Why Your Google Ads is Not Working And How to Fix Them

Google Ads can be a serious revenue driver in Dubai. The problem is that many businesses spend consistently and still do not see meaningful returns. Leads come in low quality, costs creep up, and the campaign becomes a monthly expense instead of a growth engine.

If that sounds familiar, you are not alone. A well known analysis shared by WordStream found that small businesses wasted around 25 percent of their paid search spend due to ineffective management and setup issues.  

Now add the Dubai reality. Competition is high, user expectations are high, and Google dominates search behavior in the UAE with a market share above 95 percent. That means if your Google Ads strategy is weak, you are not just wasting budget. You are missing the main source of demand.  

This blog is a practical system. It will help you diagnose why performance is weak, fix the foundation, and then apply the optimizations that actually move ROI.

Why Google Ads underperforms in Dubai more often than people expect

Most campaign failures are not caused by one thing. They are caused by a chain of small mistakes that compound.

A business launches Google Ads with basic tracking, broad keywords, and a generic landing page. The ads start spending immediately. Clicks come in. A few leads show up. The team assumes it is working.

Then reality hits.

Leads are unqualified. Costs per lead rise. Sales says the leads are not serious. Marketing says Google Ads is too expensive. The founder loses trust in paid search.

The truth is simpler. Google Ads is doing exactly what the account tells it to do. If the inputs are wrong, the output will be wrong.

Let us fix the inputs.

Step 1 Set up conversion tracking like you actually care about revenue

If conversion tracking is wrong, everything that follows is guesswork. Smart bidding, Performance Max, keyword optimization, landing page decisions, all of it becomes noise.

Most Dubai businesses track the wrong conversion.

They track a button click. A page view. A form start. Or they track nothing and assume leads equal results.

Here is the correct approach.

First, track real business outcomes. For lead generation this means form submissions, calls, WhatsApp clicks, booking confirmations, and qualified lead milestones where possible. For ecommerce this means purchases with real value.

Second, choose one primary conversion that represents success and keep the rest as secondary. That helps the account optimize toward what matters.

Third, make sure your measurement is stable. If you change conversions every week, you reset the learning and you never build momentum.

If you want a benchmark reference for common PPC metrics like conversion rate and cost per lead, WordStream publishes updated Google Ads benchmark reports. Use them as directional context, not as a promise of results.  

Step 2 Fix the biggest money leak search intent mismatch

Most wasted spend is not caused by bad ads. It is caused by buying the wrong traffic.

The keyword may look relevant, but the intent behind it is wrong.

In Dubai, this is common because businesses want volume fast and they go broad. They target keywords that attract researchers and comparison shoppers, not buyers.

You want commercial intent.

Commercial intent keywords sound like this.

People searching for agency services in Dubai, pricing, company names, near me, best, consultant, provider, quote, book, hire.

Informational intent keywords sound like this.

How to, what is, guide, examples, templates, free.

Informational keywords can be useful for content strategy, but they usually perform poorly for direct lead generation unless you have a nurturing funnel built around them.

This one shift changes everything. When keywords match intent, your leads improve, your conversion rate improves, and your cost per qualified lead drops.

Step 3 Your campaign structure is probably too messy or too compressed

Dubai accounts often fail in two opposite ways.

One, everything is dumped into one campaign and one ad group. Google cannot understand what to prioritize because signals are mixed.

Two, the account is split into too many campaigns with too little data in each. Nothing gets enough conversions to learn.

A strong structure is focused and readable.

If you are a service business, separate campaigns by service intent. SEO, Webflow, branding, paid ads, and keep them clean.

If you are ecommerce, separate by category and margin, and protect your best sellers from budget dilution.

The goal is simple. Each campaign should represent a clear user intent and a clear business outcome.

Step 4 Negative keywords are the fastest win most accounts ignore

If you do nothing else, do this.

Every week, open the search terms report and remove irrelevant queries. This is where budgets leak quietly.

WordStream’s older SMB research about wasted PPC spend ties the waste directly to poor management and lack of ongoing optimization. This is still the same problem today, just with more automation added on top.  

In Dubai, common irrelevant searches include jobs, salary, internship, free, cheap, DIY, template, course, certification.

If you are an agency, you do not want traffic from people who want to learn marketing. You want traffic from people who want to buy marketing.

Negative keywords turn your campaign from a wide net into a qualified pipeline.

Step 5 Your ads are not doing enough work

Many Dubai campaigns run ads that sound like everyone else.

Generic headline. Generic promise. No proof. No positioning. No reason to click.

A good ad does three things.

It matches intent. It highlights a meaningful outcome. It reduces perceived risk.

The best way to improve ads is not to write pretty copy. It is to write clear copy that answers what the buyer cares about.

If the query is SEO agency Dubai, the user cares about ranking outcomes, lead growth, timeline, and trust.

If the query is Webflow agency Dubai, the user cares about speed, performance, scalability, and reliability.

Your ad should reflect that.

Also, remember what CTR actually is. It is clicks divided by impressions. Google documents this clearly and it is the simplest health signal for relevance.  

Do not chase CTR as a vanity metric, but use it as a warning sign. If your CTR is consistently weak on high intent keywords, your message is not aligned.

Step 6 Use assets properly because you are leaving space on the table

Google Ads assets, previously called extensions, increase how much real estate you take on the page and how much trust you build in one glance.

Sitelinks are not decoration. They are conversion paths.

Call assets matter in Dubai because many users prefer calling instead of filling long forms.

Location assets matter when there is physical presence.

If your account is not using assets consistently, you are competing with one hand tied behind your back.

Step 7 Your landing page is probably the real reason leads are not converting

Even the best campaign cannot survive a weak landing page.

Dubai users are fast. They judge fast. If the page is slow, unclear, or generic, they leave.

Here is what your landing page must do above the fold.

• Say exactly what you do. Say who it is for. Show proof. Give one clear next step.
• Your landing page should also match the ad. If your ad promises Google Ads management for Dubai businesses, your landing page should open with that. Not a generic agency homepage.

A practical way to think about landing page performance is this.

When landing pages improve, conversion rates can improve dramatically without changing spend. That means your ROI increases without increasing traffic.

Step 8 Smart bidding is not magic it needs clean data and patience

Automation can work well, but it is not a shortcut.

If you turn on smart bidding without enough conversions or without correct tracking, you automate the wrong thing faster.

Use automation only when the foundation is stable.

Google smart bidding needs conversion data to learn. Let it learn. Do not panic and change settings every two days. That resets learning and keeps the account unstable.

If you are using remarketing lists for search ads, Googles own case studies show large lifts in conversion rate and ROI in some implementations. Results vary, but it validates the strategy when done properly.  

Step 9 Remarketing is where Dubai ROI usually improves fastest

Most people do not convert on the first visit. Especially in B2B and high ticket services.

Remarketing keeps you in the consideration set while the buyer is comparing vendors.

The key is segmentation.

• A user who visited your pricing page should see different messaging than a user who bounced after ten seconds.
• A user who started a form should see a follow up experience designed to reduce hesitation.

Think With Google highlights strong outcomes for RLSA, which supports why remarketing based search can be a high impact layer when done with clean intent and messaging.  

Step 10 Measure the KPIs that actually matter in Dubai

Clicks are not success. Impressions are not success. Even leads are not success if they are low quality.

Here are the KPIs that matter.

1. Cost per qualified lead, not cost per lead.
2. Lead to opportunity rate, not form submit count.
3. Pipeline value influenced by ads, not just last click conversions.
4. Search term relevance, because it predicts lead quality.

If you want external benchmarking for conversion and cost metrics, WordStream publishes aggregated benchmark data, but always compare it against your own margins and sales cycle.  

A practical 30 day action plan to fix an underperforming account

Week one is measurement and leak control. Fix conversion tracking, clean up search terms, add negative keywords, implement assets, and ensure the landing page matches intent.

Week two is intent and structure. Tighten keyword match types, isolate high intent campaigns, rewrite ads for clarity and proof, and remove low value traffic sources.

Week three is optimization. Introduce smart bidding only if conversion data is stable. Add remarketing segments. Adjust bids based on real lead quality.

Week four is refinement. Review performance, refine messaging, test landing page variants, and document the playbook so the account improves consistently instead of randomly.

If you do this properly, you will usually see two outcomes.

Cost per lead stabilizes and lead quality improves. That is when Google Ads becomes a scalable channel again.

Conclusion

If your Google Ads are not working in Dubai, the solution is rarely more budget. It is almost always a foundation issue, an intent issue, or a conversion experience issue.

Fix measurement first. Align intent second. Improve landing pages third. Then use automation and remarketing to scale.

Google dominates search in the UAE. When your campaigns are built correctly, the opportunity is huge.  

CTA

If you want Carril Agency to audit your Google Ads account and rebuild it into a predictable lead engine, email info@carrilagency.com.

We will review your tracking, search intent, structure, ads, and landing pages, then give you a clear plan to improve ROI without guesswork.