varied – strategist means 6 different things across 6 different agencies, one persons SVP is another person’s director (and vice versa), some agencies upped everyone’s titles without changing jobs because “clients want more director time” etc. Agreed on recruiters being heavy handed/blunt with their efforts… all the more reason to connect with them on LinkedIn even when you’re not looking to build a “just in case” network @Aaronlevy

PPCChat Participants