Rebuild or fix
Should you fix your Google Ads account or start over?
Almost always fix it. An existing account holds conversion history that the bidding algorithms depend on, and starting fresh discards it. Rebuild campaigns inside the same account rather than creating a new one — and never create a new account just to escape poor performance.
Why a new account is usually a mistake
Account history has real value. Google's automated bidding learns from accumulated conversion data, and quality scores build on performance over time. A new account starts with none of that and typically performs worse for months.
The instinct to start clean is understandable and expensive. Campaigns can be rebuilt from scratch inside the existing account, which gets you a clean structure while keeping the history.
Fix these before considering anything drastic
In order of return:
- Verify conversion tracking end to end by submitting a real form and confirming the conversion registers.
- Point every ad group at a landing page that matches its keywords.
- Read the search terms report and add negatives for what you actually bought — as phrase match, not exact.
- Check every asset for disapprovals, especially call extensions.
- Pause keywords with meaningful spend and no conversions, once the landing page is right and enough time has passed to judge.
The narrow cases for a genuinely new account
- You do not control the current account and cannot get access. Same as everywhere else: ownership decides.
- The account is suspended for a policy violation that cannot be resolved.
- The business has fundamentally changed — different entity, different market, different service.
Judge the destination before the campaign
A campaign that sends every ad to a generic homepage will underperform no matter how well it is structured, and the zeroes in that account measure the destination rather than the keywords.
Fix the landing page first, then give it a fortnight, then judge the keywords. Killing keywords that never had a matched page throws away work that was never tested.
Common questions
- Will a new Google Ads account fix poor performance?
- No. It discards the conversion history the bidding relies on and usually performs worse. Rebuild the campaigns inside the account you have.
- How long should I wait before judging a change?
- Two weeks minimum for a landing page or ad copy change, longer at low spend. Judging after a few days means judging noise.
More on ad management
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