Why does my junk removal Google Ads bring calls for city trash pickup, the dump and scrap yards?
Searches from people who aren't looking to hire a junk removal company leak into nearly every account; the typical account spends about 11% of its search-term budget on them, and junk-focused accounts about 18%. City trash and bulk pickup is the biggest leak, followed by dump and landfill searches.
By Justin Hubbard, who runs Adimize and has owned and operated a junk removal and dumpster rental company for over 12 years
Based on 35 Google Ads accounts (Oct 2025 - Sep 2026) and 28 websites (Jul 2025 - Sep 2026)
Where the wasted spend goes
| Search type | Median account share of spend | Top quarter of accounts | Accounts with any | Example searches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City or hauler trash and bulk pickup | 3.0% | 8.8%+ | 33 | bulky item pickup, curbside pickup, bulk day near me |
| Dump, landfill, 'where can I throw away' | 1.7% | 3.6%+ | 32 | where can i throw away a mattress, dump near me |
| DIY, truck and bag rental | 0.5% | 1.1%+ | 26 | dumpster bag, uhaul near me |
| Off-service (cleaning, movers, organizers) | 0.3% | 1.2%+ | 24 | cleaner service, housekeeping |
| Free pickup | 0.3% | 2.6%+ | 25 | free appliance pickup, junk pick up for free |
| Scrap and junkyards | 0.2% | 0.8%+ | 28 | junkyards near me, scrap metal pickup |
| Donation pickup | 0.0% | 1.1%+ | 18 | goodwill pick up furniture, charities that pick up furniture |
How much it adds up to
Across 35 accounts, the median account spends 11.1% of its search-term budget on these searches (middle half 6.3%-21.0%), and 20 of 35 are above 10%. Junk-focused accounts run higher, at a median of 17.8% (25 accounts); dumpster-focused accounts sit around 7%.
Display ads hiding inside Search campaigns
In the 7 accounts where the Display network took more than 0.5% of Search-campaign spend, it took about 7% (middle half 2.3%-13.4%).
The same searches show up organically
Junk removal websites rank for these searches too: non-buying searches are about 3.9% of the non-brand impressions a typical site gets on Google's organic results (28 sites), led by city bulk pickup and trash service searches.
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