Google Ads Audit Checklist: How to Audit Your Own Account (2026 Guide)
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Every Google Ads account degrades over time.
That is normal.
It does not mean the account was badly built.
It means the market changed.
Search behaviour changes.
Competitors change their offers.
Budgets move.
Keywords broaden.
Search terms drift.
Ad copy gets stale.
Landing pages slow down.
Tracking breaks after a website update.
New campaign types appear.
Old settings stop making sense.
A campaign that was clean six months ago can become wasteful today.
That is why audits matter.
A Google Ads audit is not about looking busy.
It is not about changing things for the sake of change.
It is not about making the account look complicated.
It is about finding the simple things that quietly cost money.
A wrong location setting.
A broken conversion tag.
A poor search term.
A campaign running through the night with no conversions.
A landing page that no longer matches the ad.
A primary conversion action that should never have been primary.
These are not small issues.
They affect every decision.
If you aren't auditing your account quarterly, you are bleeding efficiency.
In this "Mega-Authority" guide, we provide the exact 10-Point Audit Framework we use at the agency level.
This isn't about "changing button colours."
It's about finding structural failures that cost money.
The goal is simple.
Find the leaks.
Fix the foundations.
Protect the budget.
Then scale with more confidence.
Part 1: The Settings Audit (The "Stupid" Mistakes)
Account Health Scorecard
Self-audit your account to see where the biggest leaks are.
Stop everything. Your conversion tracking is either missing or unverified. You are currently flying blind.
Start at the Campaign Settings level.
This is where budget can be wasted before the user even sees the ad.
Settings are not exciting.
They are not creative.
They do not look impressive in a report.
But they matter.
A campaign can have good keywords and good ads, but poor settings can still ruin it.
Wrong networks can send budget to the wrong inventory.
Wrong locations can show ads to people outside your market.
Wrong schedules can spend money when nobody answers the phone.
Wrong bid strategies can optimise towards the wrong goal.
That is why settings come first.
Check 1: Networks
- Are you targeting Search Network AND Display Network in the same campaign?
- Verdict: Fail. Display traffic behaves differently from Search traffic. Turn it off unless there is a very specific reason to keep it.
Search and Display are not the same thing.
Search is intent-led.
Someone types a query.
They are actively looking for something.
Display is interruption-led.
Someone is browsing a website, app or placement and sees an ad.
Both can work.
But they should not usually sit inside the same Search campaign.
When Display is enabled inside a Search campaign, it can make the campaign look busier.
More impressions.
More clicks.
Sometimes cheaper clicks.
But cheaper does not mean better.
Display traffic can reduce CTR.
It can produce weaker sessions.
It can create misleading data.
It can make reporting harder to understand.
A Search campaign should normally buy search intent.
If you want Display, build a separate Display campaign with its own budget, creative, targeting and measurement.
Check 2: Location Options
- Is it set to "Presence or Interest" by default?
- Verdict: Risk. This can show ads to people interested in your target location, even if they are not physically there.
- Fix: Switch to "Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations" for most local and regional campaigns.
This setting catches many advertisers.
A plumber in Manchester does not usually want clicks from people outside Manchester who are merely interested in Manchester.
A local dentist does not want enquiries from another country.
A hotel may want people outside the destination because travellers search before they arrive.
So the right setting depends on the business.
For local services, use presence.
For travel, tourism, hotels and some destination-based businesses, presence or interest may be useful.
The audit question is not, "Is this setting always bad?"
The question is, "Does this setting match the way customers buy?"
If not, fix it.
Check 3: Ad Schedule
- Are you running 24/7?
- Verdict: Check performance by hour. If 2 AM - 5 AM has $0 conversions and meaningful spend, reduce or block it.
Running 24/7 is not always wrong.
Ecommerce can sell at any time.
Hotels can receive bookings at any time.
Emergency services may need overnight visibility.
But many lead generation businesses do not need full overnight coverage.
If nobody answers the phone at 2 AM, late-night call clicks may be wasted.
If form leads submitted at weekends never convert, weekend spend may be weaker.
If B2B leads convert mainly during working hours, the schedule should reflect that.
Check performance by:
- Hour of day.
- Day of week.
- Device.
- Campaign.
- Conversion quality.
- Sales outcome.
Do not cut hours too aggressively after one bad week.
Look for patterns.
If a time block spends regularly and never converts, tighten it.
If it converts but lead quality is poor, review it.
If it assists later conversions, be careful.
The schedule should support the real business, not just the platform.
Part 2: The Tracking Audit (The Foundation)
If tracking is broken, nothing else matters.
This is the foundation.
A campaign cannot optimise properly if the conversion data is wrong.
A report cannot guide decisions if the numbers are false.
A bidding strategy cannot learn if it is fed bad signals.
A business cannot judge performance if the account counts weak actions as success.
This is where many accounts fail.
Not because there is no tracking.
Because there is bad tracking.
Check 4: Conversion Action Sets
- Do you have "Page Views" set as a Primary Conversion?
- Verdict: Fail. Smart Bidding will optimise for people viewing pages, not buying.
- Fix: Set mid-funnel goals such as Page Views, Add to Cart or Scroll Depth to Secondary. Only real business actions should usually be Primary.
Primary conversions tell Google what to optimise towards.
That is a big responsibility.
If you make page views primary, Google will look for people likely to view pages.
If you make button clicks primary, Google will look for people likely to click buttons.
If you make low-quality form submissions primary, Google will look for more of them.
This can make the account look better while the business gets worse.
Primary conversions should usually include:
- Purchases.
- Qualified lead forms.
- Phone calls above a meaningful duration.
- Booking confirmations.
- Demo requests.
- Quote requests.
- Imported qualified leads.
- Closed won deals where available.
Secondary conversions can include:
- Page views.
- Add to basket.
- Checkout starts.
- Scroll depth.
- Video views.
- Brochure downloads.
- Chat opens.
- Email clicks.
Secondary conversions are useful for analysis.
They should not always guide bidding.
The audit question is simple.
Is Google optimising towards what the business actually values?
If not, fix it before changing campaigns.
Check 5: Repeat Rate
- Look at "Repeat Rate" in conversion settings. Is it 1.0 or 5.0?
- Verdict: If it is near-zero or extremely high without logic, your tag might be firing incorrectly or counting behaviour in a misleading way.
Repeat rate can reveal tracking problems.
For lead generation, a repeat rate much higher than expected may mean the same person is triggering the conversion multiple times.
For ecommerce, multiple purchases from one click can be normal.
For lead forms, many conversions per click is usually suspicious.
Also check count settings.
For lead generation, you usually want One conversion per ad interaction for the same lead action.
For ecommerce, you usually want Every purchase counted.
That distinction matters.
A person submitting the same lead form three times should not make the campaign look three times better.
A person buying three separate orders should be counted properly.
Tracking should reflect reality.
That is the standard.
A good tracking audit should also check:
- Is the conversion firing only after the action is complete?
- Is the thank-you page reload causing duplicates?
- Are imported GA4 events duplicating Google Ads tags?
- Are phone calls counted with a meaningful duration?
- Are forms tracked after successful submission, not button click?
- Are values passed correctly?
- Is enhanced conversions enabled where appropriate?
- Is consent mode configured properly where relevant?
- Is offline conversion tracking available?
- Are old conversion actions still included in goals?
If the answer is unclear, pause optimisation decisions until tracking is fixed.
Bad data leads to bad decisions.
Part 3: The Search Term Audit (The Bleed)
This is where the money leaks.
Search terms show what people actually typed before seeing or clicking your ad.
Keywords are what you target.
Search terms are what you bought.
That difference matters.
A campaign can look clean at keyword level and messy at search term level.
This is especially true with broad match, phrase match and close variants.
Check 6: Search Term Report
- Sort by "Cost".
- Look at the top 10 terms. Are they relevant?
- Verdict: If you see "free", "login", "support", or competitors you don't want to target, add them as Negatives immediately.
Start with spend.
Do not start with clicks.
The most expensive search terms deserve attention first.
You are looking for waste.
Common waste terms include:
- Free.
- Jobs.
- Salary.
- Login.
- Support.
- Customer service.
- Complaints.
- DIY.
- Template.
- PDF.
- Cheap, if you sell premium.
- Reviews, depending on strategy.
- Competitors, if not intentional.
- Locations you do not serve.
- Products or services you do not offer.
Do not add negatives blindly.
Some words may be useful in one account and harmful in another.
For example, "free consultation" may be valuable for a solicitor.
"Free software" may be useless for enterprise SaaS.
"Reviews" may be useful for hotels.
"Reviews" may be poor for some lead generation campaigns.
Use judgement.
A strong negative keyword process should include:
- Exact negatives for specific poor queries.
- Phrase negatives for repeated poor themes.
- Shared negative lists for universal exclusions.
- Campaign-level negatives for traffic shaping.
- Brand negatives in generic campaigns where appropriate.
- Competitor negatives where competitor bidding is not part of the plan.
Search term reviews should be regular.
For new campaigns, check daily or every few days.
For stable campaigns, weekly or fortnightly may be enough.
For low spend accounts, monthly may be realistic.
The point is consistency.
Waste grows when nobody looks.
Check 7: Match Type Bleed
- What % of spend is Broad Match vs Phrase/Exact?
- Verdict: If Broad Match is over 80% and CPA is high, you may have lost control. Tighten the net.
Broad match is not automatically bad.
It can work well with strong conversion tracking, Smart Bidding and good negatives.
But broad match without control can spend quickly.
The audit should ask:
- Is broad match delivering conversions?
- Are those conversions high quality?
- Are search terms relevant?
- Is CPA within target?
- Is the campaign using Smart Bidding?
- Are negatives being reviewed?
- Is broad match mixed with exact and phrase in a sensible way?
- Is there enough conversion volume to support it?
If broad is spending heavily and producing poor quality, tighten it.
Options include:
- Add negatives.
- Move high-risk terms to phrase.
- Split broad into a test campaign.
- Lower budget.
- Use stronger audience signals.
- Improve conversion tracking.
- Adjust bidding strategy.
- Pause broad terms that do not justify spend.
Do not kill broad match just because it is broad.
Kill or tighten it when the evidence shows waste.
That is the difference between fear and management.
Part 4: The Creative Audit (The Message)
A Google Ads account is not only bids and keywords.
It is also a message.
The user still needs to choose you.
They see your ad next to competitors.
They compare promises.
They judge trust quickly.
They decide whether to click.
Then the landing page must continue the story.
Creative matters.
Even in Search.
Check 8: Ad Strength & Extensions
- Do you have at least 1 "Good" or "Excellent" RSA per Ad Group?
- Do you have Sitelinks, Callouts, and Structured Snippets active?
- Metric: "Impressions (Top)" vs "Impressions (Absolute Top)". If Abs. Top is low, your Quality Score, Ad Rank or Bid may be too low.
Ad Strength is not a perfect performance metric.
An ad can have Excellent Ad Strength and still not convert.
An ad can have Average Ad Strength and produce strong results.
But Ad Strength can still reveal weak setup.
If an ad group has one thin RSA with generic copy, that is a problem.
A strong RSA should include:
- Clear service or product terms.
- Main benefit.
- Trust signal.
- Location where relevant.
- Offer or value proposition.
- Call to action.
- Pain point.
- Differentiator.
- Price or finance cue where appropriate.
- Brand message.
Do not write 15 versions of the same headline.
Use variety.
For example, a weak set might be:
- Best Plumber.
- Local Plumber.
- Plumbing Services.
- Call Us Today.
A stronger set might include:
- Emergency Plumber in Glasgow.
- 24 Hour Leak Repairs.
- Local Gas Safe Engineers.
- Fast Response Plumbing Help.
- Book a Same-Day Visit.
- Trusted By Local Homeowners.
- Clear Quotes Before Work Starts.
- Call Our Team Today.
The second set gives Google more useful combinations.
It also gives the user more reasons to act.
Assets matter too.
Sitelinks help users reach the right page.
Callouts add trust and benefits.
Structured snippets show service range.
Call assets support phone leads.
Location assets support local trust.
Image assets can improve visibility where eligible.
A "naked" ad is usually weaker than a fully supported ad.
Check whether you have:
- Sitelinks.
- Callouts.
- Structured snippets.
- Call assets where relevant.
- Location assets where relevant.
- Image assets where relevant.
- Price assets where useful.
- Promotion assets where appropriate.
- Lead form assets where suitable.
- Business name and logo assets where eligible.
Also check message match.
If the ad says "Free Quote", the landing page should make that clear.
If the ad says "Same-Day Delivery", the page should support that.
If the ad says "Luxury Hotel in Edinburgh", do not send users to a generic homepage with no clear Edinburgh signal.
Creative is not decoration.
It is the promise.
The landing page must keep that promise.
Part 5: The "Set and Forget" Audit
Google Ads is not a slow cooker.
You cannot set it once and forget it for six months.
The market moves.
The platform moves.
Competitors move.
Your own business moves.
The account needs attention.
Not constant fiddling.
Not daily panic.
But steady review.
Check 9: Change History
- Go to "Change History".
- Have there been meaningful edits in the last 30 days?
- Verdict: If the account hasn't been touched in 3 months, it may be drifting.
Change history tells you whether anyone is managing the account.
But be careful.
No changes is not always bad.
Sometimes a stable account should be left alone.
The real question is whether there has been meaningful review.
A good manager may review the account and decide not to change much.
That is fine.
But there should still be evidence of management over time.
Examples of meaningful activity include:
- Search term reviews.
- Negative keyword additions.
- Asset updates.
- Budget adjustments.
- Bid strategy reviews.
- Conversion tracking checks.
- Landing page tests.
- Audience reviews.
- Campaign experiments.
- Feed checks for ecommerce.
- Auction insights review.
- Location performance review.
If the account has no changes and performance is declining, that is a problem.
If the account has many random changes and performance is unstable, that is also a problem.
Good management is not measured by activity volume.
It is measured by useful decisions.
Check 10: Auction Insights
- Has a new competitor entered the chat?
- Verdict: If a new player has 40% impression share, you need to analyse their offer. See our Competitor Analysis Guide.
Auction Insights shows who you compete with in the ad auction.
This is useful because performance does not happen in isolation.
Your CPA can rise even if your account did nothing wrong.
A competitor may increase bids.
A new brand may enter the market.
A competitor may launch a stronger offer.
A national company may start targeting your local area.
A seasonal advertiser may return.
Auction Insights helps you see that.
Check:
- Impression share.
- Overlap rate.
- Position above rate.
- Top of page rate.
- Absolute top of page rate.
- Outranking share.
But do not obsess over competitors.
You do not need to beat everyone on every search.
You need profitable visibility.
Sometimes a competitor is overpaying.
Let them.
The audit question is:
Has the auction changed in a way that affects our strategy?
If yes, review your offer, ad copy, landing pages and bids.
Part 6: Summary & Checklist
An audit is not an optimisation.
It is a health check.
It tells you what is broken.
It tells you where spend is leaking.
It tells you where the account is drifting.
It tells you what needs attention first.
Do not start with tiny tweaks.
Start with foundations.
A good audit follows the money.
It checks whether the account is targeting the right people.
It checks whether the account is measuring the right actions.
It checks whether search terms are relevant.
It checks whether ads are strong enough.
It checks whether competitors have changed.
It checks whether someone is actually managing the account.
Your Action Plan:
- Open your Google Ads account in one tab, this guide in another.
- Run through Checks 1-3 (Settings) immediately.
- Deep Dive into Search Terms (Check 6) to stop the bleeding.
- Schedule a recurring audit event in your calendar for the 1st of every quarter.
Here is the full 10-point checklist:
- Networks: Separate Search and Display unless there is a deliberate reason.
- Location Options: Use the setting that matches how your customers buy.
- Ad Schedule: Remove or reduce spend during poor-performing hours where evidence supports it.
- Conversion Actions: Keep real business goals as Primary. Move weak signals to Secondary.
- Repeat Rate: Check for duplicate or misleading conversion tracking.
- Search Terms: Sort by cost and add negatives where spend is wasted.
- Match Type Bleed: Check whether broad match is helping or hurting.
- Ads and Assets: Review RSA quality, message match and campaign assets.
- Change History: Check whether the account is being managed properly.
- Auction Insights: Review competitor movement and market pressure.
Find the leaks.
Patch the holes.
Then fill the bucket.
The "15-Minute Health Check" — Quick-Fire Audit Protocol
Most accounts have leaks.
Some are small.
Some are serious.
Many come from default settings.
Others come from old decisions that were never reviewed.
Here is the rapid-fire version:
- Change History — Go to Change History. Zero meaningful activity in 30 days? Ask whether the account is actively being reviewed.
- Conversion Count Mode — "One" is usually better for Lead Gen. "Every" is usually better for Ecommerce. If you have "Every" set for lead forms, your CPA may be misleading.
- Search Partners & Display — In Campaign Settings → Networks: disable Display Network inside Search campaigns unless it is deliberate. Check Search Partners CPA separately. If it is much higher with enough data, consider turning it off.
- Negative Keywords — If there is no Negative Keyword list applied to the campaign, that is a warning sign.
- Device Breakdown — Desktop converts at $50 and Mobile at $150? Review device performance. Apply bid adjustments where available and appropriate, or adjust strategy through campaign structure and landing page experience.
- Ad Schedule — B2B company showing ads at 2 AM Sunday? Review whether those clicks ever become leads. Set schedules around real performance.
- Location Settings — Default may include people interested in your location. For most local service businesses, use Presence only.
- Audiences — Is the Audiences tab empty? Add relevant audiences in Observation mode for insight without restricting reach.
- Quality Score — Add the QS column. Any top-spending keyword below QS 5/10 deserves review. Check expected CTR, ad relevance and landing page experience.
- Assets — Every campaign should use relevant assets such as sitelinks, callouts and structured snippets. Empty assets leave visibility and CTR on the table.
If you find more than 3 of these errors, your account may be leaking money.
Do not scale yet.
Fix the foundation first.
What To Do After The Audit
An audit only matters if it leads to action.
Create three lists:
- Critical fixes: Tracking, wrong networks, wrong locations, bad primary conversions.
- Efficiency fixes: Negatives, schedules, devices, poor search terms, weak assets.
- Growth opportunities: New keywords, better landing pages, competitor gaps, audience insights, remarketing, offline conversions.
Fix critical issues first.
Then reduce waste.
Then look for growth.
Do not reverse the order.
Scaling a broken account only makes the problem bigger.
A clean account gives you better data.
Better data gives you better decisions.
Better decisions give you better performance.
That is the real purpose of a Google Ads audit.
Next Best Step
Where to go from here
About the Author
Performance marketing specialist with 6 years of experience in Google Ads, Meta Ads, and paid media strategy. Helps B2B and Ecommerce brands scale profitably through data-driven advertising.
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