Why Google Ads Fail After the Click
đ§Cognitive Layering: The Google Ads Strategy Most Marketers Overlook, Ads Meet AI Overviews: Google Unlocks New Ad Surfaces in Search, and more!
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In this newsletter, youâll find:
đ§ Cognitive Layering: The Google Ads Strategy Most Marketers Overlook
đ§ Ads Meet AI Overviews: Google Unlocks New Ad Surfaces in Search
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đ§Cognitive Layering: The Google Ads Strategy Most Marketers Overlook
Most marketers treat Google Ads like a slot machine: pick keywords, set bids, write headlines. But the best-performing accounts arenât better at picking keywords. Theyâre better at organizing cognition.
Behind every query is a stack of mental layers:
What the user thinks they want
What theyâre really trying to solve
How emotionally resolved they are
Where they sit in their buying arc
If your ad only answers one of those layers, you lose the click, or worse, the conversion.
The Real Challenge: Parallel Mental Tracks
Hereâs the mistake most Google Ads setups make:
They group keywords by topic, not by intent.
They write ads for the product, not the problem.
They mismatch the emotional temperature with the landing page tone.
Thatâs why the system underperforms, because itâs flat.
Cognitive Layering in Action
You donât need more keywords. You need keyword architecture.
Step 1: Group by Cognitive State, Not Just Theme
âBest vitamin stack for energy,â â âenergy supplements that workâ
One is exploratory, the other is skeptical
They need different tones, CTAs, and landing copy
Step 2: Align Copy With Mental Layer
For urgent searches: Short tension â fast solution
For curious searchers: Curiosity loop â proof element â micro CTA
For fatigued buyers: Empathy mirror â âno guessworkâ positioning
Step 3: Resolve the Loop Post-Click
Donât just match headlines to queries
Match the emotional context to the visual story
If your ad carries speed but your page slows down, youâve broken the thread
Layered creative only works if the viewer processes it in the right sequence.
Neurons help test if your visual and message hierarchy actually flows the way you intended, before the spend goes live. You can book a free demo with Neurons here and de-risk your cognitive stack before launch.
Closing Insight
Every keyword isnât just a search term. Itâs a window into what the brain is doing.
Layer your messaging to mirror that thought stack, and your Google Ads wonât just get clicks, theyâll carry belief forward from search to site to sale.
The best keyword strategy isnât about coverage. Itâs about mental precision.
đ§ Ads Meet AI Overviews: Google Unlocks New Ad Surfaces in Search
Google is now serving ads directly within AI Overviews on Search, not just above or below them. This rollout affects all 200+ markets globally for surface-level placements and is currently live within Overviews in English for U.S. users, considering both the original query and AI-generated content, pulling from existing Search, Shopping, and Performance Max campaigns to deliver contextually aligned ads.
The Breakdown:
âą Ads inside AI Overviews follow dual relevance logic - For an ad to show inside an AI Overview, it must match both the user query and the generated overview content, ensuring ads arenât just keyword-aligned but also context-aware based on AI output.
âą Complex queries open new commercial windows - AI Overviews typically appear on broad, nuanced queries like âhow to clean a green pool.â Google uses semantic cues and AI-generated suggestions to infer commercial intent, like surfacing ads for pool vacuums even if the query wasnât overtly commercial.
âą Broad match and smart bidding now essential - Since keywords alone arenât enough, Google recommends broad match or Performance Max setups combined with smart bidding because these AI-powered tools adapt to ambiguous queries and evolving overview content more effectively.
âą Feed health and creative quality matter more than ever - For Shopping ads to qualify, retailers need clean, up-to-date product feeds with detailed attributes and strong visuals. High-quality content helps the AI match products to nuanced overview topics.
Googleâs AI Overviews are reshaping search intent, and now, monetization too. By blending query understanding with generative context, the ad system reaches users during high-curiosity moments, not just transactional ones.
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