A Google Ads audit is a structured review of your targeting, tracking, bidding, and creative performance. The goal is simple: identify wasted spend and increase return on ad spend (ROAS). A comprehensive audit looks closely at conversion accuracy, search intent alignment, and budget efficiency. That’s how campaigns start generating revenue, not just clicks.
ROAS rarely drops overnight for one dramatic reason. It usually slips through small gaps. The checklist below shows how to audit a Google Ads account and find those leaks fast. You’ll learn where performance is being lost, where budget can be redirected, and where you can identify growth opportunities in your campaigns.
A Complete Google Ads Audit Checklist to Improve Campaign Efficiency
This checklist provides a repeatable account audit process focused on ROAS optimization through structured account review of your campaign performance data.
| Audit Area | What to Review |
| Account Architecture | Brand vs non-brand separation
Search vs Performance Max overlap Ad group intent clarity Campaign duplication risks |
| Conversion Tracking Accuracy | Primary conversion actions are set correctly
Enhanced conversions enabled Attribution model alignment |
| Keyword Performance Analysis | High-spend, low-return keywords
Match type efficiency |
| Search Terms Waste | Irrelevant queries triggering ads
Negative keyword gaps Low-intent modifiers (“free,” “jobs”) Query patterns draining the budget |
| Bidding Strategy | Bid strategy fit for ROAS goals
Learning phase instability Conversion quality driving automation |
| Landing Page Experience Optimization | Message match from ad to page
Mobile speed + usability Conversion friction points |
| Budget Distribution | Spend concentrated on the top ROAS drivers
Low-return campaigns draining budget |
| Competitive Positioning Review | Impression share losses (budget vs rank)
Auction Insights competitor pressure High-value auctions are being missed |
Account Architecture
The structure of your Google Ads account determines whether campaigns scale efficiently or waste spend due to overlap, as revealed in your Google Ads account audit.
“When I audit a struggling account, I don’t start with CTR or CPA. I start with structure. If the architecture is messy, performance will always be unstable. Internal competition is a major red flag, with the same intent spread across campaigns and Performance Max running without a clear role. Mixed intent inside ad groups makes optimization unpredictable. Performance Max is often launched as a magic button, then advertisers are surprised when it cannibalizes brand traffic instead of driving incremental growth.”
Dennis F, PPC Team Lead at Ninja Promo
A clean structure gives Google’s automation clear signals. A messy one creates internal competition, diluted data, and budget leaks that are hard to spot until ROAS drops.
What to audit
- Separate brand vs non-brand campaigns
- Avoid Performance Max cannibalization
- Keep ad groups tightly themed by intent
- Ensure expert-level accounts maintain a clean hierarchy
Common ROAS leaks
- Too many low-volume campaigns with weak conversion signals
- Mixed intent keywords sitting inside one ad group
- Poor Google Ads management practices that create duplication and overlap
Campaign structure decisions depend heavily on understanding different Google Ads types (Search, Shopping, Performance Max) and how they interact.
Conversion Tracking Accuracy Assessment
An audit starts with tracking accuracy, because bidding decisions depend on reliable conversion signals. If conversion tracking is off, the rest of the account gets harder to manage. Google will optimise toward whatever you’ve told it counts as a conversion, even if that action doesn’t reflect real value. Before adjusting bids or budgets, make sure the right outcomes are being measured.
Conversions settings showing primary vs secondary actions on Google Ads interface
“The biggest issue I see isn’t bad ads, it’s bad data. ROAS can look great on the surface, but once you dig deeper, it’s often inflated. A common example is the same purchase being counted twice, once via the website tag and once via GA4 import. Incorrect value tracking does the same thing, especially when refunds or cancellations aren’t reflected. In B2B, optimizing toward form submissions without CRM-qualified imports means the system is learning from noise. When tracking is flawed, the algorithm is simply optimizing toward distorted signals.”
Dennis F, PPC Team Lead at Ninja Promo
Tracking reliability checklist
- Primary vs secondary conversions are configured correctly
- Enhanced conversions are enabled where applicable
- Offline conversion imports included for lead gen
- Attribution model matches your sales cycle
Without proper tracking, automated bidding can optimize toward cheap but low-value actions, which pulls ROAS down over time and makes scaling unpredictable.
Keyword Performance Analysis
Keyword audits show whether you align keywords with user intent or pay for low-value traffic. A strong paid search audit isolates profitable terms.
Keywords report sorted by cost and conversion value on Google Ads interface
This step is less about finding “more keywords” and more about understanding which terms actually drive conversion value. Many accounts spend heavily on queries that generate clicks but never produce revenue, especially when intent is vague or match types are too loose.
What to review
- Conversion value per keyword
- Match type efficiency
- Cost-per-conversion vs ROAS contribution
- Keywords consuming budget without delivering value
Poor vs effective intent example
- Poor: broad research queries
- Effective: high-commercial search intent
Intent alignment is the foundation of any sustainable Google Ads strategy, because it determines whether clicks convert into revenue.
Search Terms Waste
To audit Google Ads effectively, you must carry out a systematic review of the real search queries triggering spend and eliminate irrelevant demand.
This is where wasted budget shows up most clearly. Your keywords may look fine on paper, but the Search Terms report reveals what people actually typed before clicking. If those queries don’t match purchase intent, ROAS drops quickly.
Search Terms report with irrelevant queries highlighted
“Search term audits are often uncomfortable, but necessary. The biggest waste comes from free intent queries — template, sample, download — when the product is paid. Informational searches like ‘what is’ or ‘reviews’ also drain budget unless they’re part of a real upper-funnel plan. Support-related queries show up too, meaning you’re paying for clicks from existing customers. A strong search terms cleanup alone can often recover 20–30% of wasted spend without increasing bids.”
Dennis F, PPC Team Lead at Ninja Promo
What to flag
- Queries unrelated to your offer
- “Free” or low-buying-intent modifiers
- Job-seeker or informational searches
- Search for waste that drains ROAS
Irrelevant queries reduce conversion rate, pollute Smart Bidding signals, and increase wasted ad spend over time.
| Query Type to Block | Real Example | Why It’s Wasteful | Best Action |
| Free intent searches | “free audit template” | High clicks, no buying intent | Add “free” as a negative keyword |
| Career traffic | “Google Ads jobs” | Attracts applicants, not customers | Exclude terms like “jobs” or “salary” |
| Wrong service category | Unrelated product/service query | Mismatched intent lowers ROAS | Tighten match types and add negatives |
| Research-only queries | “what is Google Ads audit” | Informational, low conversion likelihood | Separate into awareness campaigns or block |
Bidding Strategy
A Google Ads account review checks whether bidding strategies match campaign maturity, conversion quality, and ROAS targets.
Bidding is where performance is either scaled or constrained. If the account has clean conversion data and enough volume, automated approaches like target ROAS bidding can work well. If signals are weak or targets are set too aggressively, delivery becomes unstable, and efficiency drops over time (Google Ads Help—Target ROAS bidding).
Bid strategy settings with learning status indicator
“Target ROAS isn’t a fix, it’s a scaling tool. I only move campaigns to tROAS when there’s stability: enough conversion volume, accurate revenue tracking, and consistent performance over several weeks. The most common mistake is pushing automation too early with low volume and unrealistic ROAS targets. Automation amplifies what already exists. If the foundation is strong, it scales performance. If it’s weak, it scales chaos.”
Dennis F, PPC Team Lead at Ninja Promo
Audit evaluation points
- Automated vs manual bidding fit
- Learning phase resets from aggressive changes
- Target ROAS feasibility based on conversion volume
- Bid limits restricting performance
Missed efficiency opportunities
- Optimizing for low-quality conversions
- Setting unrealistic ROAS targets too early
Many ROAS gains come from structured Google Ads optimization, especially when Smart Bidding is paired with clean conversion signals.
Landing Page Experience Optimization
When you audit Google Ads, landing pages must be reviewed alongside ads, because conversion rate drives ROAS.
Even the best targeting and ad copy can’t recover performance if the landing page creates hesitation. The page needs to confirm the offer immediately, make the next step obvious, and remove anything that slows users down or distracts them.
Landing page checklist
- Message match from keyword → ad → page
- CTA visible above the fold
- Mobile speed under 3 seconds
- Reduced friction in forms and checkout
- Clear offer comprehension immediately
Conversion blockers
- Sending traffic to a generic homepage
- Slow load time on mobile
- Offer mismatch versus the ad promise
Landing page fixes are often where ROAS gains become measurable, because small improvements in conversion rate compound across every paid click.
Budget Distribution
A structured account review should confirm budget is concentrated in campaigns that deliver the highest marginal return.
ROAS rarely improves by spending more everywhere. It improves when the budget is pushed toward campaigns that already convert efficiently and pulled away from segments that consistently drain return. Distribution matters as much as targeting.
Campaign spend vs conversion value comparison
How to audit allocation
- Identify winners versus budget drains
- Check “limited by budget” on high performers
- Reallocate spend toward proven ROAS drivers
- Avoid spreading the budget too thin across campaigns
Budget decisions should reflect real Google Ads cost efficiency—spend belongs where marginal ROAS stays profitable.
Competitive Positioning Review
The final step of a paid search audit is understanding where competitors outrank you and reclaiming high-intent demand.
Even well-optimized campaigns can lose ROAS if competitors are consistently taking top auction positions. Auction-level visibility shows whether you’re missing valuable impressions because of budget limits, weak relevance, or aggressive overlap from direct rivals. Google’s Auction Insights report is the clearest way to diagnose this (Google Ads Help — Auction Insights report).
Metrics to review
- Impression share
- Lost IS (budget)
- Lost IS (rank)
- Auction Insights overlap rate
- Positioning gaps in a Google search advertising audit
| What You’re Losing | What It Usually Means | Best Next Move |
| Impression share due to budget | High-performing campaigns are capped too early | Shift budget from low-return segments into proven winners |
| Impression share due to rank | Ads or landing pages lack relevance signals | Improve Quality Score drivers: intent match, ad copy, page experience |
| High competitor overlap rate | A direct competitor is bidding on the same high-value demand | Tighten keyword focus, defend priority queries, adjust bidding selectively |
| Outranking share declining | Competitors are improving faster or increasing bids | Review auction trends weekly and protect the most profitable terms |
Auction visibility also depends on the wider digital advertising platform landscape, especially when competitors diversify across channels.
Must-Have Tools for a Google Ads Audit
The tools below cover the essentials without turning the process into a technically challenging project.
| Tool | Free / Paid | Best Used For During an Audit |
| Google Ads Editor | Free | Ad group and campaign structure review, duplication checks, bulk edits across large accounts |
| Google Tag Manager | Free | Confirming conversion tags fire correctly and catching tracking gaps early |
| Google Analytics 4 (GA4) | Free | Post-click behaviour analysis, funnel drop-off points, and landing page engagement quality |
| Optmyzr | Paid | Faster detection of wasted spend patterns, negative keyword opportunities, bidding inefficiencies, and account-level prioritisation |
| Semrush PPC Toolkit | Paid | Competitive keyword context and identifying where high-intent demand is being missed |
Google Ads Editor (Free)
Google Ads Editor is the fastest way to review account structure at scale. It’s built for bulk analysis, which makes it ideal for spotting issues that are easy to miss inside the web interface. You can quickly find duplicated campaigns, inconsistent naming, bloated keyword lists, or ad groups that have drifted away from a clear theme. It’s also the safest way to plan structural fixes before pushing changes live.
Google Tag Manager (Free)
Tag Manager is where you confirm that tracking is working the way you think it is. Audits often uncover conversion tags firing twice, triggering on the wrong pages, or missing key events entirely. GTM gives you a clean view of what’s installed and when it activates. If ROAS is unstable, this is usually one of the first places to check.
Google Analytics 4 (Free)
GA4 helps you validate what happens after the click. It’s useful for answering practical questions: Are paid visitors staying on the page? Are they moving through the funnel? Are certain campaigns driving high bounce rates or low engagement? GA4 also helps connect Google Ads performance with on-site behaviour, which is critical when you’re judging landing page quality and conversion intent.
Optmyzr (Paid)
Optmyzr is a practical shortcut when an account has too many campaigns to review manually. It flags obvious waste, gaps in negative keywords, and bidding setups that are costing more than they should. It’s most helpful in larger or higher-spend accounts where small inefficiencies add up quickly.
Semrush PPC Toolkit (Paid)
Semrush adds competitive context that Google Ads alone won’t show you. It helps you identify keyword gaps, track competitor pressure, and understand where your account may be missing high-intent demand. For audits that include questions on positioning and market share, this external layer is valuable. It also supports smarter expansion once the account is cleaned up.
Final Thoughts
A Google Ads account review is one of the fastest ways to identify wasted ad spend and improve ROAS. Start by tracking accuracy, then clean up search terms, confirm the bidding strategy fits, and tighten the link between keywords, ads, and landing pages. When these fundamentals stay clean, performance becomes more predictable and scalable. For a broader framework across channels, a full PPC audit can help connect paid search performance with a wider campaign strategy.
