The 42 points we check in a Google Ads account audit

The audit we run before taking on an account falls into five headings. The aim is not to find fault; it is to show, in numbers, where the budget is being lost.

1. Account structure

Campaign count, keyword density per ad group, and whether the channels are eating each other's traffic. The problem we see most often: campaigns piled up over the years with none of them ever switched off. The algorithm tries to learn separately for each one and reaches enough data in none of them.

2. Bidding strategy

Automated bidding strategies do not work without accurate conversion data. If a target ROAS is defined but conversion value is not being sent, the strategy behaves at random.

3. Measurement

Conversion counting settings, double counting, the conversion window and the attribution model. Comparing the order count in the ad dashboard against the order count in the e-commerce platform usually reveals a large gap within the first five minutes.

4. Targeting and negatives

The share of irrelevant traffic in the search terms report, how current the negative keyword lists are, and the geographic targeting settings.

5. Creative

Ad strength scores, asset variety and how completely the extensions are filled in. Even one missing extension visibly lowers click-through rate.