In January, a significant spike in Google ad spend (+76% vs previous day) was observed after making optimizations to scale traffic, including decreasing ROAS targets by 15% and applying seasonality adjustments. This spike seemed disproportionate to the changes made, with some unchanged campaigns seeing a +111% increase in spend.
Initial Investigation
After a 3-4 hour review, Google support was contacted. They initially rejected the case, stating that the observed behavior was normal and within budget limits. The case was closed.
Escalation
Not giving up, the issue was escalated through the Google large customer sales team. Detailed explanations, screenshots, and a belief in a potential bug were provided. The case was escalated to the ads engineering team.
Resolution
After 4 months and over 30 emails, Google support acknowledged a bidding system issue affecting tROAS Shopping campaigns starting January 20th. As a goodwill gesture, a refund of £178,230 was credited to the account.
Conclusion
The persistence paid off, and the refund helped cover the excess ad spend. This experience highlights the importance of thorough investigation and escalation in resolving ad spend anomalies.
