Good morning Owner,
The Trades Titan exists for one reason. To help home service
business owners scale through marketing without the confusion
and build a legacy worth having.
Every week that means one real finding from inside real
contractor accounts. No fluff. No theory. Just what is
actually happening right now and exactly what to do about it.
Last week I covered how Google quietly routes your ad budget to mobile gaming apps and exactly how to block it. If you missed it: [Link to Issue #1]
This week: how to find out how much has already been stolen and build the case to get it back.
$1,234.67. Gone. In 30 days.
Over 50% of one client's entire monthly budget.
Not to homeowners searching for a contractor.
To bots. Mobile games. A Search Partner Network that spent $453 with zero calls.
None of it showed up on the dashboard.
I ran the same audit across several of the accounts we manage. Total wasted spend across just 7 accounts: $5,345. None of these owners had any idea.
Here's exactly how I found it.
THE FOUR REPORTS THAT EXPOSE EVERYTHING
Each one takes less than 5 minutes to pull. Together they show you exactly where your money went.
🔍 Report 1: The PMax Placement Report
This shows every app and website where Google actually ran your ads.
Campaigns → Insights and Reports → Report Editor → Create Report → Dropdown: When and Where Ads Showed → Performance Max Campaigns Placement → Download → CSV
What you're looking for: mobile apps and gaming categories. If your ad ran inside Block Blast or My Talking Tom, it's in here. Write it down. That's your evidence.
🔍 Report 2: When Ads Showed
This is where I found 35 time slots running above 30% CTR. Thursday at 3am was at 64%.
Campaigns → Insights and Reports → When and Where Ads Showed → When Ads Showed
What you're looking for: CTR between 11pm and 6am. Above 15% is a red flag. Above 30% is bots. At 64% there is no other explanation.
🔍 Report 3: Where Ads Showed
This shows which websites your ads appeared on. This is where you find the garbage sites quietly eating your budget.
Campaigns → Insights and Reports → When and Where Ads Showed → Where Ads Showed → Download → CSV
What you're looking for: sort by spend. CTR above 10% on a site you've never heard of? Almost certainly bots.
🔍 Report 4: Device Report
Tablets and TV screens almost never convert for home service businesses.
Campaigns → Insights and Reports → When and Where Ads Showed → Devices tab
What you're looking for: spend on tablets or TV screens with zero conversions. In the account I audited, Google charged for TV screen clicks even though a -100% bid adjustment had been set to block them. The algorithm ignored its own settings and spent the money anyway.
BUILD YOUR EVIDENCE FILE IN MINUTES, NOT HOURS
You've got four CSV files now. Don't touch Excel.
Open ChatGPT or Gemini. Upload all four files. Paste this exact prompt:
"I am a [roofer / plumber / HVAC contractor]. Analyze this Google Ads data as a forensics expert. Find placements or timing that look like fraud. Add up the total wasted spend. Look for apps or websites with lots of clicks but no conversions. Make a table showing the bad placements, wasted clicks, and total money spent. Include everything needed to prove to Google we deserve a refund."
The AI builds your evidence table in seconds. Save it. You'll need it next week.
⚠️ CHECK THIS BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE
See if Google already quietly credited your account.
Billing → Summary → look for "Invalid Activity"
If there's a credit, Google caught some of it. Good. But their filters only catch a fraction of what's actually hitting your account. That credit is almost always smaller than the real problem.
The gap between what Google credited and what was actually stolen is what we're going after next week.
The most dangerous line in your Google Ads account isn't your cost per click.
It's Search Partners spend with zero conversions.
In one account: $453.41 spent. 96 clicks. Zero calls.
Pull that report today. If you see the same pattern, you have a case worth filing.
Next week I'll show you the exact form to file your claim with Google. The exact language that gets it treated as a systemic failure instead of a routine complaint. And what to do if they say no.
That's it for this week.
One audit. Four reports. One evidence file.
If this helped, forward it to a contractor friend running Google Ads. The 60-day refund window is already running on their account right now.
Talk soon,
Paul
Paul Parnell
Founder, Level Up | The Trades Titan
Helping home service companies go from $2M to $5M
thetradestitan.com
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