Rick Hecker

A brown paper parcel on a roller conveyor inside a lit glass gateway, with more gateways receding into fog between still water and misty trees.

Cascader Lists

Approved where? Seven Merchant Center beliefs Google Ads doesn't share

Seven beliefs merchants and forum helpers have posted about Merchant Center and Shopify's Google & YouTube app, each quoted and dated: an app's "Approved," a product that's visible, a quiet feed. Each one is corrected from Google's help pages and comes with one check you can run in the account.

Other Queries

Which one was it?

Illustration: a plumber lying under a kitchen sink stretches for a buzzing phone just out of reach, while through a doorway a woman at an office desk takes a call and writes in a book.

Cascader Answers

Search ads didn't work for your plumbing or home-service business. Should the budget move to Local Services Ads?

For local home-service owners, with plumbing as the worked example: when to move a weekly budget from Search ads into Local Services Ads, and how to test the move before trusting it.

A Chicago man thinks about Denver. “Presence or interest” location targeting stamps his thought “ELIGIBLE.” It reaches an empty dental chair; the dentist asks, “Can you send the rest of him?”

The Missing Patient

Watercolour-style illustration of a two-tier stone fountain on pale flagstones against a cream plaster wall. Thin streams of water pour from a small upper bowl into a wider lower basin.

What "Low priority, 50%" leaves out

Google says Low priority with a 50% allocation keeps your Display setup through the February 2027 change to Search campaigns. As of October 16, 2026, Google described that setup as running at similar cost per conversion to Search. Neither setting in the recipe is about cost.

Three-panel “NEGATIVE KEYWORDS” comic: a bouncer blocks a man labeled “job.” He clips on an “s” to become “jobs.” The same bouncer welcomes him: “Never seen you before.”

The One-Letter Disguise

Basil, tomato and pepper seedlings in terracotta pots on a greenhouse bench in warm sunlight; a blank paper tag hangs on a bamboo cane beside the center tomato.

Cascader Answers

Which Google Ads changes trigger “Learning”, does a new ad count, and how long should you wait to judge a change?

Google's help pages say budget, target, ad and targeting changes never put a Smart Bidding strategy into “Learning”. Shown or not, the label doesn't tell you when to judge a change. Your conversion cycle and volume do. Judge too early and you may reverse a change that was working.

Yesterday’s Clicks

A paved path curves across a frosty lawn and a worn dirt track runs beside it; both lead to a wrought-iron gate in a stone wall, with misty trees and a low sun beyond.

Cascader Research

Who the Top Slot Moves

Same-ad studies shrink the top slot's click gain to a fraction of the raw curve. Who it moves, what a new visitor costs, and how to test it.

Last-click Attribution

A warm shop interior: an empty pale stone plinth on a jute rug under a pendant lamp. To the left, an open blue door shows a stockroom with shelves of plain cardboard boxes.

Cascader Answers

Merchant Center shows my products. Why does Google Ads say there are none?

Merchant Center seeing your products doesn't mean your store's Google app is connected, or that Google Ads can use them. Read which data source they sit under, test the link, then read the campaign's product list.

Approved where? Seven Merchant Center beliefs Google Ads doesn't share

Other Queries

Search ads didn't work for your plumbing or home-service business. Should the budget move to Local Services Ads?

The Missing Patient

What "Low priority, 50%" leaves out

The One-Letter Disguise

Which Google Ads changes trigger “Learning”, does a new ad count, and how long should you wait to judge a change?

Yesterday’s Clicks

Who the Top Slot Moves

Last-click Attribution

Merchant Center shows my products. Why does Google Ads say there are none?

Google Ads Password Manager