If you run a car rental business and your Google Ads are underperforming, you are not alone.
Recently, I reviewed a case from a medium-sized car rental business on an island in Greece. The company was still getting reservations and had a full season, but the Google Ads account was clearly not performing as it should.
At first glance, this may sound strange. If bookings are coming in, what is the problem?
The answer is simple: the business was getting strong results mainly because of its Google Maps visibility, local presence, and positive reviews, not because the Google Ads account was properly optimized.
That means there is a real opportunity here. With the right structure, targeting, and tracking, Google Ads can become a much stronger growth channel instead of a weak supporting one.
The Current Situation
The business was running:
- One Smart Campaign
- Three Search Campaigns
These included:
- A Turkish campaign
- A worldwide English campaign
- A Greek campaign
- A Smart Campaign in English
Out of these, only the Smart Campaign and the Greek campaign were performing relatively well.
The worldwide English campaign had already stopped due to low performance, and the Turkish campaign was receiving very little traffic.
At the same time, the business owner shared an important customer mix:
- 35% Turkish customers
- 30% Greek customers
- 20% European customers
- 15% from USA, Canada, and Australia
The person managing the account was also trying to fix Google tracking so real conversions could finally be measured properly.
That is where the real work should begin.
Step 1: Fix Conversion Tracking Before Anything Else
Before discussing bidding strategies, campaign splits, or audience targeting, the first priority should be:
Get conversion tracking fixed properly
If conversion tracking is broken, then Google Ads is making decisions without reliable data.
This creates several problems:
- Bidding strategies cannot optimize correctly
- You cannot tell which campaigns are actually driving bookings
- Budget may be wasted on low-value clicks
- Expansion decisions become guesses instead of data-backed moves
For a car rental business, the ideal tracked actions may include:
- Reservation completions
- Booking form submissions
- Phone calls
- WhatsApp clicks
- Direction clicks
- Contact form leads
Without proper tracking, even a campaign that looks “busy” may not actually be profitable.
Step 2: Install Heatmaps and Click-Fraud Monitoring
Another recommendation is to install:
- A heatmap tool to understand user behavior
- IP/click-fraud monitoring to help identify invalid traffic
This is especially useful when:
- You are getting clicks but low engagement
- You suspect low-quality traffic
- You run campaigns in multiple countries
- Your market is seasonal and every click matters
By studying behavior, you can see:
- Where users are dropping off
- Whether they are scrolling
- Whether booking buttons are being noticed
- If landing pages need improvement
Step 3: Use Ad Assets Properly
Ad assets can make a major difference for local businesses.
For a car rental business, I strongly recommend adding:
- Call assets
- Location assets
- Price assets
- Promotion assets
- Sitelinks
Why does this matter?
Because when a business already ranks well in Google Maps and has strong reviews, Google Ads should support that credibility.
These assets help users immediately see:
- Where you are located
- How they can contact you
- What pricing looks like
- Which services are available
- Why they should trust you
For local travel-related businesses, this can significantly improve click-through rate and lead quality.
Step 4: Do Not Target Broad Countries Blindly
One of the biggest mistakes in the case above was broad overseas targeting.
The manager wanted to create separate campaigns for:
- USA
- Canada
- Australia
In theory, that sounds organized. In practice, those markets are too broad unless you already have strong historical booking data.
Better approach:
Use your real customer data first.
Look at:
- Which cities or regions your previous customers came from
- Which countries generate the highest-quality bookings
- Which locations convert best
- Which markets have the lowest cancellation rate
Then target only the best-performing locations.
For example:
Instead of targeting all of the USA, target only the states or metro areas that historically send strong inbound tourists to your island destination.
The same logic applies to Canada and Australia.
This reduces wasted spend and improves campaign focus.
Step 5: Campaign Structure Recommendation
The idea of restructuring into multiple campaigns is not bad, but it should be done carefully.
A better approach would be:
Core campaign groups:
- Greek Search Campaign
- Turkish Search Campaign
- English Campaign for high-performing European regions
- English Campaign for selected overseas locations
- Local/on-island campaign for people already nearby
This is more practical than launching too many campaigns at once with no clean data foundation.
The main thing is not just the number of campaigns.
It is whether each campaign has:
- Clear targeting
- Clear language alignment
- Clear keyword intent
- Proper ad copy
- Proper conversion tracking
Step 6: What to Do With the Smart Campaign
This is a common concern.
The account currently has a Smart Campaign that is working better than some of the Search campaigns.
So should it be paused immediately?
My recommendation:
Do not shut it down instantly if it is currently bringing useful traffic.
Instead:
- Launch the new Search campaigns properly
- Let them gather data
- Monitor search term quality, click quality, and conversions
- Once the Search campaigns become stable, gradually reduce dependence on the Smart Campaign
Why?
Because turning off a currently active source before the replacement campaigns are stable can create unnecessary disruption.
That said, for long-term control and scalability, I do not prefer Smart Campaigns.
They are limited in transparency and control, and serious advertisers usually outgrow them.
Step 7: Bidding Strategy Advice
The question was whether to start with Maximize Conversions.
My answer is: only if conversion tracking is working correctly.
If conversion tracking is still broken or incomplete, starting with Maximize Conversions is risky because Google does not have enough accurate signals.
Practical guidance:
- Fix conversion tracking first
- Start with a clean structure
- Collect reliable data
- Then use smart bidding where appropriate
The bidding strategy must match the amount and quality of data you have.
Step 8: Should You Split by Airport, Port, or Office?
Yes, this can be a very smart move — but not necessarily as the first step.
Splitting by arrival location can help because customer intent may differ:
- Airport pickup customers may want speed and convenience
- Port pickup customers may be ferry/travel related
- Office pickup customers may be more local or pre-planned
This can later help you:
- Write better ad copy
- Improve landing page relevance
- Identify which pickup intent converts best
- Allocate budgets more efficiently
My advice:
Start by fixing tracking and building clean language/location campaigns first.
Then split by arrival location once enough data is coming in.
Step 9: Search Terms and Negative Keywords Are Critical
If campaigns are struggling, the search terms report often explains why.
You should regularly review:
- Irrelevant searches
- Low-intent searches
- Informational queries
- Poor geography-related searches
- Competitor terms, if not intended
- Cheap/free queries, if not relevant
Then add negative keywords accordingly.
This is one of the easiest ways to reduce waste and improve lead quality.
Step 10: Leverage Google Maps Strength
The most interesting part of this case is that the business is already winning through:
- Google Maps
- Reviews
- Local visibility
That is not a weakness.
That is a major advantage.
Google Ads should be built to support this strength.
Your ads, extensions, copy, and landing pages should reinforce:
- Your reputation
- Your physical presence
- Your pickup convenience
- Your trusted reviews
- Your local authority
If your Maps presence is already strong, your Google Ads strategy should not ignore that. It should build on it.
Final Strategy Summary
If I were fixing this account, my order of priority would be:
1. Fix conversion tracking
Track reservations, calls, forms, and other lead actions properly.
2. Install heatmaps and monitor traffic quality
Understand user behavior and reduce waste.
3. Improve ad assets
Use call, location, price, and promotion assets.
4. Rebuild campaign targeting
Avoid targeting entire countries without supporting customer data.
5. Use actual booking data for geo targeting
Focus on cities, states, and regions that historically convert.
6. Keep Smart Campaign temporarily if needed
Do not rely on it long term, but do not kill useful traffic too early.
7. Split by arrival location later
Airport, port, and office segmentation can be powerful once data exists.
8. Review search terms and add negatives
This is essential for cleaning up performance.
Conclusion
This car rental business already has something many businesses struggle to build:
local trust, strong Maps visibility, and real demand.
That means Google Ads does not need to do all the heavy lifting from zero.
It simply needs to be structured properly so it can amplify what is already working.
If your business is in travel, tourism, rentals, or local services, the lesson is clear:
Do not expand blindly.
Do not trust broken data.
Do not scale weak structure.
Fix the foundation first. Then grow.
FAQ
Should I stop a Smart Campaign immediately when launching Search campaigns?
Not always. If the Smart Campaign is still bringing useful traffic, it may be better to keep it temporarily until the new Search campaigns stabilize.
Is Maximize Conversions the right starting strategy?
Only when conversion tracking is working properly. Otherwise, Google may optimize using weak or incorrect signals.
Should I target whole countries like USA, Canada, and Australia?
Usually not at first. It is better to use historical customer data and target the specific locations that actually send valuable traffic.
Should I split car rental campaigns by airport, port, and office?
Yes, but usually after the account has proper tracking and stable data. It is a strong second-stage optimization.
Why are Google Ads weak if bookings are still coming in?
Because bookings may be coming mainly from Google Maps, reviews, SEO, or brand visibility rather than paid ads themselves.
Call to Action
If your Google Ads are underperforming and you want expert help with:
- Google Ads Audit
- Google Ads Setup
- Google Ads Management
- Conversion Tracking Fixes
- Merchant Center and Performance Review
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