A new Google Ads account has no conversion history, so the first job is verified conversion tracking and the second is a bidding setup that does not depend on data you do not have yet. Google says a bid strategy can take up to around 50 conversion events or 3 conversion cycles to calibrate. The ranked checks are tracking, Smart Bidding launched before any conversions, a missing brand campaign, a budget too small to reach conversions, and changing things before the account has learned.
The four questions and five causes below are the same playbook the free campaign troubleshooter runs. Here each cause also names the PaidSync tool that checks it in your own account and the change you can preview before anything is applied.
Answer yes or no to each. Every cause below says which answer points to it.
Points here when you answer No to question 1.
Without verified tracking, a conversion-based bid strategy learns from nothing. Create a conversion action for the real outcome (a purchase, a lead, a booked call), fire it on the confirmation page or event rather than on page load, and confirm it with Tag Assistant before any spend. Then check that the action's status reads Active.
get_conversion_tracking_status, list_conversion_actions, audit_gtm_container
Ask your assistant: “Before I spend, check conversion tracking on my new Google Ads account. Which conversion actions exist, what is their status, and does my Tag Manager container have the Google Ads conversion tag and a conversion linker?”
create_conversion_action returns the conversion action it would create while dry_run is on. setup_google_ads_conversion builds the tag, trigger and conversion linker in a new Tag Manager workspace. It has no dry run, but nothing goes live until that workspace is published.
Points here when you answer No to question 2.
Google says a bid strategy can take up to around 50 conversion events or 3 conversion cycles to calibrate, and that starting from a foundation of conversion data drives results faster. A new account has none. Start on Manual CPC, record your first conversions, then move to Maximize conversions or a target CPA.
list_campaigns, get_campaign_details
Ask your assistant: “Which bid strategy does each campaign use, and how many conversions has the account recorded so far?”
update_campaign defaults to dry_run and shows the switch to MANUAL_CPC before it is applied. create_search_campaign also defaults to Manual CPC and Search only, with Search partners and Display off, and creates the campaign paused.
Points here when you answer No to question 3.
People searching your company name already want you. Put brand terms in their own campaign with their own budget, so category keywords cannot spend the money meant for them and you can read brand and non-brand results apart. If competitors bid on your name, this campaign is how you answer.
get_search_terms_report, get_keyword_performance, list_campaigns
Ask your assistant: “How many clicks and how much spend came from searches containing my brand name, and which campaigns served them?”
create_search_campaign defaults to dry_run and returns the brand campaign it would create. A live call creates it paused, so it can be reviewed before it serves.
Points here when you answer No to question 4.
A budget that runs out early each day, or a campaign that stops after a few weeks, gives the bidder too few conversions to calibrate on. Google cites up to around 50 conversion events or 3 conversion cycles. Work out how long your budget takes to buy that many conversions at your expected cost per conversion. If the answer is many months, start with fewer campaigns or fewer keywords so the budget concentrates.
get_budget_pacing, get_campaign_details
Ask your assistant: “At my daily budget and current cost per conversion, how many weeks until each campaign records 50 conversions?”
update_campaign_budget defaults to dry_run and returns the daily budget it would set before it is applied. Budget updates also need confirm_destructive.
Points here when you answer Yes to all four questions and the causes above are ruled out.
The first weeks are for learning, not optimizing. Google advises letting at least one conversion cycle pass before judging performance. Review once you have a meaningful number of conversions, then change one thing at a time.
get_change_history, get_operator_change_log
Ask your assistant: “List every change made to the account in the last 30 days and who made it, including changes PaidSync made.”
Holding steady needs no change, so there is nothing to preview. get_operator_change_log returns each change PaidSync made with a before-and-after outcome, which shows whether an early tweak moved anything.
In the PaidSync workspace, by default, every write is approval-gated: it is held as a card before it runs, and an applied card gets a one-tap undo. On every path, Google Ads creates and most other creates are previewed with dry_run, destructive operations need confirm_destructive, and applied changes are logged, on a best-effort basis, with a 7-day before-and-after outcome. When your own assistant calls PaidSync over MCP, no card is written, so whether a person confirms first is set in your assistant.
The full model, including what is not built yet, is on the security page.
Run this check in Claude, Claude Code, Cursor or ChatGPT. Connect Google Ads once, then paste any of the questions above to your assistant.
Not sure which symptom fits? The free Google Ads audit tool scores wasted spend, structure, Quality Score and Performance Max, and the campaign troubleshooter runs its playbooks without an account.
Google does not give a number of days. It says a bid strategy can take up to around 50 conversion events or 3 conversion cycles to calibrate, and advises letting at least one conversion cycle pass before evaluating performance. The time that takes depends on your budget and your cost per conversion.
Smart Bidding learns from conversion data, and a new account has none. Google notes that a solid foundation of conversion data drives results faster. Starting on Manual CPC and moving to Maximize conversions or a target CPA once conversions are recorded avoids asking the bidder to learn from nothing.
A separate brand campaign keeps searches for your name from sharing a budget with category keywords, and lets you read brand and non-brand results apart.
That a conversion action exists for the real outcome, that its tag fires on the confirmation page or event in Tag Assistant, and that the action's status in Goals, Conversions reads Active once conversions arrive.
In the PaidSync workspace, by default, every write is approval-gated: it is held as a card before it runs, and an applied card gets a one-tap undo. On every path, Google Ads creates and most other creates are previewed with dry_run, destructive operations need confirm_destructive, and applied changes are logged, on a best-effort basis, with a 7-day before-and-after outcome. When your own assistant calls PaidSync over MCP, no card is written, so whether a person confirms first is set in your assistant.