Google Ads Wasted-Spend Audit: A Practical Checklist
A wasted-spend audit looks for expenditure that does not support the agreed business outcome. It should examine tracking, intent, geography and sales quality before making savings claims.
What to do first
Check duplicate or irrelevant conversion actions, search terms, negatives and landing-page availability.
Implementation and review
- Compare location and device performance with qualified outcomes and the business's service area.
- Review budgets, disapprovals, brand/non-brand separation and follow-up failures before changing bids.
What to watch for
Do not promise a fixed percentage saving before measuring the account. Cheap traffic can still be valuable, and expensive traffic can still be profitable.
A practical example to work through
Start the audit with a known successful inquiry and follow it through the conversion reporting. If the same submission appears twice, fix the counting problem before interpreting CPA changes. Then review irrelevant searches and unserviceable locations. This sequence reduces the risk of cutting a useful campaign because its dashboard is being compared against another campaign's inaccurate conversion count.
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References and further reading
References explain platform behavior; they are not independent verification of portfolio results. Check current documentation before implementation.
Need help applying this? Explore consulting services or review the project results.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the first step?
Check duplicate or irrelevant conversion actions, search terms, negatives and landing-page availability.
What should I avoid?
Do not promise a fixed percentage saving before measuring the account. Cheap traffic can still be valuable, and expensive traffic can still be profitable.
Request a paid-media or tracking audit
Tell me what you sell, which channels you use and where performance is stalling. We can agree the audit scope, deliverables and fee before starting.
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