DTC Podcast Ep 534: Google’s 90% “New Customer” Illusion: How To See What Your Ads Are Really Doing | AKNF
12 snips
Aug 15, 2025 
In this conversation, Dougie from Pilothouse shares his expertise in Google Ads, focusing on the critical misinterpretation of customer acquisition data. He reveals how Google erroneously labels returning customers as new, skewing marketing strategies. Dougie explains the advantages of server-side tracking for accurate data capture and conversion insights. He emphasizes the importance of aligning ad campaigns with true business outcomes and offers practical tips for auditing and enhancing overall ad performance.
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Optimize To A Net‑New Conversion Goal
- Optimize Google campaigns to a net-new conversion action rather than audience segmentation.
- Pick a conversion goal aligned to net-new so the algorithm trains on the right performance target.
From Low‑Quality Leads To Qualified Signals
- Pilothouse applied lead‑gen learnings to DTC: feed quality signals back into platforms to improve outcomes.
- They shifted from counting raw leads/purchases to qualifying conversions before optimizing bids.
Bad Data Breaks Automated Bidding
- Bad input data trains bidding algorithms poorly and degrades performance over time.
- Dougie compares it to AI prompts: garbage inputs produce garbage outputs in automated bidding.