Survey Says: PPC is Harder Than It Was 2 Years Ago

Mar 10, 2026 - 2:35 pm 2 by
Filed Under Google Ads

Ppc

The folks at PPCSurvey have released a comprehensive new "State of PPC" report that covers the full gamut of PPC, with responses from over one thousand PPC practitioners. The 72-page free report covers everything from ad platform adoption to LLM usage and includes a wide breadth of responses from in-house marketers and agencies, all with different budgets, company sizes, and locations.

Is PPC Easier Today?

One of the most interesting answers that I found in the survey was that 53% of respondents claimed that managing PPC campaigns is "harder" than it was 2 years ago. A mere 16% thought that it was "easier" than it was 2 years ago, and 31% said it was "about the same."

Of those in the minority who thought it was easier, their rationale was:

  • Improved automated bidding - noted by 45% of "easier" respondents
  • The use of AI/LLMs - noted by 39% of "easier" respondents
  • Improved automated targeting - noted by 38% of "easier" respondents

The more important question, however, may be why the majority think that PPC management is harder than it was two years ago. The most common reasons are:

  • Less insight from ad platforms - noted by 62% of "harder" respondents
  • Less accuracy - noted by 62% of "harder" respondents
  • Increased competition - noted by 45% of "harder" respondents
  • Less control - noted by 43% of "harder" respondents

There is a treasure trove of PPC information, facts, and figures in the State of PPC report, and the full report is available as a free (ungated) download over at PPCSurvey. Head on over to get all the deets on challenges, platforms, AI, pricing models, and more!

 

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