The DIY brands own the generic search
SimpliSafe and Ring made “home security” a $200 box with free shipping. Those searchers were never going to pay for a professional install, and they are most of the volume.
ADT spends more per day than you spend per year. Fine. We go where they cannot.
The security category is a national-brand auction. ADT, Vivint, SimpliSafe and Ring pay $20 to $60 a click for “home security system” and run it in every zip code. A local dealer who bids on the same words at the same bid is paying their price for their customers.
We build around what the nationals do not do well: professional camera installs, commercial systems, takeovers of old ADT panels, local same-day service, and the brand-plus-install searches. Then we track every call to an installed system and a signed monitoring agreement.
Installs from $1,500 to $8,000, plus $30 to $60 a month monitoring. The upside is real. So is the waste, and here’s where it usually comes from.
SimpliSafe and Ring made “home security” a $200 box with free shipping. Those searchers were never going to pay for a professional install, and they are most of the volume.
“Cancel ADT” and “Vivint lawsuit” look like brand terms with intent. They are, but the intent is to leave, and they will not convert to you unless the ad is written for exactly that.
The install is the acquisition cost. The monthly monitoring is the business. Campaigns that chase one-time camera installs with no monitoring attach rate burn margin in slow motion.
Takeover and switch campaigns: Ads for people searching how to cancel ADT or Vivint, with a landing page about taking over their existing equipment and cutting the monthly bill. Nationals cannot run this play against themselves.Camera and commercial campaigns: Professional camera installation, business alarm systems, access control and fire. Higher tickets, fewer DIY shoppers, and the national consumer brands are weak here.Negatives for the box buyers: SimpliSafe, Ring, Wyze, Blink, “wireless kit”, “best home security 2026” and anything with “DIY”. Reviewed weekly.Track installs and monitoring attach: Call tracking plus your dealer platform (alarm.com dealer tools, SedonaOffice, ServiceTitan or Jobber), so Google learns from signed monitoring agreements, not install-only jobs.Examples from home security installation accounts. The real lists run to hundreds of terms and get reviewed every week.
Your account is run by two PPC pros with 20+ years each. No handoff to a coordinator juggling 35 accounts.
Not quarterly. Not “when the algorithm settles”. Every week, by hand, so the junk never gets a chance to pile up.
Your Google Ads account, your data, your tracking, from day one. Leave anytime and take it all with you.
Who likes 12-month contracts? We don’t. We earn the next quarter by making the last one pay.
Plan on $3k to $8k a month. You will not outbid ADT on the generic words and should not try. The budget goes to camera, commercial and switch campaigns where the click is $10 to $25 and the buyer wants a professional.
No. One security installation company per metro. We are already fighting the nationals for you; we are not also going to fight the shop across town.
Yes. The switch campaign is often the best thing in the account. Someone searching “cancel ADT” already owns the equipment and already pays a monthly bill. Offering a cheaper takeover with local service converts well and the margin is excellent.
Your best customer pays every quarter for years. Let’s go get that one.
How we run it →Honest companies lose the click to scammers every day. Here’s how to stop that.
How we run it →Someone is locked out right now. They’re calling the first number they see.
How we run it →Every search is an emergency. Every click comes from a phone. Build for that.
How we run it →Talk to a senior PPC expert who has run home security installation accounts. Never a junior.