Results · Case study
Legal / Google Ads

How an audit exposed an 8.62 dollar lead that fell apart on inspection

On paper, hundreds of leads at single-digit cost. The audit showed Smart Bidding was counting any call, not qualified inquiries.

Industry
Legal, family and adoption law (US)
Services
Google Ads audit, conversion-truth analysis
Timeframe
Exposed in the first audit pass
816
Reported conversions in 30 days
$8.62
Reported cost per lead
Raw calls
What it was actually counting
1 pass
To expose the illusion
The challenge

A machine on paper, noise in reality

On paper it looked like a machine, hundreds of leads at single-digit cost. But 816 reported conversions for 7,035 dollars in a month is implausible for legal.

Smart Bidding was optimising toward any call, so budget flowed to unqualifiable contacts while the reported metrics kept improving.

What we did

Three moves, in order

1

Separated recorded from real

We split recorded conversions from plausible real inquiries to see the true number behind the dashboard.

2

Exposed the intent mismatch

The search terms showed budget going to free and state foster-adoption seekers and to competitor-firm names.

3

Prescribed qualified-inquiry tracking

Track qualified inquiries as the primary conversion, add a legal negative program, and bid conservatively.

The Heureux approach

In legal, lead quality is the entire game. An 8.62 dollar lead that cannot become a case is more expensive than no lead at all.

The result

The lead illusion, exposed

The audit showed the account was counting raw calls and contacts, not qualified inquiries, producing an unbelievable 816 conversions at 8.62 dollars while budget leaked to searches that could never become cases. The prescription: qualified-inquiry tracking as the primary signal, a legal negative program, and conservative bidding.

816
Reported conversions
$8.62
Reported cost per lead
Calls
Counted, not cases
The proof

These numbers are real. We will show you live.

Every figure on this page came from a real account. Book a call and we will screen-share the actual dashboard and walk you through these exact numbers, live, so you know they are real and not a screenshot anyone could fake.

Others: a screenshot you cannot verify
Us: these exact findings, live in the account
See this live on a call

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