Dean Yates

Paid search that pays its way.

I'm a paid search specialist from Teesside. For 15 years I've been inside Google Ads accounts, finding wasted spend and turning it into growth. Today I run Run The Numbers®, a specialist agency for ecommerce and lead gen businesses.

Get in touch Visit Run The Numbers →

About me

Engineer first, paid search second.

I started out as an engineer. Royal Navy first, working on Harrier jets, then offshore as a marine engineer. That background is exactly how I think about a Google Ads account. It's a system. Put good inputs in and you get good results out. Put crap in and that's what you'll get back.

I moved into paid search in 2014 and spent the best part of a decade at one of the UK's leading PPC agencies, working up from specialist to Technology Director. I built one of the first agency-run CSS platforms in the country and managed millions in ad spend across hundreds of accounts.

In 2023 I started Run The Numbers® to do paid search the way I think it should be done. No contracts, senior people on every account, and reporting that tells you the truth about your money.

When I'm not in an account you'll find me out on the bike, up a hill with the local mountain rescue team, or at home with Katie and the kids.

What I do

Paid search, run properly.

I run paid search for businesses spending roughly £1k to £50k a month.

Google Ads — search, shopping and Performance Max, built around your margins and goals rather than whatever the platform pushes this week.
Microsoft Ads — the channel most agencies ignore, and often the cheapest clicks you'll buy.
Product feeds and CSS — clean, complete feeds through Klarna and Datafeedwatch so your shopping campaigns have good data to work with.

It all runs on one system: audit, stabilise, validate, scale. Get the foundations right, stop the spend that's bleeding, test before committing, then put budget behind what's proven to work.

See how RTN works →

The results

The numbers give clients no reason to leave.

97.3% Client retention

74% Average revenue growth in year one

£0 Contracts. Month to month.

Most accounts I audit are leaking money. I'll usually find enough wasted spend in the first 30 days to cover the fee.

Across my career I've worked on paid search for brands including ASDA Tyres, Biffa, New Era, The Alnwick Garden, Trade Radiators, Lucy Pittaway, Crafters Companion, RAC, ModelSport, WheelSpin Models and Great British Outfitters.

Get in touch

Not sure your ad spend is working hard enough?

If you're spending on Google Ads and you're not sure it's working as hard as it should, send me a message. I'll give you a straight answer.

You'll also find me on LinkedIn.