Google Ads Audit Checklist: 25 Checks to Find Wasted Spend and Improve ROAS
Google Ads Audit Checklist: 25 Checks to Find Wasted Spend and Improve ROAS
A thorough Google Ads audit can reveal where budget is being wasted, why performance has declined and which opportunities could generate the greatest improvement in revenue, leads or return on ad spend.
The problem is that many Google Ads account audits focus on surface-level metrics. They flag low optimisation scores, missing assets or Google recommendations without establishing whether fixing them will actually improve business performance.
A useful audit should go deeper.
It should examine the accuracy of your conversion data, the quality of the searches you are paying for, the suitability of your bidding strategies and whether budget is being directed towards the campaigns, products and audiences most likely to generate incremental results.
This 25-point Google Ads audit checklist explains what to review, why each area matters and which problems should be prioritised first.
Prefer an expert second opinion? Request a free Google Ads audit to receive a clear, prioritised report covering wasted spend, search terms, bidding, campaign structure, tracking and growth opportunities.
What Is a Google Ads Audit?
A Google Ads audit is a structured review of an advertising account designed to identify:
Wasted or inefficient advertising spend
Incorrect or incomplete conversion tracking
Irrelevant search traffic
Weak campaign and ad-group structures
Unsuitable bidding strategies
Budget allocation problems
Performance Max and Search overlap
Underperforming ads and landing pages
Missed keywords, audiences and growth opportunities
The final output should not simply be a list of problems. It should explain what needs to change, why it matters, the likely impact and the order in which each action should be completed.
How Often Should You Audit a Google Ads Account?
A full Google Ads account audit should generally be completed:
When taking over an existing account
After a significant decline in leads, sales or ROAS
Before increasing advertising budgets
Following major tracking or website changes
After launching new campaign types
When performance has remained stagnant
At least once or twice per year as a wider strategic review
Individual areas such as search terms, budgets, conversion tracking and disapprovals should be monitored much more frequently.
The 25-Point Google Ads Audit Checklist
1. Confirm the Account’s Primary Business Objectives
Start by establishing what the account is genuinely trying to achieve.
That could include:
Online revenue
Qualified sales leads
Booked appointments
Phone calls
App installs
Store visits
New-customer acquisition
Profit or contribution margin
Do not begin by analysing click-through rates or optimisation scores. First define the commercial result that Google Ads is expected to generate.
This gives every subsequent recommendation a clear purpose.
2. Check Which Conversion Actions Are Primary
Review every conversion action included in the account’s primary goals.
Common problems include campaigns optimising towards:
Page views
Button clicks
Form starts
Time-on-site events
Duplicate purchases
Unqualified leads
Imported GA4 events with incorrect settings
Google Ads uses selected conversion goals to guide campaign optimisation and bidding, so irrelevant primary actions can push automated bidding towards activity that does not generate meaningful business value. ons that represent genuine business outcomes should normally be used as primary bidding signals.
3. Test Conversion Tracking Accuracy
Complete a real test conversion and confirm that it is recorded correctly.
Check:
Whether the conversion fires
Whether it fires more than once
Whether the correct value is recorded
Whether currency settings are accurate
Whether transaction IDs prevent duplication
Whether phone calls and offline sales are captured
Whether conversions are being imported from multiple sources
An account reporting more conversions than the business actually receives can make inefficient campaigns appear profitable. Missing conversions can create the opposite problem and cause valuable campaigns to be reduced or paused.
4. Review Enhanced Conversions and Offline Data
Check whether enhanced conversions are configured correctly.
Enhanced conversions supplement existing tracking by sending hashed first-party customer data, such as an email address, to improve measurement accuracy. on advertisers should also review whether qualified leads, booked appointments and completed sales can be imported back into Google Ads.
Optimising towards completed sales is usually more valuable than treating every initial form submission as equally important.
5. Confirm Conversion Values Reflect Commercial Value
For ecommerce accounts, verify that purchase values, taxes, delivery costs, discounts and currency are being recorded consistently.
For lead-generation accounts, consider assigning different values to:
Initial enquiries
Marketing-qualified leads
Sales-qualified leads
Booked appointments
Closed customers
Where sufficient data exists, importing real revenue or profit values can help Google Ads distinguish between high-value and low-value conversions.
6. Review Account and Campaign Structure
Campaign structure should provide enough control to manage budget, bidding, targeting and reporting without unnecessarily fragmenting the data.
Look for:
Brand and non-brand traffic mixed together
Different countries combined in one campaign
Products with very different margins sharing one budget
Lead types with different values combined
Hundreds of low-volume campaigns or ad groups
Search, Shopping and Performance Max overlap
Legacy campaigns that no longer serve a clear purpose
The best structure is not necessarily the most detailed. It is the structure that gives each campaign enough relevant data while preserving control over important business differences.
7. Separate Brand and Non-Brand Performance
Brand searches frequently convert at a lower CPA or higher ROAS because the user already knows the business.
Combining brand and non-brand results can therefore make overall account performance look stronger than it really is.
Review:
Brand campaign impression share
Brand search lost impression share
Brand CPC trends
Non-brand CPA or ROAS
Brand terms appearing in Performance Max
Competitor terms appearing in brand campaigns
Brand and non-brand performance should normally be reported separately so that genuine acquisition performance remains visible.
8. Check Location Targeting
Review every campaign’s included and excluded locations.
Look for:
Countries or regions added accidentally
Users outside the service area
Campaigns targeting an entire country when only certain regions are covered
Locations consuming spend without generating conversions
Poor-performing areas that require separate bids, budgets or campaigns
Location settings that include people merely interested in the area
For local or regional businesses, even a small targeting error can direct a meaningful percentage of budget towards users who cannot become customers.
9. Review Devices, Schedules and Networks
Analyse performance by:
Mobile
Desktop
Tablet
Day of week
Hour of day
Google Search
Search partners
Display network
A weak segment should not automatically be excluded. First establish whether the difference is caused by landing-page usability, attribution, lower conversion values or insufficient data.
However, consistently poor segments may justify separate campaigns, bid adjustments or exclusions.
10. Analyse the Search Terms Report
The search terms report shows the searches that triggered your ads and is one of the most important parts of a Google Ads campaign audit.
Use it to identify:
Irrelevant searches
Informational queries
Job-related searches
Customer-service queries
Competitor searches
Low-intent research terms
New high-performing keyword opportunities
Searches being routed to the wrong ad group
Google recommends using the report to identify successful phrases to add as keywords and less relevant searches to exclude. otal wasted spend and repeated patterns. Ten individually inexpensive irrelevant searches can indicate a broader targeting problem.
11. Audit Negative Keywords
Check negative keywords at account, campaign, ad-group and shared-list level.
Look for two opposing problems:
Important negatives are missing, allowing irrelevant searches to consume budget.
Existing negatives are blocking relevant, commercially valuable traffic.
Account-level negative keywords can be used to exclude irrelevant terms across eligible Search and Shopping inventory. ords should be based on genuine relevance and commercial intent—not simply added because a search has not converted after one or two clicks.
12. Review Keyword Match Types
Analyse spend, conversions, CPA, revenue and ROAS by match type.
Check whether:
Broad match is generating relevant incremental volume
Phrase match is triggering excessively broad searches
Exact-match coverage exists for the most valuable terms
High-performing search terms have been added as keywords
Different match types are creating unnecessary overlap
Low-intent queries are receiving excessive budget
Match-type decisions should be based on the quality of actual search terms and business results rather than Google’s recommendations alone.
13. Review AI-Led Search Expansion
Check whether features that expand beyond the original keyword set are active and producing relevant traffic.
This may include:
Broad-match expansion
AI Max search-term matching
Automatically created assets
Final URL expansion
Dynamic Search Ads
Performance Max search themes
For every expansion feature, compare the additional reach against the quality, value and relevance of the conversions generated.
More traffic is only useful when it produces incremental commercial results.
14. Identify Wasted Spend
Create a clear wasted-spend analysis covering:
Search terms with no meaningful results
Keywords with unsustainable CPA or ROAS
Poor placements
Unprofitable products
Irrelevant locations
Low-quality lead sources
Duplicate campaign traffic
Ads sending users to unsuitable landing pages
Avoid defining all non-converting spend as waste.
Some keywords require longer evaluation periods, produce delayed conversions or assist customers earlier in the decision-making process. Use sufficient data and consider conversion lag before making major decisions.
15. Review Budget Allocation
Compare each campaign’s share of spend with its share of:
Conversions
Revenue
Profit
Qualified leads
New customers
Conversion value
Look for strong campaigns restricted by budget while weaker campaigns continue spending freely.
Budgets should generally be directed towards the areas with the best combination of:
Proven efficiency
Available demand
Strategic importance
Incremental growth potential
Confidence in the tracking data
16. Check Bidding Strategy Suitability
Review whether each campaign’s bidding strategy matches its objective and data volume.
Questions to ask include:
Is the campaign optimising for conversions or conversion value?
Is the CPA or ROAS target realistic?
Has the target recently been changed?
Is the campaign limited by an overly restrictive target?
Does the campaign have enough reliable conversion data?
Are low-value actions influencing bidding?
Would a bidding experiment reduce the risk of changing strategy?
A bidding strategy cannot compensate for inaccurate tracking, poor traffic or an unsuitable campaign structure.
17. Review Bid Strategy Targets and Constraints
Compare current target CPA or target ROAS settings with recent actual performance.
Targets that are significantly more aggressive than historic results may restrict traffic and prevent campaigns from serving.
Targets that are too loose can allow spend to increase without sufficient commercial return.
Review changes gradually and assess performance over a period that accounts for conversion delay and learning.
18. Audit Responsive Search Ads
Review the ads within each important ad group.
Check whether they:
Match the user’s search intent
Clearly describe the product or service
Include meaningful differentiators
Address common objections
Use specific calls to action
Match the landing page
Avoid repetitive headlines
Include relevant prices, locations or eligibility requirements
Contain accurate and compliant claims
Do not judge an ad solely by its Ad Strength rating. The main question is whether it attracts the right users and contributes to profitable conversions.
19. Review Assets
Check sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, images, business names, logos, prices, promotions, calls and lead forms.
Assets should make the advert more useful and help qualified users reach the most relevant page.
Remove outdated promotions, incorrect information and links that direct users to generic or poorly matched pages.
20. Assess Landing-Page Relevance
For each major keyword theme, compare the search, advert and landing page.
A strong journey should feel consistent:
Search intent → keyword → advert → landing page → conversion action
Look for:
Generic homepages used for specific searches
Products that are difficult to find
Different messaging between ads and pages
Slow mobile performance
Unclear calls to action
Distracting navigation
Missing trust signals
Forms requesting unnecessary information
Increasing traffic will not solve a landing page that fails to convert qualified visitors.
21. Review Quality Score Components
Analyse:
Expected click-through rate
Ad relevance
Landing-page experience
Quality Score should be used diagnostically rather than treated as the account’s main objective.
For example, poor landing-page experience across a large share of spend may indicate a site-wide speed, usability or relevance problem. Poor ad relevance may indicate that ad groups contain too many unrelated keywords.
Prioritise low scores affecting meaningful levels of spend and strategically important searches.
22. Audit Performance Max Campaigns
A Performance Max audit should examine:
Brand versus non-brand traffic
Search-term insights
Product-level performance
Asset-group structure
Audience signals
Search themes
Final URL expansion
Automatically created assets
Location settings
Listing-group coverage
Placement quality
Cannibalisation of existing campaigns
Performance Max can sometimes serve against branded searches that would otherwise be captured by Search. Google provides brand exclusions to prevent campaigns from serving for selected brands when this separation is required. nly on the campaign’s blended ROAS. Determine which products, searches and customer types are actually producing the reported value.
23. Audit Shopping Products and Merchant Center Data
For Shopping and retail Performance Max campaigns, review performance at product level.
Check:
Product titles
Product types
Google product categories
Images
Prices
Availability
GTINs
Custom labels
Disapprovals
Products receiving no impressions
High-spend products producing poor returns
High-value products receiving insufficient exposure
Segmenting products by margin, performance, inventory or strategic importance can provide greater control over bidding and budget allocation.
24. Review Recommendations and Auto-Apply Settings
Audit the Recommendations section, but do not assume every recommendation should be implemented.
Review:
The commercial purpose of the recommendation
The likely impact on traffic quality
Whether it reduces account control
Whether it conflicts with existing tests
Whether it could increase spend
Whether it is based on the correct conversion goals
Also check the account’s auto-apply settings and change history. Google Ads allows advertisers to select which recommendation categories may be applied automatically. ns should support the business strategy—not replace it.
25. Review Change History and Prioritise Actions
Finally, review the account’s change history.
Look for:
Sudden budget increases
Frequent bidding changes
Conversion-goal changes
New broad-match keywords
Removed negatives
Location changes
Automatically applied recommendations
Campaigns paused or enabled unexpectedly
Tracking changes made near a performance decline
Turn the findings into a prioritised action plan.
A practical structure is:
Critical
Problems affecting data accuracy or creating significant immediate waste.
Examples:
Duplicate purchase tracking
Campaigns targeting the wrong country
Broken lead tracking
Large volumes of irrelevant spend
High Priority
Changes with strong evidence and meaningful potential impact.
Examples:
Reallocating budget towards profitable campaigns
Separating brand and non-brand traffic
Fixing restrictive bidding targets
Excluding repeated low-intent searches
Medium Priority
Improvements likely to help performance but requiring testing or more data.
Examples:
New ad messaging
Campaign consolidation
Landing-page tests
New audience signals
Growth Opportunities
New activity designed to generate incremental volume.
Examples:
Untapped high-intent keywords
New locations
Additional product groups
Competitor campaigns
New campaign types
What Should a Professional Google Ads Audit Include?
A professional Google Ads audit service should provide more than exported charts and automated recommendations.
The report should clearly explain:
What the problem or opportunity is
Which campaigns are affected
How much spend or revenue is involved
Why the finding matters
What action should be taken
How confident the auditor is
What the likely commercial impact could be
Which actions should be completed first
The strongest audit reports distinguish between confirmed problems, testable hypotheses and longer-term opportunities.
Can You Audit Google Ads Yourself?
Yes. This PPC audit checklist can be used to review your own account.
However, internal reviews can miss issues because account structures, targeting choices and reporting methods have become familiar over time.
An independent Google Ads account audit can provide:
A fresh view of the account
Comparison against wider best practices
Identification of assumptions that have not been tested
More objective prioritisation
Specialist review of tracking, bidding and campaign overlap
Get a Free Google Ads Audit
Not every account needs to be rebuilt.
Often, the biggest gains come from correcting a small number of high-impact issues: inaccurate tracking, wasted search spend, restrictive bidding, poor budget allocation or missed high-intent demand.
Our free Google Ads audit reviews the six areas most likely to affect performance:
Search terms and negative keywords
Wasted spend
Bidding strategy
Campaign structure
Conversion tracking
Growth opportunities
You will receive a clear, prioritised report explaining what we found, why it matters and the recommended next steps.
Generate your free Google Ads audit and discover what may be limiting your account’s performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a Google Ads audit cost?
The cost of a Google Ads audit varies according to the size and complexity of the account. Some providers charge a fixed fee, while others offer an initial audit free of charge. GoogleAdsAudits.com provides a free audit with no credit card required.
How long does a Google Ads audit take?
A small account may be reviewed relatively quickly, while large accounts with multiple countries, campaign types or conversion sources require more detailed analysis. The audit should cover a sufficiently long data period to account for seasonality and conversion delays.
What access is required for a Google Ads audit?
Read-only Google Ads access is normally sufficient. This allows the auditor to review campaigns, settings and performance without making changes to the account.
Will an audit make changes to my Google Ads account?
An audit should identify and recommend changes rather than implement them automatically. Any account changes should be reviewed and approved before being applied.
What is the difference between a Google Ads audit and ongoing management?
An audit is a detailed assessment of the account at a particular point in time. Ongoing Google Ads management includes implementing changes, monitoring performance, running tests and continually optimising campaigns.
Can a Google Ads audit improve ROAS?
An audit cannot guarantee improved ROAS, but it can identify tracking errors, wasted spend, bidding problems and missed opportunities that may be limiting performance. The eventual result depends on the quality of the findings and how effectively the recommendations are implemented.
Does a Google Ads audit include Performance Max?
A comprehensive modern Google Ads audit should review Performance Max campaigns, including brand overlap, product performance, asset groups, search themes, URL expansion, audience signals and campaign-level controls.
How frequently should Google Ads be audited?
Search terms, budgets and tracking should be monitored regularly. A wider independent audit is particularly valuable after a major performance change, website migration, tracking update, management handover or significant increase in budget.
AUTHOR BIO
Jack Felstead is an independent Paid Media and Digital Growth Consultant with 17 years of experience helping businesses improve advertising revenue, efficiency and return on investment across Google Ads and other paid media platforms.