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Google Ads Audit Checklist.

12-step audit list · printer-friendly

A 12-step practical checklist to audit a Google Ads account from scratch. Catch the 15-30% of budget that's silently leaking to waste areas. This page is printer-friendly — Cmd+P (Mac) or Ctrl+P (Windows) saves as PDF or prints.

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// 12-step checklist
  1. Conversion tracking health
    Is each conversion action collecting data over the last 30 days? Tag "Recording" indicators green? Gap between GA4 and Google Ads conversion counts under 10%?
    tools → conversions
  2. Search terms report
    What % of last-30-days queries got clicks but zero conversions? How many of those are irrelevant ("free", "jobs")?
    reports → search terms
  3. Match type distribution
    Is broad match's share of spend over 60%? Are negative keyword counts adequate (50+ per campaign)?
  4. Quality score — landing page
    What's the spend share of keywords with QS <5? Are those landing pages relevant?
  5. Automated bidding data sufficiency
    Do tCPA / tROAS campaigns have under 30 conversions in the last 30 days? (Algorithm runs poorly on insufficient data.)
  6. Campaign structure
    Does each campaign serve a single business goal? Are the same keywords competing across multiple campaigns?
  7. Audience overlap
    Are remarketing + similar audiences + interest layers showing the same impression to the same user? Overlap percentage in Audience Insights?
  8. Performance Max data leakage
    Is PMax cannibalizing brand queries? Brand exclusion list in place? Asset group insights reviewed?
  9. Device bid adjustment
    Does mobile vs desktop conversion rate diverge by >30%? Is a device bid adjustment applied?
  10. Location performance
    Which cities consume X% of budget but contribute a much smaller share of conversions? Geo-negatives in place?
  11. Creative rotation (ad rotation)
    Does each active ad group have at least 3 RSAs? How many "low" assets flagged in asset performance?
  12. Attribution model + conversion window
    Is the model still last-click? Is the conversion window aligned with your purchase cycle? (Short windows starve data-driven attribution.)
Detailed guide: Google Ads Audit 2026

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