How much do Google Ads mistakes cost in Norway?
Google Ads is Google's advertising system: you choose searches, write ads and pay per click, so every mistake has a price in kroner. Our own table of click prices for 24 local services, from Google Keyword Planner for Norway (average September 2025 to August 2026, in NOK), shows bids of 69 to 251 kr per click for a top position on “rørlegger oslo” and 3 to 9 kr on “frisør lillestrøm”.
Example. A plumber in Oslo pays about 100 kr per click and spends 10 000 kr a month, roughly 100 clicks. If one click in five comes from people looking for a job or a course, 2 000 kr a month, or 24 000 kr a year, buys nothing. One in five is an assumption, not a measured average.
The ranges are historical top of page bids, about the 20th to the 80th percentile, and Google notes that you are often charged less than your maximum bid. Full table: Hva koster Google Ads (in Norwegian).
Mistakes 1 and 2: keywords and budget
1. Broad match without negative keywords
Why it costs money. Broad match is the default match type: ads may show on searches related to your keyword. For “rørlegger” that can mean “rørlegger lønn” or “rørlegger lærling”: people who will never hire you. Negative keywords stop them, but Google notes that they do not match close variants, so you add synonyms and plural forms yourself.
How to check. Open Campaigns, Insights and reports, Search terms. Sort by cost for the last 30 days and mark every search that could never become a customer. Google leaves out some low activity terms for privacy, so you see most of the picture, not all.
The fix. Add those words under Campaigns, Audiences, keywords, and content, Search keywords, on the Negative search keywords tab. Words for every campaign go into a list under Tools, Shared library, Exclusion lists. Run your main keywords in phrase or exact match: Google calls Smart Bidding critical for broad match, and Smart Bidding needs conversion data that a new account does not have.
Starter list of negative keywords for a craftsman
jobb, jobber, stilling, lønn, lærling, læreplass, fagbrev, kurs, utdanning, skole, selv, wiki
2. A small budget spread over too many keywords and places
Why it costs money. A campaign learns from clicks. Spread 6 000 kr a month over 40 keywords and four towns, and no keyword gets enough clicks to show whether it works.
Worked example. A plumber on Romerike has 6 000 kr a month. At about 160 kr per click, the middle of the range for “rørlegger oslo”, that is fewer than 40 clicks, and if 5 to 10 percent of visitors get in touch, 2 to 4 enquiries. On “rørlegger lillestrøm”, middle of the range about 67 kr, the same money buys around 90 clicks, or 4 to 9 enquiries. The share who get in touch is an assumption; use your own.
How to check. In Search keywords (under Audiences, keywords, and content), count the keywords with more than ten clicks in the last 30 days, then count the areas in your settings.
The fix. One campaign, your most profitable services and the area where you really take jobs. Set the daily budget to the monthly amount divided by 30.4: Google may spend up to twice the daily amount on one day, but never more than 30.4 times it in a month. Add keywords and towns only when the first ones show a cost per enquiry you can live with.
Mistakes 3 and 4: tracking
3. No conversion tracking, or counting the wrong action
Why it costs money. A conversion is an action you define as valuable, such as a form, a booking or a call. Without it you see clicks, not customers, and automated bidding has nothing to aim at. Counting the wrong action is almost as bad: Google uses primary actions for bidding and keeps secondary ones for observation only, so a page view set as primary teaches the system to buy page views.
It is common: in our own automated check of 604 websites of beauty salons, clinics and dental practices in Norway (30 September to 15 October 2026), 403 (67%) had no Google Ads tag in the homepage code or its Google Tag Manager container. Tags that load only after cookie consent or on other pages may be missed, so the real share can be somewhat lower.
How to check. Open Goals, Conversions, Summary. See which actions are primary and the Count setting of each: Google describes One as the fit for leads and Every as the fit for sales. Then compare last month's conversions with the calls, forms and bookings you really got.
Watch out in Norway. Norway is not on Google's list of countries with Google forwarding numbers, which call reporting uses to record calls from ads. Track clicks on the phone number on your website instead (Google notes that this counts clicks, not finished calls) and ask every caller how they found you.
The fix. One primary action per real enquiry (form sent, booking completed, click on the phone number), Count set to One, the rest secondary. Send a test enquiry and check that it arrives. More in our guide to conversion tracking for beauty websites.
4. Performance Max before there is conversion data
Why it costs money. Performance Max is a goal based campaign type that uses all Google Ads inventory from one campaign: Search, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps. It spends where your conversions point. Google says you should use conversion tracking with it, and that automated bidding typically needs one to two weeks to optimise, sometimes up to six. Without conversions, that learning runs on your money.
How to check. In Campaigns, check the campaign type. If Performance Max runs, confirm in Goals, Conversions, Summary that its goals recorded real conversions in the last 30 days.
The fix. Start with a Search campaign on your core services; Google itself presents Performance Max as a complement to keyword based Search campaigns. Add it once enquiries are tracked. For a truck dealer in Germany I rebuilt the account with Search and Performance Max: 67% more conversions from Google Ads and 25% lower cost per conversion. Another market and trade, so not a promise for yours.
Mistakes 5 and 6: settings Google chooses for you
5. “Presence or interest” for a local business
Why it costs money. The default and recommended location option reaches people in, regularly in, or who have shown interest in your targeted locations. Google's own example is a bakery in Paris whose ads reach people elsewhere who are interested in Paris bakeries. For an electrician in Lillestrøm, clicks from people only interested in the area rarely become jobs.
How to check. Go to Campaigns, the Settings tab, open the campaign, expand Locations and choose Location options. To see where clicks came from, open Campaigns, Insights and reports, When and where ads showed, tab Matched locations.
The fix. Choose “Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations”. Google recommends the broad option as best practice for Search, but lists Presence for advertisers who only want people in specific locations, which fits most local services.
6. Search partners, the Display Network and recommendations that apply themselves
Why it costs money. Google includes search partners by default in new Search campaigns and notes that their clicks may not always be highly targeted. The Networks section also has the box “Include Google Display Network”, called Display Expansion, which runs your search ads on websites and apps. Recommendations applied automatically can also add broad match keywords, search partners or Display Expansion.
How to check. In Campaigns, hover over the campaign, click the gear icon and open Networks. Compare results with the segment “Network (with search partners)”. Then open Recommendations, the Auto Apply settings in the top bar and the History tab.
The fix. Keep Google Search only until you have data. Google says Display Expansion can deliver up to 15% more conversions at a similar cost per conversion for campaigns with spare search budget, so test it later if your budget is not used up. Turn off automatic application for keyword and targeting recommendations and read them yourself once a week.
Mistakes 7 and 8: the ad and the page behind it
7. Sending every click to the homepage
Why it costs money. Someone who searches “nytt bad pris” wants to see what a new bathroom costs, not a homepage with ten services. Landing page experience, meaning how relevant and useful your landing page is to people who click your ad, is one of three parts of Quality Score, next to expected clickthrough rate and ad relevance.
How to check. In Campaigns, Ads, read the final URL of each ad. In the keywords table, add the Quality Score columns through the columns icon; “Below average” under Landing Page Exp. means the page needs work. Google calls Quality Score a diagnostic tool, not an input in the auction, so treat it as a hint.
The fix. One page per main service, with a price range or a “from” price, the area you cover, photos of real jobs, the phone number at the top and a short form. See our guide to landing pages that bring enquiries.
8. Ads without assets
Why it costs money. Assets, which many people still call extensions, add business information to your ad: sitelinks to specific pages, a phone number or call button, your address. Google says assets often increase your total number of clicks.
How to check. Open Campaigns, then Assets, and look for sitelink, call and location assets on each campaign.
The fix. Add four sitelinks (services, prices, reviews, contact), a call asset and a location asset. In the call asset's advanced options, set your hours: Google lets you show the number only when your business can accept calls. Location assets show your address with a call button and a link, so keep address and hours correct in your Business Profile, see our Google Business Profile guide. Even approved assets do not always show.
Mistakes 9 and 10: after the click, and who owns the account
9. Missed calls and slow replies
Why it costs money. You paid for the click, but the customer still has to reach you. In research published in Harvard Business Review in 2011, firms that tried to contact a lead within an hour were nearly seven times as likely to qualify it as those that tried even an hour later, and more than 60 times as likely as firms that waited 24 hours or longer. In the same researchers' audit of 2 241 US companies, 23% never answered a test enquiry at all.
How to check. Count last week's missed calls. For your last ten enquiries by form or message, note the time to the first reply. Compare the hours your ads run with the hours you can pick up.
The fix. Schedule the call asset to your working hours, send an automatic SMS after every missed call and answer every enquiry the same day. In my own business an AI system drafts or sends answers to SMS and messages within minutes, and I approve anything important. See our article on AI replies to messages.
SMS after a missed call
Hi, this is {name} from {business}. Sorry I missed your call, I am on a job right now. I will call you back before {time}. If it is urgent, reply with your address and the problem.
10. An account that belongs to someone else
Why it costs money. The account holds your history: which searches convert, what a customer costs, which ads work. Without Admin access, getting that history back when you change partner depends on someone else, and a new account starts learning from zero.
How to check. Open Admin, then Access and security. Your company email should be listed with Admin access, the highest level. The Managers tab shows which manager accounts are linked. Under Billing, check that the payment method is your company's.
The fix. Ask for Admin access now, while the cooperation is good, and ask for the payments to run on your company's own payment method. When I set up an account, it is in the client's name from day one and the budget is paid directly to Google.
Google Ads audit checklist
Use the table for your own check; most rows take minutes.
| Check | Where in Google Ads | What good looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Search terms | Campaigns, Insights and reports, Search terms | No job, course or DIY searches among the costly terms |
| Keyword focus | Campaigns, Audiences, keywords, and content, Search keywords | A few keywords with enough clicks each, one clear area |
| Conversions | Goals, Conversions, Summary | Real enquiries as primary, Count set to One, totals match your log |
| Performance Max | Campaigns, campaign type | Runs only when conversions are tracked |
| Location option | Campaigns, Settings, Locations, Location options | Presence, for a business that serves its own area |
| Networks and recommendations | Gear icon, Networks; Recommendations, Auto Apply settings | Google Search only, no automatic keyword or targeting changes |
| Landing pages | Campaigns, Ads, final URL; Landing Page Exp. column | Each service has its own page, no “Below average” |
| Assets | Campaigns, Assets | Sitelinks, a call asset with your hours, a location asset |
| Replies | Your phone and inbox | Missed calls returned and enquiries answered the same day |
| Ownership | Admin, Access and security; Billing | Your company has Admin access and pays Google directly |
What to do this week
The five Google Ads tips for small business owners that save the most money first:
- Read the search terms report for the last 30 days and add at least ten negative keywords.
- Check that your primary conversions are real enquiries, counted once per click.
- Switch the location option to Presence, remove search partners and the Display Network, and stop automatic keyword and targeting recommendations.
- Point each ad group to the page about that service, not the homepage.
- Make sure your company has Admin access and that the payment method is yours.
Then change one thing at a time, two weeks each, apart from new negative keywords. Our 90 day marketing plan for small businesses shows where Google Ads fits among your other channels.
