{"id":90882,"date":"2026-11-11T03:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T03:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adnxt.com\/blog\/google-ads-audit-stop-wasted-spend\/"},"modified":"2026-11-12T18:18:59","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T18:18:59","slug":"google-ads-audit-stop-wasted-spend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adnxt.com\/blog\/google-ads-audit-stop-wasted-spend\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Ads Audit: 9 Places Your Budget Leaks (and How to Fix Each One)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Most Google Ads accounts do not fail because the product is bad or the budget is too small. They leak money through settings nobody checked, searches nobody reviewed, and landing pages that do not match the ad. The leaks are quiet. The account keeps spending, the dashboard shows clicks, and the owner assumes that is what advertising costs.<\/p>\n<p>This guide is a practical Google Ads audit for business owners and managers in the US and Canada who pay for search ads and want to know where the money goes. You do not need to be a specialist. You need about two hours, access to your account, and a willingness to turn things off. Each section explains what to check, why it matters, and what to change.<\/p>\n<div class=\"adnxt-key-takeaways\">\n<h2>Key takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Default campaign settings are built to spend your budget, not to protect it. Review networks, locations, and auto-applied changes first.<\/li>\n<li>Your search terms report shows what you actually paid for. Read it weekly and add negative keywords.<\/li>\n<li>Keep brand searches out of non-brand campaigns, or your results will look better than they are.<\/li>\n<li>Ads, keywords, and landing pages should tell the same story. Relevance lowers costs and raises conversions.<\/li>\n<li>Write ads for people, not for keyword lists. Specific, useful copy beats generic claims.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>The video that sparked this guide<\/h2>\n<p>This audit was prompted by a recent video from Sabri Suby, founder of a digital marketing agency, titled &#8220;Watch This Before You Spend Another $1 on Google Ads,&#8221; published on his YouTube channel on November 6, 2026. In it, he walks through the account habits he believes waste the most money, from default settings to keyword match types and ad copy. The video is his own view and also promotes his agency; AdNxt is not connected to it. We used it as a starting point and built our own checklist, with links to Google&#8217;s documentation where it helps. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PfCjBcYOdHw&#038;utm_source=https:\/\/adnxt.com\/blog\/google-ads-audit-stop-wasted-spend\/&#038;utm_medium=Adnxt-blog&#038;utm_campaign=Google%20Ads%20Audit:%209%20Places%20Your%20Budget%20Leaks%20(and%20How%20to%20Fix%20Each%20One)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Watch the original on YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"adnxt-video-embed\"><iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PfCjBcYOdHw\" title=\"Sabri Suby: Watch This Before You Spend Another $1 on Google Ads\" loading=\"lazy\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allow=\"accelerometer; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h2>Before you start: pull the right data<\/h2>\n<p>An audit is only useful if you look at enough data. Set the date range in Google Ads to the last 90 days. If your account is small, use 180 days so the numbers are not too thin to trust. Then write down four numbers for the whole account:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Total cost.<\/li>\n<li>Total conversions, and what counts as a conversion.<\/li>\n<li>Cost per conversion.<\/li>\n<li>Conversion value or revenue, if you track it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Next, check that conversions are real. Open the conversions summary and look at each action that is set as a primary goal. Ask whether each one is something your business actually wants. A form submission, a purchase, or a qualified phone call is real. A page view, a click on an email link, or a scroll is usually not. If weak actions are counted as conversions, automated bidding will chase them, and your account will look healthier than it is. Our guide to <a href=\"\/blog\/ga4-conversion-tracking-for-small-businesses\/\">GA4 conversion tracking for small businesses<\/a> explains how to set up the events that matter.<\/p>\n<p>With honest conversion data in hand, you can move on to the leaks.<\/p>\n<h2>Leak 1: Default settings that widen your reach<\/h2>\n<p>When you create a campaign, Google pre-selects options that give your ads more places to show. More reach is not always bad, but it is rarely what a small advertiser needs at the start. Open each search campaign&#8217;s settings and review these:<\/p>\n<h3>Networks<\/h3>\n<p>Search campaigns can include the Google search partner network and, in some setups, the Display Network. Display placements can bring many cheap clicks from people who were not searching for you. Search partners can work for some advertisers and not for others. Check performance by network in your reports. If a network brings clicks but few conversions, turn it off and watch results for a few weeks.<\/p>\n<h3>Location options<\/h3>\n<p>Google Ads lets you target people who are in your target area, or people who are in it or showing interest in it. The second option can show your ads to people far away who once searched about your city. A plumber in Toronto rarely wants clicks from people in another country researching Toronto. For most local and regional businesses, choose people who are in or regularly in your target locations.<\/p>\n<h3>Auto-applied recommendations<\/h3>\n<p>Google can apply some recommendations automatically, such as adding keywords or changing bidding. Some suggestions are useful. Others raise spend without improving results. Check the auto-apply settings on the recommendations page, and turn off any you have not consciously approved. You can still review recommendations by hand and accept the ones that make sense.<\/p>\n<h3>Broad match and automated campaign types<\/h3>\n<p>Broad match and campaign types such as Performance Max can work well with strong conversion data and a healthy budget. With weak data or a small budget, they can spread money across loosely related searches. If you are starting out or your conversion tracking is new, consider tighter match types first, then widen as you learn what converts.<\/p>\n<p>None of these settings is wrong in every case. The point is to choose them on purpose.<\/p>\n<h2>Leak 2: Paying for searches you did not want<\/h2>\n<p>The search terms report is the most important report in a search account. It shows the actual words people typed before they clicked your ad. Keywords are what you bid on. Search terms are what you paid for. They are often different.<\/p>\n<p>Open the search terms report for the last 90 days and sort by cost. Look for:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Searches from people looking for jobs, training, or free versions of what you sell.<\/li>\n<li>Searches for a product or service you do not offer.<\/li>\n<li>Searches for competitors you do not want to target.<\/li>\n<li>Searches in places or languages you do not serve.<\/li>\n<li>Very broad research questions that rarely lead to a purchase.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Add these as negative keywords at the campaign level, or build a shared negative keyword list you can apply to several campaigns. Google&#8217;s help article on <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/google-ads\/answer\/7102466?utm_source=https:\/\/adnxt.com\/blog\/google-ads-audit-stop-wasted-spend\/&#038;utm_medium=Adnxt-blog&#038;utm_campaign=Google%20Ads%20Audit:%209%20Places%20Your%20Budget%20Leaks%20(and%20How%20to%20Fix%20Each%20One)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">getting negative keyword ideas from the search terms report<\/a> shows the steps. Google also supports an <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/google-ads\/answer\/2453983?utm_source=https:\/\/adnxt.com\/blog\/google-ads-audit-stop-wasted-spend\/&#038;utm_medium=Adnxt-blog&#038;utm_campaign=Google%20Ads%20Audit:%209%20Places%20Your%20Budget%20Leaks%20(and%20How%20to%20Fix%20Each%20One)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">account-level negative keyword list<\/a> for terms you never want, such as &#8220;jobs&#8221; or &#8220;careers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Then look at the other side. Find search terms that did convert. If they are not already keywords, consider adding them. If they converted well, you may want them in their own ad group with a closely matched ad and landing page.<\/p>\n<p>Make this a weekly habit. Fifteen minutes each week is often worth more than any single big change.<\/p>\n<h2>Leak 3: Brand traffic hiding in non-brand campaigns<\/h2>\n<p>People who search for your business name already know you. They are likely to convert and cheap to win. That is good, but it causes a problem when brand searches show up inside campaigns meant to find new customers.<\/p>\n<p>Here is how it happens. You run a campaign for &#8220;kitchen remodeling contractor&#8221; and a separate small campaign for your brand name. Because of how matching works, someone searching &#8220;[your company] kitchen remodeling&#8221; may trigger the non-brand campaign. That campaign then reports a great cost per conversion, and you think it is finding new customers when it is mostly catching people who already knew you.<\/p>\n<p>To fix it:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Add your brand name, common misspellings, and abbreviations as negative keywords in every non-brand campaign.<\/li>\n<li>Keep a separate brand campaign so you still show up when people search for you by name.<\/li>\n<li>Report brand and non-brand results separately. Judge growth by non-brand performance.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Many advertisers who make this change see non-brand results look worse at first. That is not a loss. It is the first honest view of what your prospecting campaigns are doing.<\/p>\n<h2>Leak 4: Ads and landing pages that do not match<\/h2>\n<p>Google rewards ads that are relevant to the search and lead to a page that delivers what the ad promised. Better relevance can help your ads show more often and at a lower cost. Poor relevance means paying more for clicks that do not turn into customers.<\/p>\n<p>Check each main ad group by doing three things in order:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Read the top few search terms in the ad group.<\/li>\n<li>Read the ad that showed for them.<\/li>\n<li>Open the landing page on your phone.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Ask: would a person who typed that search feel they landed in the right place? If someone searched &#8220;emergency furnace repair&#8221; and landed on your general HVAC home page, the answer is probably no. A page about emergency furnace repair, with your phone number at the top and a clear statement of your hours, would serve them better.<\/p>\n<p>Repeating the keyword is not enough. The page also has to persuade. That means a clear headline about the problem you solve, proof that you are real (location, licenses, reviews you can show honestly), and one obvious next step. A short, useful FAQ section that answers real questions can help both visitors and relevance. If you need to build better pages, our list of <a href=\"\/blog\/12-best-landing-page-builders-for-small-businesses\/\">landing page builders for small businesses<\/a> is a good place to compare tools.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/adnxt.com\/services\/google-ads.html?utm_source=adnxt_blog&amp;utm_medium=internal_cta&amp;utm_campaign=google-ads-audit-stop-wasted-spend&amp;utm_content=mid_google_ads_audit#quote\">Request a Google Ads account review<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Leak 5: Match types chosen without a plan<\/h2>\n<p>Match types decide how closely a search must match your keyword. In simple terms:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Exact match<\/strong> shows your ad for searches with the same meaning as your keyword. It is the most controlled.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Phrase match<\/strong> shows your ad for searches that include the meaning of your keyword, with extra words around it.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Broad match<\/strong> shows your ad for searches related to your keyword, which can be quite wide.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A useful way to choose is to ask what you have more of: time or budget. If budget is tight and you have time to manage the account, start narrow with exact and phrase match on high-intent keywords. You will get fewer clicks, but more of them will be relevant. If you have more budget than time, a wider approach can collect data faster, but only if you review search terms often and add negatives.<\/p>\n<p>Whatever you choose, connect it to your conversion data. Keywords and search terms that have converted can be moved to tighter match types so you control them. Terms that never convert after a fair number of clicks are candidates for negatives or lower bids.<\/p>\n<h2>Leak 6: Ad copy that sounds like everyone else<\/h2>\n<p>Search a few of your main keywords and read the ads at the top. In many industries, they all say the same things: &#8220;Trusted since 1998,&#8221; &#8220;Call now,&#8221; &#8220;Best service in town.&#8221; When every ad sounds the same, people pick on habit or price.<\/p>\n<p>Better search ads are specific. They tell the searcher something useful and give a reason to click. For example, compare these for a tax preparer:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Generic: &#8220;Professional Tax Services. Experienced Team. Call Today.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Specific: &#8220;Small Business Tax Returns in Austin. Fixed-Fee Quote Before We Start. Book a 20-Minute Call.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The second ad tells the reader who it is for, where, how pricing works, and what happens next. It filters out people who are not a fit and invites the right ones in.<\/p>\n<p>When you test new copy:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Change one big idea at a time, such as the main benefit or the offer.<\/li>\n<li>Run new versions next to existing ones so you can compare fairly.<\/li>\n<li>Give each test enough clicks before you decide. A handful of clicks is not enough.<\/li>\n<li>Keep claims honest. Do not promise results you cannot support.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Leak 7: Unused ad space<\/h2>\n<p>Search ads can show extra information called assets, formerly known as extensions. These include sitelinks to other pages, callouts with short benefits, structured snippets listing services, call buttons, and location details. Assets can make your ad larger and more useful at no extra cost per impression.<\/p>\n<p>Check that each main campaign has:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sitelinks<\/strong> to real, useful pages such as pricing, service areas, reviews, or specific services.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Callouts<\/strong> with short, true facts like &#8220;Same-day appointments&#8221; or &#8220;Free estimates.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li><strong>Structured snippets<\/strong> listing your main services or product types.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Call assets<\/strong> if phone calls are valuable to you, with call tracking turned on.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Location assets<\/strong> linked to your Google Business Profile if you serve customers in person.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Google decides when to show assets, so they will not appear every time. But an ad with good assets ready has a better chance of standing out.<\/p>\n<h2>Leak 8: Bidding strategies that do not fit your data<\/h2>\n<p>Automated bidding strategies, like maximizing conversions or targeting a cost per acquisition, use your conversion data to set bids. They can save time and often improve results. But they depend completely on the quality and volume of the data you give them.<\/p>\n<p>Signs your bidding strategy may not fit:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your campaign gets only a few conversions per month, so the system has little to learn from.<\/li>\n<li>Your conversion actions include weak signals that do not lead to sales.<\/li>\n<li>Your costs swing wildly week to week without clear reasons.<\/li>\n<li>You changed the target or budget several times in a short period.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If these sound familiar, fix your conversion tracking first. Then pick one strategy, set a realistic target based on past results, and give it a few weeks before judging. Frequent changes reset learning and make results harder to read.<\/p>\n<h2>Leak 9: Not looking at where clicks come from<\/h2>\n<p>Search engines are changing how results look. Google now shows AI-generated answers for many informational searches, and it has been expanding ads inside those AI experiences. That shift makes it more important to know which kinds of searches bring you buyers.<\/p>\n<p>A practical step: list your top ten keywords by spend, then search for each one yourself. Note what appears. If the results page is mostly AI answers and guides, the people searching may be early in their research. If it shows local businesses, prices, or products, the people searching may be closer to buying. Use what you learn alongside your conversion data. Shift budget toward searches that show clear buying intent and convert well, and away from broad questions that do not.<\/p>\n<h2>A simple monthly routine after the audit<\/h2>\n<p>The audit fixes the biggest leaks. A routine keeps new ones from forming. Here is a light schedule a business owner or a small team can keep:<\/p>\n<h3>Weekly<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Review the search terms report and add negative keywords.<\/li>\n<li>Check spend against budget and pause anything clearly broken.<\/li>\n<li>Look at any new recommendations and accept only the ones you understand.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Monthly<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Compare brand and non-brand performance.<\/li>\n<li>Review ad tests and replace the weakest ad in each main ad group.<\/li>\n<li>Check that landing pages still load fast and match the ads.<\/li>\n<li>Confirm conversion tracking still works with a test lead or order.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Quarterly<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Repeat the full audit in this guide.<\/li>\n<li>Revisit location targeting, networks, and bidding strategies.<\/li>\n<li>Decide what to scale, what to cut, and what to test next.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>When to bring in help<\/h2>\n<p>Many owners can handle the basics. It may be time for outside help when:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You spend enough that small percentage gains are worth real money.<\/li>\n<li>Your conversion tracking is unclear or broken and you are not sure how to fix it.<\/li>\n<li>You run several campaign types and cannot tell which ones work.<\/li>\n<li>You simply do not have time to review the account each week.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you hire someone, ask them to explain what they will check first, how they report results, and how they separate brand from non-brand performance. A good partner should make the account easier for you to understand, not harder.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n<h3>How often should I audit my Google Ads account?<\/h3>\n<p>Do a full audit every quarter, and review the search terms report every week. Large accounts or accounts going through big changes may need closer attention.<\/p>\n<h3>What is the fastest way to reduce wasted Google Ads spend?<\/h3>\n<p>Start with the search terms report. Add negative keywords for searches that are clearly irrelevant, and review network and location settings. These two steps often cut obvious waste quickly.<\/p>\n<h3>Should I turn off search partners in Google Ads?<\/h3>\n<p>It depends on your results. Check performance by network. If search partners bring clicks but few conversions compared with Google Search, turning them off is reasonable. If they convert well, keep them.<\/p>\n<h3>Is broad match bad for small businesses?<\/h3>\n<p>Not always. Broad match can work with strong conversion tracking and enough budget. With weak data or a small budget, tighter match types are usually easier to control. Whatever you use, review search terms often.<\/p>\n<h3>Why does my brand campaign look so much better than my other campaigns?<\/h3>\n<p>People searching for your brand already know you, so they convert more easily and cost less. That is why brand results should be reported separately and kept out of non-brand campaigns with negative keywords.<\/p>\n<h2>Final thoughts<\/h2>\n<p>A Google Ads account does not need to be complicated to work well. It needs honest conversion data, settings you chose on purpose, a regular look at what people actually searched, and ads and pages that speak clearly to the right customer. Fix the leaks in this guide, then keep a simple weekly routine. Over time, that steady attention usually matters more than any single clever tactic.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/adnxt.com\/services\/google-ads.html?utm_source=adnxt_blog&amp;utm_medium=internal_cta&amp;utm_campaign=google-ads-audit-stop-wasted-spend&amp;utm_content=end_google_ads_management#quote\">Talk to us about managing your Google Ads<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Related AdNxt guides<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"\/blog\/ga4-conversion-tracking-for-small-businesses\/\">GA4 conversion tracking for small businesses<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/blog\/12-best-landing-page-builders-for-small-businesses\/\">12 best landing page builders for small businesses<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"\/blog\/how-to-build-lead-routing-rules-that-sales-teams-trust\/\">How to build lead routing rules that sales teams trust<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Sources and further reading<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=PfCjBcYOdHw&#038;utm_source=https:\/\/adnxt.com\/blog\/google-ads-audit-stop-wasted-spend\/&#038;utm_medium=Adnxt-blog&#038;utm_campaign=Google%20Ads%20Audit:%209%20Places%20Your%20Budget%20Leaks%20(and%20How%20to%20Fix%20Each%20One)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Sabri Suby, &#8220;Watch This Before You Spend Another $1 on Google Ads&#8221; (YouTube, November 6, 2026)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/google-ads\/answer\/7102466?utm_source=https:\/\/adnxt.com\/blog\/google-ads-audit-stop-wasted-spend\/&#038;utm_medium=Adnxt-blog&#038;utm_campaign=Google%20Ads%20Audit:%209%20Places%20Your%20Budget%20Leaks%20(and%20How%20to%20Fix%20Each%20One)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google Ads Help: Get negative keyword ideas using the search terms report<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/google-ads\/answer\/2453983?utm_source=https:\/\/adnxt.com\/blog\/google-ads-audit-stop-wasted-spend\/&#038;utm_medium=Adnxt-blog&#038;utm_campaign=Google%20Ads%20Audit:%209%20Places%20Your%20Budget%20Leaks%20(and%20How%20to%20Fix%20Each%20One)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google Ads Help: About negative keyword lists<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A practical Google Ads audit for business owners: default settings, search terms, brand traffic, relevance, match types, ad copy, assets, bidding, and a simple routine to stop wasted spend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":90881,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[234,18,191],"class_list":["post-90882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tutorials","tag-google-ads","tag-marketing","tag-small-business"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Google Ads Audit: Find and Fix Wasted Ad Spend<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Run a Google Ads audit in two hours. Check default settings, search terms, brand traffic, landing pages, and bidding to stop wasted spend.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/adnxt.com\/blog\/google-ads-audit-stop-wasted-spend\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Google Ads Audit: Find and Fix Wasted Ad Spend\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Run a Google Ads audit in two hours. 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