spicaacoustique.ca Spica Acoustique: an account back on track in 3 months
97%
of account changes were automated before the takeover
3 months
to get the Google Ads account back on track
−25%
cost per click on the Search campaign, July to late August 2026
- In July 2026, Spica Acoustique, an architectural acoustics company in Terrebonne, Quebec, handed its Google Ads campaigns to Justine Rodier after several years with an agency.
- In October 2026, three months later, Spica Acoustique was getting so many good leads that the team asked to temporarily lower the Google Ads budget while they handled them all.
- According to the Spica Acoustique team, the leads received in October 2026 came from more serious clients, with far fewer residential projects.
The starting point
- Company
- Spica Acoustique, architectural acoustics
- Region
- Terrebonne, projects across Quebec
- What it does
- Designs, manufactures and installs acoustic solutions
- Target clients
- Offices, schools, clinics, gyms and factories. No residential.
Before July 2026, a well-established marketing agency had managed Spica Acoustique's Google Ads campaigns for several years. Leads were still coming in, but the Google Ads numbers had been showing a decline since the winter.
What the audit revealed
In July 2026, I audited Spica Acoustique's Google Ads account before taking it over. Three findings:
The account was running on autopilot
In the 12 months before the audit, 97% of the changes made to Spica Acoustique's Google Ads account were automated budget changes. Bids had not been adjusted since October 2025 and only 5 negative keywords had been added in a year.
Calls from the website were no longer tracked
Since March 2026, Google Ads had stopped counting calls from Spica Acoustique's website visitors: a tracking tool had been removed and nobody noticed that call tracking went with it. The decline reported since the winter came largely from measurement, not from demand.
Part of the budget went to the wrong searches
About a quarter of the budget of Spica Acoustique's main campaign went to searches that, according to the team, often brought in poorly qualified leads.
What I did
- Step 1 · Measure
I fixed the tracking first
By the end of July 2026, Google Ads was once again tracking calls and form submissions from Spica Acoustique's website. Since late September 2026, Google also respects visitors' cookie consent (Quebec's Law 25).
- Step 2 · Understand
I asked questions before touching the campaigns
I asked the Spica Acoustique team what a Google Ads account can't tell you: the most profitable products, the best-paying sectors, the projects to avoid and production capacity.
- Step 3 · Clean up
I cleaned up and rebuilt the campaigns
I removed the searches Spica Acoustique no longer wanted, excluded residential leads and reorganized the campaigns around the products and sectors the company wants to grow.
- Step 4 · Monitor
I keep a close eye on the account
I review Spica Acoustique's campaigns every week and meet with the team every month. An automated alert notifies me if no form comes in for 8 days.
The results
A good problem to have
In October 2026, Spica Acoustique was getting so many qualified leads that the team asked to temporarily lower the Google Ads budget while they handled them all. The budget will go back up in December.
More serious clients
Since residential searches were excluded in August 2026, Spica Acoustique has been getting fewer short calls and more leads from serious clients.
More visible in searches
Spica Acoustique's share of the targeted Google searches went from 28% in July 2026 to 49% in late August 2026.
Cheaper clicks
The cost per click of Spica Acoustique's Search campaign fell 25% between July and late August 2026.
Spica Acoustique's presence in targeted Google searches
“Much less residential, more serious clients.”
Réjean Laflamme, founder of Spica Acoustique (translated from French)
What I took away from it
An account on autopilot hides its problems
Spica Acoustique's Google Ads account lost call tracking for more than four months without anyone noticing. Without reliable measurement, Google's automated bidding optimizes with bad data.
The best answers come from the client
Spica Acoustique didn't want residential projects and no Google Ads data said so. We had to ask the team.
For an SMB, one experienced person often does better
At an agency, the account of an SMB without a big-client budget often ends up run by automated rules. An SMB like Spica Acoustique is better off working with an experienced person who understands the business and has time for the account. To compare both options, read Freelancer or agency to manage your ads in Quebec?
Frequently asked questions
How can you tell if a Google Ads account is running on autopilot?
Three signs come up often: the change history is mostly automated budget changes, very few negative keywords get added and an important conversion, such as calls, drops to zero without anyone reacting. In July 2026, Spica Acoustique's Google Ads account showed all three signs.
How long does it take to see results after taking over a Google Ads account?
For Spica Acoustique, three months. Spica Acoustique's Google Ads account was taken over in July 2026. By October 2026, Spica Acoustique was already getting enough good leads to temporarily lower its budget. When taking over an account, the first month is mostly about fixing the tracking.
Is your Google Ads account running on autopilot?
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