I can assure you there's companies that spend a millions on ads with no idea what they are doing. In-fact there are products within business units, within large enterprises that spend >$1M per quarter, where the segment itself may spend $5M+/Quarter, easily.
The agency that runs the programs the the only people that win - after they pocket their 5+% commission.
Source: past roles where I saw a lot of people who do not know wtf they are doing with ads (yet they themselves are making 6 figures)
I originally had more nuance in my comment but wanted to keep it simple. In my experience, companies like the ones you describe have a really strong brand (so large volume of branded search) and/or really strong other channels, like SEO. At that point, paid search is a piece of the overall ROI (serving market share or other strategic objectives) and not channel-specific.
Adding even more nuance, that really only describes successful companies. Failing companies _think_ they are profitable, until they quickly aren't. Your experience is very similar to my own. You're 100% right.
The agency that runs the programs the the only people that win - after they pocket their 5+% commission.
Source: past roles where I saw a lot of people who do not know wtf they are doing with ads (yet they themselves are making 6 figures)