Performance Marketing Is Breaking and Nobody Wants to Admit It
Remember when Google Ads actually worked?
When search intent was clean. CPCs made sense. CTRs meant something. When you could run a well-targeted campaign and get consistent, scalable results.
That’s over.
Google’s ad product, once the gold standard for performance marketers, has regressed. Not evolved. Not transformed. Regressed.
CTR is down. CPCs are up. Attribution is messier than ever. AI overviews are choking organic and paid results. And support? Don’t even bother.
What used to be a performance engine has turned into a black box of cost inflation, automation overreach, and strategic dilution.
Google Isn’t Optimizing for Performance, It’s Optimizing for Margin
Let’s not sugarcoat it. Performance Max is a glorified gamble. Smart bidding feels less like optimization and more like throwing darts in a foggy room.
You’re not buying intent anymore. You’re buying exposure in a system that’s constantly trying to spend your budget as fast as possible, with zero transparency.
Campaigns that were successful six months ago are now falling flat. Not because the offer changed. Not because the market changed. But because the system changed.
AI Overviews Are Breaking the Discovery Flow
This is a bigger problem than people realize.
AI overviews in search are hijacking the user’s natural discovery path. People don’t click anymore — they skim. The SERP used to be a gateway. Now it’s a wall.
Your ad might still be there. Your organic listing might still rank. However, the user’s attention has already been captured by a stitched-together summary, with no incentive to dig deeper.
Google is cannibalizing its own value proposition in the name of AI.
Meta Is Better, But Still a Mess
Meta’s ad platform is more stable. But let’s not pretend it’s perfect.
CPMs are swinging wildly. Creative fatigue hits faster than ever. The algorithm wants volume, not intent. Attribution windows are compressed to the point of uselessness.
And Meta’s internal recommendations? Often, the fastest way to burn a budget.
Everyone’s Copying Everyone and It’s Ruining the User Experience
Google wants to be TikTok (YouTube Shorts). TikTok wants to be Amazon (Shop tab). Meta wants to be YouTube (long-form video).
No one is actually building for users anymore. They’re building for retention metrics. Engagement hacks. Internal shareholder decks.
The platforms are converging. The result is a worse experience for users and a more challenging time for marketers.
Marketers Are Measuring the Wrong Things
Let’s talk about metrics.
CTR doesn’t mean what it used to. High click-through rates don’t necessarily equal high intent.
ROAS is fragile. One attribution hiccup and the entire model collapses.
GA4? A usability disaster. First-party data strategies? Still half-baked for most brands.
We’re optimizing for numbers that no longer convey any meaningful information. It’s a loop of self-deception.
The Consumer Hasn’t Changed. The Platform Incentives Have.
Here’s the irony.
People still want what they’ve always wanted:
- A clear offer
- A sense of confidence
- Proof they’re not wasting their money
But platforms no longer prioritize any of that. They prioritize keeping users in-system. They prioritize ad impressions. They prioritize machine learning “efficiency” over human clarity.
The user is no longer the customer. The advertiser is. And the advertiser is getting fleeced.
So What Do You Do?
- Go back to fundamentals. Clear positioning. Irresistible offers. Simple journeys.
- Diversify channels. If you’re still 90% reliant on Google or Meta, you’re vulnerable. Explore Reddit, YouTube, native, influencer-led content, newsletters, and communities.
- Stop trusting the platform. Test everything. Track outside the system. Use your own data. Trust your own signals.
- Invest in brand. Not fluff. But brand as in meaning. Memory. Context. The one thing performance media can’t fake.
Final Thought
Performance marketing isn’t dead. But it’s wounded. And the people selling you the bandages are the ones who caused the injury.
Don’t just keep spending and hoping it’ll work again. Audit everything. Challenge the defaults. Change the channel. Rewrite the playbook.
The game has changed. Stop pretending it hasn’t.
And if you’re still chasing CTRs and trusting the machine, you’re playing to lose.
