The 15-Minute Google Ads Waste Audit

A common pattern in small-business Google Ads accounts: the ads work, but part of the budget quietly leaks away on settings nobody has looked at since setup day. Here's a simple checklist — you can run it yourself in 15 minutes.

1. Search Partners & Display Network (2 min)

Where: Campaign Settings → Networks. Google includes search partners by default when you create a Search campaign, and for years new Search campaigns were also opted into the Display Network until Google changed that default in 2025. For most small business search campaigns, these dilute budget onto lower-intent placements.

Fix: run Search network only. Check performance by network first — if partners bring cheap conversions, keep them; if they don't, switch them off.

2. Location targeting: "presence" vs "interest" (2 min)

Where: Campaign Settings → Locations → Location options. By default, targeting includes people interested in your location — meaning someone in another country searching "Vancouver plumber" can see your ad and click on your dime.

Fix: choose the "Presence" option — "Reach people in or regularly in your targeted locations." For a local business that only serves its own area, this one switch stops paying for clicks from people who can't become customers.

3. Search terms report (4 min)

Where: Insights & reports → Search terms. This shows the actual queries that triggered your ads — not the keywords you wrote. Look for: irrelevant queries, competitor names you didn't mean to bid on, informational searches ("free", "DIY", "jobs", "salary").

Fix: add every irrelevant recurring term as a negative keyword. Five minutes here pays every single week.

4. Broad match without guardrails (3 min)

Where: Keywords → check match types. Broad match + Google's automation + no negatives = budget bonfire. Broad match can work, but only with a mature negative list and conversion tracking that actually works.

Fix: pause broad keywords with high spend and no conversions; move that budget to your proven phrase/exact terms.

5. Conversion tracking that lies (4 min)

Where: Goals → Conversions. Common problems: "every page visit counts as a conversion," duplicate tags counting leads twice, or a minimum call length set so low that every misdial counts as a lead. If the data is wrong, every optimization decision is wrong.

Fix: keep only real business actions — form submit, call click, booking. One lead = one conversion.

The habit that matters more than the checklist

Waste creeps back. Put a recurring 15-minute slot in your calendar monthly, or have someone run it for you. An account checked monthly stays lean; an account checked yearly becomes a donation to Google.

These checks are one part of our free business audit — the full audit covers your ads, tracking, website and lead handling end to end.