Google Ads: CTC's Complete Playbook

Tony Chopp, VP of Paid Media at Common Thread Collective, breaks down CTC's Google Ads Canon, the complete framework we use to turn Google into a true demand-harvesting machine for 7-9 figure ecommerce brands. Learn how to expand your search frontier beyond product queries, set incrementality-adjusted ROAS targets, and structure campaigns for maximum profitable growth.

In this episode:

• Why Google is demand harvesting, not demand creation — and why that distinction changes everything

• The four-quadrant search term framework: mapping competition vs. volume to find untapped intent

• Expanding your search frontier into problem and use-case queries (the silicone ring example)

• Landing page strategy: matching page intent to query intent, not defaulting to generic PDPs

• The trifecta: smart bidding + broad match + responsive search ads

• Incrementality-adjusted bidding: Google brand benchmark = 0.27 iROAS, non-brand = 0.6 iROAS

• Six-campaign structure: Brand Search, Non-Brand Search, and PMax/Shopping split by acquisition vs. retention

• Brand search defense strategy: when to bid aggressively and when to pull back

• Feed optimization: complete attributes, optimized titles, daily updates, less than 10% disapproval rate

• How Statlas normalizes iROAS across all channels for true apples-to-apples budget allocation

Key Stat: Google brand search has an average incrementality benchmark of 0.27 — meaning most of that attributed revenue would have happened anyway. Are you bidding against platform numbers or real incremental numbers?

Show Notes:

• Your free LTV audit is waiting at smile.io: https://bit.ly/4bKlMCv

• Explore the Prophit Engine: https://commonthreadco.com/pages/prophit-engine

• The Ecommerce Playbook mailbag is open — email us at podcast@commonthreadco.com to ask us any questions you might have