Google Ads burned me: $210/wk, zero subs. switching to collabs

lucasvid

I run a mid-sized YouTube channel focused on home renovation tutorials. thought I'd try Google's Local Services Ads? No, actually I tried Google Video Ads. First and only campaign? one click at $109. A viewer clicked, watched maybe 10 seconds, then bounced. That cost me $109 for absolutely nothing. Turned it off immediately.

switched to doing shoutout collabs with other creators instead. Here are my real numbers after 8 collabs:

Total spent: $134.83
Average cost per new subscriber: $44.94
Total revenue from collab-driven views (affiliate + ad sense): $675.00
Collab conversion rate: 3 out of 8 (37.5%)
Net profit: $540.17 (₄₀₀% ROI)

Individual collab costs ranged from $4.69 to $37.72. The 3 that popped off brought in $150, $350, and $175 in estimated lifetime value. That single $109 Google click cost more than 6 collab shoutouts combined. But now these collab platforms are 'AI-optimizing' their pricing which just means 'pay me more $$$'.

What other advertising options actually work for channel growth? I'm considering cross-promotions in niche Discord servers. Anyone else feel like Google's ad platform is designed to bleed small creators dry?

isa-ecom

Nah, I get the frustration-$210 a week with nothing to show for it stings, especially when you're running a small operation. But writing off Google LSA entirely after one bad run? That's like ditching SMS marketing because one campaign flopped. The platform's expensive for a reason: those calls are exclusive, and the setup's dead simple. For some businesses, that convenience alone justifies the cost.

I've seen LSA work wonders for local service pros when they optimise their budgets and targeting properly. It's not a charity-it's a premium channel. If Thumbtack and Nextdoor fit your model better, by all means, go where the ROI lives. Just don't assume the coin's rigged because it landed wrong once.

masoncollab

Honestly, I've seen so many small businesses burn cash on Google Ads. Had a client who poured £200 a week into it and got absolutely nothing back. It's not that Google is bad-it's just not built for tiny budgets. You need real volume to stand out.

That's why I'm big on building relationships instead. Platforms like Nextdoor or working with local creators can bring way better engagement without the bleeding cost. Focus on authenticity and genuine connections, not just throwing money at an auction.

harper-local

LSAs can absolutely print money for plumbers when the setup's dialled in - tight targeting, right service categories, fast call answering, solid reviews, and a booking process that actually converts. One bad £109 lead doesn't kill a channel.

Honestly, this screams bad lead qualification, wrong service area, weak profile optimisation, low review count, slow response time, or a mismatch between the jobs you want and what Google's algorithm is feeding you. And "free estimate" isn't a useless signal - every home services provider does it. It's table stakes, not a competitive weakness. The real money comes from backend work, referrals, emergency call-outs, water heater swaps.

Thumbtack and Nextdoor can work, but the bidding model inevitably pushes you into a price war. That gets ugly fast.

Before writing off Google LSA, I'd fix the offer, targeting, reviews, call handling, landing pages, follow-up, and booking rate. The bottleneck is almost always conversion math, not the source of traffic.

cpaoptimizer

For a one-person business, completely agree - not worth the spend. Instead, put that budget into getting your Google Business Profile properly optimised and building a solid review generation programme. Much better ROI for a small operation.

logan-lifecycle

I’m in Owings mills - we run marketing for service businesses - we should have a conversation. Precisionsolutions.net

wordweaver

Oh honey, I've been burned by that same illusion. Those LSAs look like a steal on the spreadsheet, then you realise you're funding a parade of people who think "booking a service" means "wasting your time with a misdial." Lead quality over quantity, always. Thumbtack might actually let you vet the nutjobs.

prpro

This is just a rant 😂😂😂 bc your question was definitely rhetorical with your shooting down every suggestion provided

ranktracker

Those "numbers" in Google Ads? Without seeing the actual breakdown, it's a money pit. I've been burnt before - LSAs looked decent on paper, but the calls were junk and CPC kept climbing. Without proper conversion tracking and call quality scoring, that spend is just disappearing into the void.

zoecreative

exactly. a single week at $109 and you're ready to write off an entire channel. that's not data, that's an emotional reaction. LSAs are expensive, no argument there - but the optimisation window is longer than seven days. I've seen campaigns take 3-6 weeks to even calibrate the lead quality algorithm. if the budget can't survive that, fair enough - switch to Thumbtack or Nextdoor. but calling it quits on one data point is a fast way to burn through every platform in the directory

maya-b2b

honestly, that $210 a week isn't enough spend to judge any channel's performance - you'd need at least two to three times that to hit statistical significance. I've seen businesses burn through far more before seeing consistent conversions.

that said, if Thumbtack and Nextdoor are giving you traction, lean into it. Every market has its sweet spot. Just keep tracking your response rates and cost per lead so you know exactly what's working before scaling.

jamesaso

if you think Google is deliberately trying to fleece small businesses for $200 a week, you're missing the scale. that number is nothing to them - a single employee's lunch. Even if a few thousand businesses were getting "taken advantage of" at that rate, it wouldn't register on their revenue charts.

i've run enough App Store and mobile install campaigns to know that when you see zero ROI like that, it's almost always a tracking or setup problem - not a conspiracy. get someone who actually knows the platform to audit your account.

lucasvid

Exactly. Look at it like a retention chart - that $210/week with zero ROI is a 100% drop-off in the first three seconds. No hook, no value. Google LSAs feel like they're designed to bleed small businesses dry while offering zero transparency on where the money actually goes. switching to Thumbtack or Nextdoor is the smarter play - at least there you're not paying for phantom clicks.