Very low engagement

I'm running a CPC campaign that I'm also allowing on the extended network.

Monthly searches for the campaign are less than 1K searches. The cost per click is 2-4$ as it is a low-competition niche.

I've blocked all apps as they provide piss poor engagement rates. A lot of clicks but either never make it or 0 seconds of activity.

The extended ad network is not as bad but still fairly poor. Should I expect this to improve with time?

As this is a local services. I've narrowed the ad times to a window to when the business is open. Late night clicks tend to be poor performers too.

It's possible for performance to improve over time as the campaign optimizes, but focusing on high-quality placements and refining targeting e.g., location, device, time will likely yield better results faster.

It might improve as Google learns over time, but I’d keep adjusting your targeting and excluding low-quality sources to help boost performance.

It might improve with optimization, but keep testing and tweaking targeting focus on high-quality placements and refine your audience to boost engagement over time!

It may improve over time as the campaign gathers more data, but if performance is still poor, consider further refining your targeting or adjusting bids to prioritize high-quality traffic.

It might improve, but refining your targeting will help more quickly.