Account Turnaround & Recovery
Google Ads Account Turnaround for Ecommerce Brands
When your account is leaking spend, your previous agency left a mess, or your Performance Max is destroying margin - turnaround is different work from regular management. JudeLuxe specialises in taking over broken ecommerce accounts and recovering them.
Turnaround is structurally different from regular onboarding
Most agency engagements start with a "healthy" account - performing reasonably, no major structural issues, just opportunities to improve. Turnaround engagements are different. The account has identifiable damage: structural debt from a previous agency, post-suspension recovery, performance freefall after a Google update, or aggressive scaling that broke the unit economics.
The work is different. The pace is different. The risk profile is different. And the recovery cycle has its own discipline. Three categories of turnaround we handle:
Post-agency turnaround
A previous agency left structural damage - broken campaign architecture, broken brand exclusions, broken value rules, exhausted budget on the wrong SKUs. Sometimes the agency was actively bad. More often, they were generalist and the account outgrew them. The damage is structural.
Post-suspension recovery
Account was suspended or Merchant Center was disapproved. Often due to feed-to-PDP inconsistency, misrepresentation flags (the rising out-of-stock issue from Merchant Center's 2026 enforcement), policy violations, or identity verification failures. Recovery requires specific Google relationships, structured appeal process, and the structural fixes that prevent re-suspension.
Post-performance-collapse recovery
Performance dropped sharply - Google update, competitor entrance, market shift, internal change (margin compression, supplier issue, new product line). Smart Bidding learned from a different reality and can't recover on its own. Requires structural reset.
The 45-day turnaround playbook
Recovery follows a different cadence from regular onboarding. The first 45 days are intensive. The BOI™ framework sits at the centre of the structural reset. Here's the actual sequence.
Days 1 - 7
Triage
- Read-only access. Full structural audit. Identify the specific damage.
- Quantified spend leak - how much you're losing per day, where it's going.
- Recovery priority list - what to fix first based on impact and risk.
- No structural changes yet. Diagnosis first.
Days 8 - 21
Stop the bleeding
- Pause obvious waste - disapproved campaigns, brand cannibalisation in PMax, out-of-stock spend.
- Brand exclusions in place if missing.
- Feed-to-PDP consistency fixed where causing disapprovals.
- Quick-win restructure on the campaigns with the most damage.
Days 22 - 35
Structural reset
- BOI™ job assignment mapped to your actual SKU economics.
- Custom labels in feed for every SKU.
- Asset group restructure by commercial intent.
- Value rules carrying margin and stock signals into Smart Bidding.
Days 36 - 45
Stabilisation and handoff to retained cadence
- Performance trends measurable. Stabilisation visible.
- Move to retained cadence - weekly Loom updates, monthly deep-dives.
- Documentation of what was broken, what we changed, what's still being monitored.
By day 45, the account is structurally sound and on a recovery trajectory. Full performance recovery typically takes 60-90 days as Smart Bidding re-learns against the corrected signal. See our audit methodology for the diagnostic framing the playbook is built on.
Post-agency vs post-suspension vs post-collapse recovery
Post-agency turnaround
The biggest variable: what data the previous agency left behind. Sometimes the account has 18 months of audience signal that needs to be preserved. Sometimes everything needs ripping out. We use a documented agency handover checklist to capture what's salvageable. Typical recovery cycle: 45 days for structural, 60-90 days for full performance recovery.
agency handover checklistPost-suspension recovery
The recovery process splits in two: (1) Google appeal - restoring the account, often via direct Google Partner relationships and structured appeal documentation. (2) Structural fixes preventing re-suspension - feed-to-PDP consistency, return policy completeness, identity verification, out-of-stock handling (particularly relevant given the recent Merchant Center enforcement push). Typical recovery cycle: 14-30 days for reinstatement (if successful), then 45 days for structural stability.
Merchant Center ToS updatePost-performance-collapse recovery
Smart Bidding has learned from broken signal. The recovery requires explicit signal reset - value rules carrying the corrected commercial intent, asset group restructure to reset Smart Bidding's learning, sometimes campaign-level reset. Typical recovery cycle: 30-45 days for structural changes, 60-90 days for full Smart Bidding re-learning.
When recovery isn't possible
We're honest about turnaround limits. Some accounts can't be recovered to where they were - only stabilised at a new baseline. Three situations:
01
Repeated suspensions for serious policy violations
Google reinstatement becomes progressively harder. After 2-3 suspensions on the same account, the realistic path is often a new account, not recovery of the old one.
02
Catalogue economics genuinely broken
Sometimes the performance collapse reflects a real change in unit economics - margins compressed by supplier costs, return rates climbing past tolerance, competitive pressure. PPC turnaround can't fix unit economics. We say so when this is the diagnosis.
03
Brand-level reputation damage
If brand search performance is collapsing because of reviews, PR, or product issues, PPC can't recover that. We point to the actual problem.
We diagnose at the read-only free audit stage. If recovery isn't realistic, we say so before the engagement starts.
Turnaround work in action
UKSoccerShop
£520k Spend Recovered in 45 Days
Post-agency turnaround - inherited from a previous agency with structural damage. 50,000+ SKU catalogue with zombie SKUs, broken brand exclusions, and exhausted budget on low-margin lines.
Read the case studyWilson's Pet Food
-34% CPA in First Six Months
Post-agency turnaround - inherited account with broken structure and weak commercial framing. Subscription-led pet food economics required different bidding logic than previous agency had applied.
Read the case studyPricing - turnaround has its own fee structure
Turnaround engagements run at fixed monthly fee scoped to: severity of damage (assessed in the read-only audit), catalogue scale, spend level, and whether post-suspension recovery is required (adds appeal process work).
Standard turnaround (post-agency, moderate damage)
£3,000 - £7,000 / month
Complex turnaround (high-SKU, multi-brand, post-suspension)
£7,000 - £15,000+ / month
First 45 days carries an intensive cadence - daily monitoring, weekly senior practitioner reviews. After day 45, transitions to standard retained Google Ads management cadence. Free 5-7 day audit before any engagement. If we don't believe recovery is realistic, we'll tell you on the call rather than take an engagement we can't deliver.
Recovery starts in days, not weeks
Standard onboarding gives accounts 5 business days between contract signing and kickoff. Turnaround engagements compress this - the account is bleeding, urgency matters. Typical timeline:
Day 0
Discovery call (24-48h response on emergency enquiries).
Day 1 - 2
Read-only access granted.
Day 3 - 7
Audit completed, recovery plan presented.
Day 8+
Structural changes begin.
We don't promise to drop everything overnight, but turnaround engagements get compressed timeline as standard.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between regular onboarding and turnaround?
Regular onboarding starts with a healthy account that needs optimisation. Turnaround starts with an account that has identifiable structural damage - from a previous agency, post-suspension, or post-performance-collapse. Different work, different cadence, different pricing.
How long does account recovery take?
Structural recovery typically 30-45 days. Full performance recovery 60-90 days as Smart Bidding re-learns against the corrected signal. Post-suspension recovery has an additional 14-30 day window for the Google appeal process.
Can you recover a suspended Merchant Center account?
Often, yes - particularly for first-time suspensions caused by feed-to-PDP inconsistency, out-of-stock issues, or policy violations that have clear remediation paths. Multiple repeat suspensions on the same account become progressively harder; sometimes a new account is more realistic than recovery.
My agency hasn't responded to a Google update - can you help?
Yes. Post-update performance collapse is one of the three turnaround types we handle. Smart Bidding has often learned from broken signal and can't self-correct. Structural reset is the recovery path.
Do you charge more for turnaround than standard management?
Typically slightly less or similar at the retainer level (£3-7k/month vs £4-9k/month for equivalent complexity), but the first 45 days carry significantly more senior practitioner time. The full recovery cycle reflects the work properly.
How fast can recovery work start?
1-7 days from discovery call to first structural changes. Emergency enquiries respond within 24-48 hours. We don't drop everything overnight but turnaround engagements get compressed timelines as standard.
What if my previous agency is uncooperative during the handover?
Standard. We use a documented Agency Handover Data Checklist to capture what's salvageable, work around what isn't, and document what was lost. Hostile handovers add 1-2 weeks but don't break recovery.
Can you guarantee recovery?
No, and we don't promise it. We diagnose at the read-only audit stage and tell you honestly whether recovery is realistic. If it's not, we say so before any engagement starts.
Book an Emergency Audit
5-7 days for full diagnosis. Written PDF report showing what's damaged, what's recoverable, and what the recovery plan looks like. No charge.