Surfside PPC Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Technical and general information from the podcast's RSS feed.

Surfside PPC Podcast

Surfside PPC

Business

Frequency: 1 episode/8d. Total Eps: 28

A podcast about Google Ads and PPC Advertising by Corey Frankosky from Surfside PPC.

Site

RSS

Apple

Data updated on 22/08/2026

Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

No recent rankings available

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.

See all

https://www.skool.com/surfsideppc
24 shares
https://surfsideppc.com/products/google-ads-course
21 shares
https://surfsideppc.com/pages/training
20 shares

https://www.youtube.com/@Surfsideppc
24 shares
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEzSSbs3Wfe5p4dBzzjrjvw/join
18 shares

https://www.patreon.com/cw/surfsideinbound
24 shares

RSS feed quality and score

Technical evaluation of the podcast's RSS feed quality and structure.

See all

RSS feed quality

To improve

Score global : 58%

Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

Year

Latest published episodes

Recent episodes with titles, durations, and descriptions.

See all

Google Ads Responsive Search Ads: Best Practices - Surfside PPC Podcast Episode 28

Episode 28

Thursday, August 20, 2026 • Duration 15:12

Responsive search ads are the only search ad type you can build in Google Ads now, so getting them right matters more than ever. In episode 28 I walk through a real responsive search ad inside a campaign I just turned on for my own business, a medical PPC campaign at $25 a day. You get my best practices for headlines, pinning, the insertion tools, description lines, and assets.

Your headlines are the most important part of the ad. You get 15, and you can run three responsive search ads per ad group, so that is 45 total headlines Google can test in one ad group. Google mixes your headlines, descriptions, and assets over time to find the combinations that drive leads.

You can pin headlines to position one, two, or three, and position one is the most important spot. Pinning is a preference, not a rule, and sometimes I run two ads in one ad group, pin one and leave the other unpinned to see which performs better. I write six or seven headlines per ad built to be that first headline, and I put calls to action in position two. The first headline should match the service somebody typed in. If I am targeting HVAC advertising agency, I want a headline that says HVAC advertising agency, not best advertising agency.

Before any of that, get your final URL right. Mine points to my Google Ads for dentists page, with keywords like dentist advertising agency and dentist PPC agency. Sending people to a page that does not match what you target is the fastest way to waste budget.

I also cover the insertion tools. Keyword insertion pulls the closest matching keyword from your ad group into the headline, with default text as your backup. Use title case. Location insertion drops the searcher's city into the ad, with a backdrop city for when Google is not sure, and countdown insertion counts down to when an offer ends.

For description lines I like quick hitting copy over full sentences. Dentist Google Ads, contact us, five star rated, 10 plus years in business. Nobody is reading a long description, so answer their questions fast.

On ad strength, good is fine and excellent is the target, but Google does not use it in the auction. Pinning can hold you at good, which is a fine trade.

Then fill out your assets. Images, business name, logo, sitelinks pointed at pages built to convert, callouts, structured snippets, and a call asset, which replaced call only ads.

If you want help writing responsive search ads or setting up campaigns that convert, reach out to Surfside PPC.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

WORK WITH SURFSIDE PPC

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

*My Google Ads Course is Updated and $34.99/Year: https://surfsideppc.com/products/google-ads-course

**Join Surfside PPC Premium For $5/Month: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEzSSbs3Wfe5p4dBzzjrjvw/join

***Get 2 Free Google Ads Training Videos: https://surfsideppc.com/pages/training

****Hire Me For Consulting: https://surfsideppc.com/products/google-ads-consulting

Access premium content on:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/surfsideinbound

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Surfsideppc

SKOOL: https://www.skool.com/surfsideppc

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

WHAT WE GO OVER IN THIS EPISODE:

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

- Why responsive search ads are the only search ad type left

- Why your 15 headlines matter more than anything else

- Pinning headlines to position one, two, and three

- Headline one matches the search, headline two is the CTA

- Keyword insertion, title case, and default text

- Location insertion and your backdrop city

- Images, sitelinks, callouts, and structured snippets

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

RELEVANT URLS

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

▸ Responsive Search Ads: Specs and Best Practices → https://surfsideppc.com/blogs/google-ads/responsive-search-ads

▸ How to Run Google Ads for a Dental Practice → https://surfsideppc.com/blogs/google-ads/google-ads-for-dentists

▸ 5 Ad Copy Metrics That Drive ROI → https://surfsideppc.com/blogs/google-ads/ad-copy-performance-metrics

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

TIMESTAMPS

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

0:00 Responsive Search Ads, Episode 28

0:31 Running a $25 a Day Medical PPC Campaign

0:56 Why Responsive Search Ads Are Your Only Option

1:35 Ask Advisor and AI Generated Ad Copy

2:05 Ad Strength: Good vs Excellent

2:42 Your Final URL and Matching Landing Page

4:06 Your 15 Headlines and Pinning Positions

5:54 Headline 1 Matches the Search, Headline 2 Is the CTA

7:02 Keyword Insertion and Default Text

7:57 Location Insertion and Your Backdrop City

9:05 Countdown Insertion and 45 Total Headlines

10:13 Writing Quick Hitting Description Lines

11:20 Images, Sitelinks, and Call Assets

13:11 Callouts and Structured Snippets

14:10 Best Practices Recap

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

ABOUT SURFSIDE PPC

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Surfside PPC helps businesses grow with Google Ads, Meta Ads, and SEO. Questions? Leave them in the comments, and leave a review if you are up for it. See you on episode 29.

#ResponsiveSearchAds #GoogleAds #PPC #GoogleAdsTutorial #AdCopy #SearchAds

Read moreCollapse

Google Ads AI Max | How It Works and Best Practices - Surfside PPC Podcast Episode 27

Episode 27

Wednesday, July 22, 2026 • Duration 12:57

Google Ads AI Max in 2026 is out of beta and living inside your standard search campaigns, and it's essentially a fusion of Dynamic Search Ads and broad match technology that uses your own website content to find new buyers. This is episode 27 of the Surfside PPC podcast, breaking down how it actually works and when you should (and definitely shouldn't) turn it on.

The short version: AI Max only works if you're feeding it good conversion data. If you're an established account with clean data and around 30 or more monthly conversions, it can find you incremental volume beyond your existing targeting. If you have poor conversion data or none at all, avoid it entirely, because it will happily spend your budget on searches that have nothing to do with your business. I share a real example from a dog trainer client where turning it on pulled in cleaning and grooming searches instead of training leads.

I walk through the two halves you need to understand: search term matching (which opens you up to longer conversational searches like "large oak leaning on my roof after storm") and asset optimization through text customization and final URL expansion, where Google writes headlines from your landing page copy and picks the pages most likely to convert. I also cover the guardrails that keep you in control, brand inclusions and exclusions so you don't cannibalize your branded traffic, URL exclusions so paid clicks never land on your careers or financing pages, locations of interest, and text disclaimers for compliance. Plus the honest take: this is largely a "paid SEO" play, where Google charges you to capture the long-tail traffic your content should already be earning.

If you're trying to figure out whether AI Max makes sense for your account, reach out to Surfside PPC. We do Google Ads consulting and management.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
WORK WITH SURFSIDE PPC
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Not sure if AI Max is right for your account? We help businesses with Google Ads, conversion tracking, campaign strategy, and the systems that turn clicks into real customers → https://surfsideppc.com

▸ Join The Surfside PPC Marketing Academy! Get Access to My Updated Google Ads Course + ALL My Marketing Courses: https://surfsideppc.com/products/surfside-ppc-marketing-academy

PPC Competitor Analysis Tools - Surfside PPC Podcast Episode 26

Episode 26

Tuesday, July 7, 2026 • Duration 15:13

PPC competitive analysis tools in 2026 can tell you what your competitors are bidding on, spending, and running for ad copy, but the truth is you don't need an expensive paid tool to do most of it. This is episode 26 of the Surfside PPC podcast, walking through the free and paid tools I actually use and how to turn that data into a real strategy.

I start with the free tools that do most of the work: the Google Ads Transparency Center to see a competitor's live ads and landing pages, the Google Keyword Planner to pull their most relevant keywords by entering their URL, and plain Google searches to study offers, assets, reviews, and Business Profiles. A big theme is studying the biggest players in your industry (what does Orkin or Terminix do if you're in pest control) because they hire the best agencies and set the standard.

Then I get into the paid tools and where each actually fits: why SpyFu is my favorite and does almost everything I need (especially now that it got its paid data back this year), why SEMrush is really an SEO tool for large sites, and where Ahrefs, Similar Web, and Ad Clarity make sense for bigger competitive intelligence. Most importantly, I cover how to actually use the data, studying competitor landing pages and offers to make yours convert better, rather than just copying their budget. Competitive analysis only gets you so far. You still have to run your own ads and become the competitor everyone else is studying.

If you want help running a full competitor analysis and building a Google Ads strategy from it, reach out to Surfside PPC.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
WORK WITH SURFSIDE PPC
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Want to know exactly what your competitors are bidding on and spending? We help businesses with Google Ads, competitor research, SEO, and the systems that turn clicks into real customers → https://surfsideppc.com

▸ Join The Surfside PPC Marketing Academy! Get Access to My Updated Google Ads Course + ALL My Marketing Courses: https://surfsideppc.com/products/surfside-ppc-marketing-academy

▸ Hire Surfside PPC As Your Marketing Agency or for Consulting: https://surfsideppc.com/pages/contact

Google Ads Performance Max Tutorial For Beginners - Surfside PPC Podcast Episode 25

Episode 25

Tuesday, June 30, 2026 • Duration 24:58

What's up everyone. This is episode 25 of the Surfside PPC podcast, and today it's a Performance Max tutorial. I walk through a real PMax campaign I was running as a test, show you exactly what it did (the good and the ugly), and then go through the whole process of building one from scratch.

Here's the big takeaway: Performance Max takes your inputs literally, so if you don't give it good conversion signals and the right guardrails, it'll happily burn your budget chasing junk. In my own test, a campaign meant to target tree service companies spent $8 on "tree removal for seniors" clicks, just because I hadn't set any search themes to anchor it. That's the kind of thing I want you to avoid.

I get into why search should always come first for lead gen, how to think about branded keywords inside PMax, the "Thermos strategy" for ecommerce product feeds, how asset groups actually work, and why the "$10 a day" approach quietly kills lead gen campaigns. Plus a full walkthrough of setting one up, from objective and bidding all the way to audience signals.

This is part one of a few PMax tutorials I'm putting together. I'll be combining them into a longer Google Ads tutorial for the channel, so stick around for the rest.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
WORK WITH SURFSIDE PPC
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
If you want help getting your Google Ads, Performance Max, or lead gen dialed in, reach out. We handle the ads, the SEO, the content, the whole thing → https://surfsideppc.com

▸ Join Surfside PPC Premium (courses + community): https://surfsideppc.com/a/members/community/
▸ Get 2 Free Google Ads Training Videos: https://surfsideppc.com/pages/training
▸ Hire Me For Consulting: https://surfsideppc.com/products/google-ads-consulting

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
WHAT WE GET INTO
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
- Why PMax takes your inputs literally and how that burns budget
- The signal trap, why a low quality conversion trains the whole campaign to chase junk
- Asset groups vs. ad groups and how to structure them
- The $8 fail, why search themes are not keywords (think broad match on steroids)- The branded keyword debate and using brand traffic to train a new account faster- The "Thermos strategy" for ecommerce product feeds through Merchant Center- Running PMax for niche lead gen like doctors and medical practices- Why the "$10 a day" budget myth kills lead gen campaigns- Google's AI asset generation tools and where they fall short- Building audience signals as your targeting foundation

Google Ads News June 2026 - Surfside PPC Podcast Episode 24

Episode 24

Tuesday, June 23, 2026 • Duration 14:51

*Join Surfside PPC Premium To Get Access To Our Marketing Courses & Community : https://surfsideppc.com/a/members/community/
**Get 2 Free Google Ads Training Videos: https://surfsideppc.com/pages/training
***Hire Me For Consulting: https://surfsideppc.com/products/google-ads-consulting

Join the Surfside PPC Community: Get your specific questions answered & access to premium marketing content
Professional Help: Ready to stop the guesswork? Visit surfsideppc.com for a professional account audit or full management.

---

Google Ads News (June 2026) – The August 17th Pivot

The August 17th update marks a definitive end to "ceiling-based" bidding. For years, Smart Bidding treated your Target CPA as a maximum threshold, often delivering conversions well below your limit. After August 17th, Google will treat your CPA as a mathematical mandate to hit, effectively turning your "ceilings" into "floors." Staying ahead of this pivot is the difference between scaling profit and absorbing intentional spend inflation.

Google is turning your CPA "ceilings" into "floors" on August 17th. As the platform transitions to a model where your settings are treated as targets to be reached rather than limits to stay under, the risk of automated spend inflation is at an all-time high. This episode breaks down how to maintain control in the era of "Target Optimization."

This technical deep dive analyzes the June/August 2026 transition. We dissect three major bidding updates—Smart Bidding Exploration, Promotion Mode, and Bidding Target Optimization—alongside the rollout of SERP-integrated Real Estate Local Services Ads and the Gemini-powered transition from "Ask Advisor" to "Ask Ad Manager."

The following breakdown maps these technical shifts to your Q3 roadmap.

Key Takeaways:

In 2026, the primary competitive lever is the curation of "clean data" signals. As Google automates the "how," your role must shift to controlling the "what" and "when."

* Deploy Smart Bidding Exploration for Search and Pmax (without feeds) so that you can capture untapped queries beyond core targeting, provided your account has high-quality conversion data to prevent an "AI spend sinkhole."* Implement Promotion Mode during peak sales windows so that you can schedule specific budget spikes and adjust "ROAS tolerance," allowing the algorithm to loosen restrictions exactly when conversion rates are highest.* Lower CPA targets manually leading up to August 17th so that Google’s new Bidding Target Optimization doesn't artificially inflate your costs to meet a target you previously used as a safety net.* Utilize Real Estate Local Services Ads so that you capture "no-friction" leads through direct messaging and calls within the SERP, bypassing external funnels like Zillow.* Finalize Business and Personal Verifications so that your account avoids the "unqualified" label, a policy specifically targeting third-party lead generators (e.g., insurance aggregators) to favor reputable, direct advertisers.

White Label Google Ads Management - Surfside PPC Podcast Episode 23

Episode 23

Tuesday, June 16, 2026 • Duration 08:48

*My Google Ads Course is Updated and $34.99/Year: https://surfsideppc.com/products/google-ads-course
**Join Surfside PPC Premium For $5/Month: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEzSSbs3Wfe5p4dBzzjrjvw/join
***Get 2 Free Google Ads Training Videos: https://surfsideppc.com/pages/training
****Hire Me For Consulting: https://surfsideppc.com/products/google-ads-consulting

Access premium content on:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/surfsideinbound
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Surfsideppc
SKOOL: https://www.skool.com/surfsideppc

Join the Surfside PPC Community: Get your specific questions answered
Professional Help: Ready to stop the guesswork? Visit surfsideppc.com for a professional account audit or full management.

---

Scaling Your Agency with White Label Google Ads Management

The Hook Are you a web design agency owner tired of building beautiful sites only to watch clients walk away because you can't handle the "next steps"? Stop leaving high-margin revenue on the table just because you lack an in-house PPC team—it is time to learn how to offer elite Google Ads management under your own brand without ever touching the Google Ads Editor.

Executive Summary Scaling a marketing or creative agency often hits a predictable bottleneck: the "do-it-all" trap. For web design firms specifically, the challenge is fulfilling the demand for traffic and leads once a site goes live. This episode explores how Surfside PPC acts as an "invisible partner," enabling agencies to provide expert-level Google Ads fulfillment without the massive overhead and risk of internal hiring. We dissect the mechanics of the white label model, from the "secret" 50/50 revenue split to branded reporting, demonstrating how you can maintain the client relationship while we handle the technical heavy lifting. The following takeaways provide a strategic roadmap for transitioning from a limited service provider to a scalable, multi-service powerhouse.

Key Takeaways: The "Why" Behind White Labeling

To maintain high-quality results in an ecosystem as complex as Google Ads, agencies must shift from a "generalist" mindset to a "specialist-partnership" model. Attempting to master every algorithm update in-house leads to mediocre results and client churn. By partnering with a specialist, you ensure that every dollar of your client’s budget is managed with expert precision while you focus on the macro growth of your business.

Surfside PPC Podcast Episode 22 - Google Search Ads vs Local Services Ads

Episode 22

Tuesday, June 9, 2026 • Duration 08:54

Access premium content on:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/surfsideinbound
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Surfsideppc
SKOOL: https://www.skool.com/surfsideppc

Join the Surfside PPC Community: Get your specific questions answered
Professional Help: Ready to stop the guesswork? Visit surfsideppc.com for a professional account audit or full management.

---

Maximizing ROI with Google Search Ads vs. Local Services Ads (LSA)

Is your lead flow a predictable engine for growth, or a "feast-or-famine" roller coaster that leaves your crews idle? For home service providers, the choice between Local Services Ads (LSA) and traditional Google Search Ads is no longer a simple preference—it is a high-stakes tactical decision. Failing to architect a sophisticated, hybrid search strategy often leads to market penetration plateaus or a "race to the bottom" on pricing that erodes your margins.

This episode moves beyond the "either/or" fallacy, presenting a roadmap for orchestrating a multi-channel search presence that functions as a defensive moat against competitors. We analyze the shift from being "just another number" in the LSA Pro List to using Search Ads as a high-intent conversion vehicle. By the end of this breakdown, you will understand how to stabilize your lead pipeline and leverage your website as a primary sales closer to maintain brand equity.

While both ad formats compete for the same prime real estate at the top of the Search Engine Results Page (SERP), they operate on fundamentally different mechanisms of value delivery and psychological triggers.

Strategic Takeaways:

Surfside PPC Podcast Episode 21 - Google Ads Optimization Strategies For 2026

Episode 21

Tuesday, June 2, 2026 • Duration 13:52

Access premium content on:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/surfsideinbound
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Surfsideppc
SKOOL: https://www.skool.com/surfsideppc

Join the Surfside PPC Community: Get your specific questions answered
Professional Help: Ready to stop the guesswork? Visit surfsideppc.com for a professional account audit or full management.

---

Google Ads Optimization Strategies for 2026

In the 2026 digital landscape, the efficiency of your search spend is dictated by the strength of the bridge between search intent and user engagement. As Google's automation continues to centralize control, the primary lever for the modern advertiser is no longer manual bid adjustments, but the curation of high-fidelity data signals that filter for quality before the click occurs.

Stop allowing low-intent traffic to erode your profit margins through unfiltered automated bidding. This episode provides the operational blueprint for transitioning from reactive campaign maintenance to a proactive, intent-based optimization framework. We analyze the critical shifts required to thrive in a high-automation environment, focusing on how to architect your account for maximum algorithmic efficiency without sacrificing strategic oversight.

This transition requires a move from managing "clicks" to managing "outcomes." By refining the purity of the data you feed the system, you move from passive participation to a position of sustained competitive advantage.

The evolution of Google Ads has reached a point where competitive advantage is determined by "intent-based" optimization rather than manual effort. Success in 2026 hinges on your ability to provide the algorithm with "data signal purity." By establishing a strict hierarchy between primary and secondary conversions, you ensure the machine learning models are trained on revenue-generating actions rather than superficial engagement metrics. This technical discipline prevents the algorithm from being "diluted" by low-value data, ensuring every automated bid is backed by high-intent signals.

Surfside PPC Podcast Episode 20 - How to use google keyword planner

Episode 20

Wednesday, May 27, 2026 • Duration 15:27

Access premium content on:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/surfsideinbound
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Surfsideppc
SKOOL: https://www.skool.com/surfsideppc

Join the Surfside PPC Community: Get your specific questions answered
Professional Help: Ready to stop the guesswork? Visit surfsideppc.com for a professional account audit or full management.

---

Mastering Google Keyword Planner for SEO and Ad Dominance

Keyword research is the architectural foundation of digital scalability, yet most marketers undermine their growth by relying on "keyword guesswork" rather than empirical data. Identifying profitable search intent is the difference between capturing high-value leads and wasting budget on low-intent traffic. This episode breaks down how to leverage Google Keyword Planner (GKP) to eliminate uncertainty and build a data-backed roadmap for your search campaigns.

We explore a strategic pivot toward a topic-focused SEO strategy, utilizing the GKP to engineer a content flywheel where podcasts, YouTube videos, and blog posts are synchronized around high-value search terms. This episode provides the framework for transforming the GKP from a simple discovery tool into a comprehensive business forecasting engine.

Strategic Takeaways:

A senior strategist views Google Keyword Planner not as a mere "list generator," but as a financial modeling tool. By analyzing bid ranges and competition levels, you can move from reactive planning to proactive ROI projections. This shift allows you to justify marketing spend by predicting specific outcomes—such as a $130 CPA and 46 conversions on a $6,000 monthly spend—before the first ad goes live.

Surfside PPC Podcast Episode 19 - Google Ads Keyword Research Made Easy

Episode 19

Tuesday, May 12, 2026 • Duration 19:56

Access premium content on:
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/surfsideinbound
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Surfsideppc
SKOOL: https://www.skool.com/surfsideppc

Join the Surfside PPC Community: Get your specific questions answered
Professional Help: Ready to stop the guesswork? Visit surfsideppc.com for a professional account audit or full management.

---

Mastering Precision Keyword Research for Google Ads

Niche B2B services and luxury e-commerce share a common enemy: the "broad reach" trap. Unlike local service businesses where "plumber near me" provides a clear path to conversion, industrial parts cleaning or high-end furniture require a surgical approach to keyword research. Standard tools often return generic suggestions that attract bargain hunters rather than business partners or luxury buyers.

Stop wasting your ad budget on low-intent clicks. The difference between a "white bookshelf" and a "walnut mid-century bookshelf" is the difference between a $200 Walmart customer and a $2,000 West Elm lead. If you aren't capturing the specific intent behind the search, you are essentially subsidizing your competitors' market research.

This episode explores the strategic shift from generic targeting to intent-based grouping using Google Keyword Planner. We analyze real-world examples, from industrial surface treatment to high-end office furniture, to demonstrate how to find keywords that actually convert. By the end of this discussion, you will understand how to move your campaigns from a "wide net" approach to high-conversion precision.

Key Takeaways:

Surfside PPC Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Surfside PPC Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other21

Youtube2

Patreon1

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other21

Youtube2

Patreon1

Apple Podcasts

Spotify