The 15-Minute Google Ads Waste Audit

Almost every Google Ads account we take over has the same story: the ads work, but 20–40% of the budget evaporates on settings nobody has looked at since setup day. Here's the exact checklist we run — you can do it yourself in 15 minutes.

1. Search Partners & Display Network (2 min)

Where: Campaign Settings → Networks. Google often checks "Include search partners" and sometimes Display Network by default. 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; most accounts we see don't.

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

Where: Campaign Settings → Locations → Target options. The default often includes people interested in your location — meaning someone in another country searching "Vancouver plumber" sees your ad and clicks on your dime.

Fix: target "Presence: people in or regularly in your locations." For a local business this one switch routinely saves 10–20%.

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. Classic findings: "every page visit counts as a conversion," duplicate tags counting leads twice, or a call extension counted as a lead every time it's displayed. 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.

This checklist is one page of our free business audit — the full audit covers your ads, tracking, website and lead handling end to end.