Most brands talk about cutting bleeders.
By Elizabeth Greene · September 14, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
Most brands talk about cutting bleeders.
Zero conversions, high spend, easy call.
But what about the targets that are converting, the ones with one or two orders and a 200% ACoS?
They've got one order. Maybe two. ACoS is sitting at 200%, sometimes 300%. And they just stay there.
Because technically they're working, right?
They're not.
These are the sneaky wasters.
They look like they deserve more time, more testing, more budget to "figure it out."
But the amount of effort it takes to get a 300% ACoS target down to 30, and the reality is by the time you try, your conversion rate is so low you're not even getting orders anymore.
So you're spending but you're not growing.
Your total ACoS is creeping up month over month, and you're telling yourself you're investing in growth.
The bleeders with zero orders are obvious.
These ones hide because they have just enough sales to look like they belong.
But if you go into your search term reports, sort by spend, and actually look at targets with high clicks and only one to two orders at over 100% ACoS, you'll probably find dozens of them.
Sometimes hundreds.
That's another layer in the account that will bleed you dry if you don't catch it.
To be honest, this is where I see a lot of brands get stuck.
They cleaned up the obvious waste.
They feel good about it.
But spend keeps climbing and sales stay flat, and they can't figure out why.
It's usually these.