Overspending Your Google Ads Daily Budget? Here's Why.

Have you ever set up a Google Ads campaign, confidently inputting your daily budget, only to find that you’ve spent twice as much as you expected? It can be a shock to the system to see such a large chunk of your budget go in just a few days. Here is what is happening!

How Budgets Work in Google Ads

When you create a campaign, you are asked to specify a daily budget. However, Google Ads technically works on a monthly budget schedule. This means that the maximum amount you can spend over a monthly period is your daily budget multiplied by the average number of days in a month (30.4 days). For example, if your daily budget is $100, your monthly maximum would be $3,040 ($100 x 30.4).

Overspending Your Daily Budget?

But, here’s the catch. Google gives itself some wiggle room to spend up to 2x your daily budget on any given day - so you could potentially see $200 in spend for a $100 daily budget. This is because Google optimizes your campaign spending for days when you are more likely to get clicks and conversions. The ultimate goal is to maximize your ad exposure and ensure you meet your campaign goals.

Why Google Does This

So, why does Google do it this way? In my opinion, this is because they want you to spend your budget before the month is up, and increase your budget as a result, which would increase your advertising spend and boost Google’s revenue. But, according to Google, it's about optimizing your campaign for the best possible results. Either way, the result is that you may end up spending more than your daily budget from time to time.

If you’re worried about spending more than you can afford, here is something you can do to keep the costs under control. Set a lower daily budget to start with and see how your campaign performs before increasing it. You can also monitor your campaign closely during the first few days and adjust your daily budget accordingly to avoid overspending.

By keeping a close eye on your campaign and adjusting your daily budget as needed, you can ensure that you get the best results without overspending. So set your budget with confidence and keep an eye on your campaign's performance to successfully hit your marketing goals.

Use this calculator to find your spend limit for your specific campaign!