6 PPC Myths Every Advertiser Should Stop Believing

By Sophie Logan - Monday June 1, 2026 Share (Twitter) WhatsApp Summarize ChatGPT Perplexity Grok Google AI We all know that PPC can be an extremely powerful way for businesses to drive traffic, leads and sales, but there are many outdated PPC myths which advertisers still believe – many of which could be seriously harming their campaign performance.

From assuming that more conversions automatically mean better results, to believing that LinkedIn Ads are always more expensive than Meta Ads, some of our Hero Conf UK 2026 speakers are here to debunk some of the most common PPC misconceptions they see in the industry today.

The bigger the budget, the more complex the account Sveva Coltellacci Head of Performance Marketing at Pro Web Consulting I strongly disagree when someone tells me that the bigger the budget, the more complex the account is. I think this is one of the most persistent misconceptions in online advertising. In reality, managing a 500-2.

000€/month account is often far more challenging than managing a 500. 000€ one. Big budgets come with what every specialist dreams of: data volume, the ability to test multiple hypotheses, and enough signal for the algorithm to actually learn. You can experiment, fail fast, iterate, and still hit targets.

Above: Sveva speaking at this years’ Hero Conf UK (Photo – Sophie Logan) Small budgets are a completely different activity. Every euro matters. You’re often working directly with the business owner, someone who checks the account daily, questions every click, and feels every fluctuation in performance.

“why today does the account convert less than yesterday?” It’s the common question that every specialist has listened to once in her life. There’s no time for testing, no buffer for learning phases, and no forgiveness for a bad week. On top of that, small accounts compete in the same auctions as brands spending millions.

That means you need exceptional strategic discipline, creative efficiency, and constant expectation management. In my experience, the most skilled specialists are forged in low-budget accounts because that’s where precision, communication, and real problem solving matter the most.

Stakeholder’s statement: If PPC didn’t generate the lead, it didn’t contribute Emanuela Mafteiu Head of Digital and Demand Generation EMEA at Ping Identity In my opinion one of the most damaging myths is over-reliance on last-click attribution.

PPC might introduce the brand, retarget the buying committee, reinforce credibility through analyst reports, without ever owning the final form fill. When stakeholders look only at sourced pipeline, they often ignore influenced pipeline. PPC should be evaluated as part of an ecosystem.

Multi-touch attribution doesn’t inflate value, it reveals it, and then you will see the pipeline and revenue. Without that perspective, marketing decisions become reactive and short-sighted. More conversions means better PPC performance Christian Goodrich Head of Search Marketing at Sozo Design This is one I see a lot, particularly in lead gen.

On the surface, more conversions and a lower CPA look like a win. But in reality, that can be masking a bigger issue. Not all conversions are equal. You can increase volume by opening up targeting, loosening intent, or relying more heavily on campaign types like Performance Max.

The problem is that a chunk of that uplift often comes from lower-quality enquiries, existing demand, or users who were unlikely to become customers in the first place. I’ve seen accounts where conversion numbers were going up month on month, but sales teams were getting increasingly frustrated because the quality just wasn’t there.

The shift needs to be towards defining what a good conversion actually looks like. That could be new vs returning customers, sector fit, project value, or anything that reflects real commercial intent. Once you start measuring that properly, performance looks very different.

In some cases, conversions go down, but revenue and lead quality improve significantly. More conversions only matter if they turn into real business.

That LinkedIn Ads is more expensive than Meta ads Sarah Sal Freelance Facebook & LinkedIn Ads Specialist A common misconception is that LinkedIn ads are more expensive than Meta ads, or that you need to spend $10,000 a month to see results. At brightonSEO, I shared a case study where LinkedIn ads generated webinar leads at $3. 14 USD with a 3. 37x ROAS.

Meanwhile, the Meta campaigns delivered a ROAS of just 1. 3x. If you are interested, you can read the LinkedIn ads case study, but what I want to focus on is why Meta advertisers often fail when they try LinkedIn ads. Let me start with an example to illustrate the difference between the two platforms.

After BrightonSEO, I spent the weekend in London, so I decided to book a hotel online. As a result, I started seeing many ads for hotels in Lon