Launching Google Ads for the first time is very exciting. It’s a platform that allows you to really push your products/services out there to a place where millions of people are actively searching everyday. But the reality is that the first 30 days is not all about performance. It’s about learning, testing and building a foundation that will support future performance and results. 

It’s very important to understand how the Paid Search system works before judging the platform’s success too early. 

So, what do those initial 30 days look like?

Week 1: Learning Mode Begins

Google Ads begins its learning phase as soon as your campaigns go live (and ads pass their initial checks). This is true for all campaign types, including Search and Shopping. 

Google starts testing different combinations of:

• Keywords and match types for Search

• Products, titles and audience signals for Shopping

• Ad assets, creative and placements

• Budget pacing

We would highly recommend starting with a Manual CPC strategy where possible (this is possible for Search and Shopping) so that you have full control over spend and targeting, especially when Google Ads has no initial data to optimise towards.

It’s important to remember that for new accounts or fresh websites, there are no previous signals for Google to learn from. This often means, at first, performance will be inconsistent.

What to Expect in Shopping Campaigns

Rather than using keywords, Google relies on your product feed, especially titles, descriptions, categories and images, as well as indexing the product’s landing page too. If the product feed is new and the site has no history, then Google does not know what products are relevant, competitive or popular and so you will likely see: 

• Low impressions across most products.

• A small number of items getting the bulk of traffic.

• Higher than average cost per click.

If the product feed isn’t set up correctly, you may see product feed issues showing in Google Merchant Centre, such as disapprovals or missing values. These should be remedied as much as possible to give your products and account the best chance of success.

Week 2 to Week 3: Data Starts to Build

By week two or three, dependent on how much an account is spending and the traffic coming through, the campaigns will start to gather enough data to spot early trends. 

For Search, we may see: 

• Search terms that are performing well.

• High or low click-through rates on different ad variations.

• Initial conversions, especially on brand or high intent terms.

For Shopping, we may see: 

• Specific products or product types starting to get more traffic.

• A clearer idea of which product titles are attracting clicks.

• Some early sales.

This is the stage where you should start refining the campaigns. That includes adding negative keywords, testing new headlines or descriptions, and checking feed quality. It can also be a good idea to segment your products within campaigns by certain attributes, such as pricepoint, product type, margin etc. We would recommend always starting with product types but this is more of a structural segmentation. 

Week 4: First Signs of Consistency

After three to four weeks of consistent traffic and a good level of spend, the Google algorithm starts to stabilise. This is because you've enabled your account to build up a bit of a history, so the algorithm now has a lot more data signals to reference. 

In Search campaigns, you might begin seeing:

• Better click-through rates.

• More reliable conversion volume.

• Lower cost per acquisition on top-performing terms.

In Shopping campaigns, if your feed is optimised and product pages are solid, you should see:

• Growth in impressions across more products.

• Early signs of return on ad spend.

• Fewer irrelevant search terms, and more relevant ones.

This is where the foundations start to pay off. If you have kept your feed clean, landing pages fast and budgets steady, Google can now begin to optimise properly. If Manual CPC is still used as a bid strategy, it is now when you can start looking to switch over to a semi-automated, or automated strategy if it makes sense for the overall campaign/account goals. 

So, that’s a very topline look at what the first 30 days will look like, however, there are some other considerations to take into account.

The Impact of a New Website

When your website is new, Google has absolutely no indexed history on how users behave on site. This ultimately means that Google has no site engagement signals, no historical conversion data, and thus ultimately no clear understanding on what to expect when someone enters your website.. 

Google not only evaluates how good your ads are (quality score), but it also evaluates your website trust factors and landing page experience. No traffic or purchase history makes it harder for Google to match your ads to the right search queries, reducing impressions and relevance.

If both your Google Ads account and your website are new, expect a slower start across everything. Google needs time and traffic to understand how your offer performs.

Mistakes to Avoid in the First 30 Days

Here are some of the most common errors that disrupt early performance:

• Judging performance too early, especially during the learning phase.

• Pausing or making major changes every few days.

• Expecting Shopping campaigns to deliver instantly, especially on new websites.

• Ignoring feed quality and Merchant Centre errors (if applicable).

• Not allowing enough budget for Google to gather meaningful data.

The most effective strategy in the first month is to launch with a clear and defined setup, running with manual bid strategies, data points split out, and a keen eye to monitor performance. All whilst giving Google enough time to learn and adjust throughout. 

Be mindful about relying on the automation bid strategies that Google Ads offers. Although further down the line these can really enhance campaigns, be mindful that automation needs data to work well. Strategies like maximise conversions or target ROAS rely on historical conversion data to make smart decisions, and without this Google is essentially guessing. 

Things for Mindful Optimisation

Whilst it's often advised not to make major changes during the learning period, there are smaller tweaks that can and should be made in the first 30 days. These are low-risk but meaningful changes that help shape performance without disrupting the algorithm too heavily.

We therefore recommend the following: 

• Check the Search Terms report regularly and negative out any irrelevant terms that are wasting budget

• Split out any Branded traffic to Non-Branded so these can be tracked easily separately.

• Add negative keywords at the campaign, ad group or the account level where necessary.

• Segment out location, audience and time data so that you can get richer data.

• Fix any Merchant Centre issues as these can limit Shopping performance.

  • Optimise product titles so they contain relevant product information and not too bland. 

• Ensure Conversion Tracking is indeed tracking correctly.

  • This is vital as Conversion tracking is the cornerstone of Google Ads optimisation efforts. 

These early actions help keep your account clean and structured, allowing Google to learn from the right signals.

What to Expect Summary

Week 1: Learning phase begins, the account is testing and gathering data.

Week 2 to 3: Patterns potentially start to emerge, early optimisations become possible.

Week 4: System becomes more stable, performance improves if data and tracking are in place.

It is possible to optimise within these four weeks, however be mindful not to make too many major changes as this would disrupt the algorithm. Minor, logical changes where and if appropriate can only help the account but be mindful about moving too quickly. Short-term thinking can kill long-term success if not managed effectively. 

The first 30 days of your Google Ads activity is about building a foundation. No matter what campaign types you plan to use, whether that be Search, Display, Shopping or Performance Max, the system needs a bulk of data to optimise on before it can start to deliver true results.

Performance improvements could likely take longer than this 30 day period if your product feed is new, but especially if your website is new too. But with the right structure and patience, that early investment in learning will pay off with greater efficiency and returns.

It’s important to set realistic expectations, keep everything clean, structured, logical and focused - but most importantly give it time to work.

Luke Trevillion, Paid Search Manager