What We Find in Almost Every Google Ads Audit (and How to Fix It)

When an ad account stops delivering profitable leads or sales, the problem is rarely one catastrophic mistake. More often, wasted ad spend builds up quietly through outdated default settings, unmonitored search terms and tracking quirks that go unnoticed for months. At Platform81, our team works with businesses across Manchester, Stockport, Bromsgrove and the wider UK to untangle these exact issues. Whether an account has been managed in-house or handed over between suppliers, the same patterns turn up time and again.

Why we audit before we touch anything

Whenever our team takes on a new paid search account, we never start by rewriting ads or adjusting bids on day one. Every engagement begins with a structured Google Ads audit so we can see how data is being recorded, where budget is going and which settings are working against your goals. Changing campaigns before you trust the numbers underneath them only creates more noise.

A thorough PPC audit looks past surface metrics like clicks and impressions to examine the foundations of the account. Across our own review process, we check over 100 individual criteria covering conversion tracking, campaign structure, audience signals, ad assets and account security. Below are the ten recurring issues we uncover most frequently, along with practical steps to spot and resolve them yourself.

The findings that come up again and again

1. Conversion tracking counting the wrong things

What we see: In most accounts we review, conversion tracking is either broken, duplicated or measuring the wrong actions altogether. Common examples include counting page views, button clicks or time on site as primary conversions, or importing goals from Google Analytics 4 (GA4) while a native Google Ads tag fires on the same thank-you page.

Why it matters: Google’s automated bidding relies on your primary conversion data to decide who should see your ads next, so bad data trains it to chase cheap, low-intent traffic instead of real enquiries. Browser privacy changes can also leave gaps that server-side tracking is often needed to close.

How to check: Open Goals, then Conversions, then Summary in your Google Ads account. Look at every action marked as “Primary” and compare your reported conversions against your actual CRM leads or ecommerce orders.

The fix: Demote soft engagement metrics like page views or scroll depth to “Secondary” actions so you can still observe them without feeding them into bidding. Remove duplicate tags so each genuine lead or sale is counted once. Once tracking is clean, you can also use your converters to exclude existing customers from your remarketing audiences, so you stop paying to chase people who have already bought.

2. Search terms leaking budget

What we see: Campaigns frequently run broad match keywords (keywords that allow Google to match your ads to loosely related searches) without a maintained negative keyword list. When we open the Search Terms report, we often find budget quietly draining away on job seekers, DIY tutorials, competitor names or completely unrelated services.

Why it matters: Broad match works far better when paired with strong conversion data, but left unchecked it acts like an open tap. Even a few pounds a day lost to irrelevant queries adds up to thousands over a year.

How to check: Navigate to Campaigns, then Insights and reports, then Search terms, and filter by cost over the past 30 to 90 days. Sort from highest spend to lowest and read the actual phrases people typed before clicking your ad.

The fix: Add irrelevant words and phrases as negative keywords at campaign level or through a shared negative keyword list applied across the account. Review search terms weekly on active accounts and monthly on smaller, steady campaigns.

3. Location settings reaching the wrong people

What we see: Many regional businesses assume their ads only appear to people physically inside their chosen radius or town list. When we check campaign location options, the default setting (“Presence or interest: People in, regularly in, or who’ve shown interest in your targeted locations”) is almost always still switched on.

Why it matters: “Presence or interest” lets Google show your ads to people anywhere who have shown interest in your target area. A local service business in Stockport or Bromsgrove can easily end up paying for clicks from people who will never become customers.

How to check: Go to Campaign settings, expand the Locations section, and click “Location options”. Check which option is selected under Target.

The fix: Switch the setting to “Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations” unless you specifically sell to travellers, relocating buyers or remote clients. While you are there, review your location report and exclude any regions generating clicks without conversions.

4. Brand and non-brand terms mixed in one campaign

What we see: Accounts regularly group searches for the company’s own name inside the same campaigns as generic, non-brand service or product keywords. We see this in standard Search accounts as well as Google Shopping campaigns, where product feeds pick up branded queries automatically.

Why it matters: People searching for your business by name already know who you are, so they convert far more cheaply than cold prospects. Blending the two inflates your overall return on ad spend and hides the fact that your generic keywords might actually be losing money.

How to check: Open your Search terms report and filter for your company name, common misspellings and website domain. Compare the cost per conversion on those branded rows against the rest of the campaign.

The fix: Split brand keywords into their own dedicated campaign with a tightly controlled budget. Add your brand name as a negative keyword in your generic campaigns so you can measure true customer acquisition costs cleanly.

5. Auto-applied recommendations switched on without anyone noticing

What we see: Google Ads includes an “Auto-apply” feature in its Recommendations tab that lets the platform make changes to your account automatically. We routinely find options ticked for adding new keywords, upgrading keywords to broad match, creating new responsive search ads or changing bidding strategies without human sign-off.

Why it matters: Recommendations are designed to increase reach and auction participation, which does not always line up with your profit margins. Left unattended, they can undo carefully tested ad copy or push keyword targeting into expensive territory overnight.

How to check: Click Recommendations in the left-hand menu, then select “Auto-apply” in the top right corner. Review both the “Manage” and “History” tabs to see what is active and what has already changed behind the scenes.

The fix: Untick every automated option that alters keywords, targeting, bidding or ad copy. Keep recommendations visible so your team can review them manually and adopt only those that make commercial sense.

6. Smart bidding or Performance Max running without enough conversion data

What we see: Automated bidding strategies such as Maximise Conversions with a target cost per acquisition, and Performance Max campaigns, are often switched on in accounts generating only a handful of enquiries each month. In some cases, budgets are split across five or six tiny campaigns so none of them gathers meaningful volume.

Why it matters: Machine learning needs a steady stream of conversion signals to spot patterns. Google has reportedly cited 15 conversions in 30 days as a stability threshold for Performance Max, and campaigns well below that level tend to see spend and results swing unpredictably.

How to check: Look at your conversion column over the last 30 days at individual campaign level, not just the account total. Check whether each campaign using target bidding has enough consistent conversion volume to learn reliably.

The fix: Consolidate fragmented campaigns so your budget feeds fewer, stronger campaigns. If your overall monthly lead volume is genuinely low, use Maximise Clicks with a sensible maximum cost-per-click limit until your tracking records enough conversions to support target bidding.

7. Tired ads and missing assets

What we see: Many accounts still run a single responsive search ad per ad group with a few generic headlines written years ago. Supporting assets (formerly known as ad extensions), such as sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets and images, are either missing altogether or still promoting expired offers.

Why it matters: Strong assets take up more space on the results page, give buyers extra reasons to choose you and improve click-through rates. That feeds into what drives Quality Score, Google’s rating of how relevant your keywords, ads and landing pages are, which in turn affects what you pay per click.

How to check: Open Ads and assets in the left menu, review your responsive search ads for repeated phrasing or “Poor” ad strength warnings, and click through sitelinks, callouts and images to check for outdated dates or broken links.

The fix: Refresh ad copy so headlines match the search intent of each ad group, including clear pricing, location cues or differentiators. Add at least four relevant sitelinks, four callouts and approved business images so your ads stand out on both desktop and mobile.

8. Every click sent to the homepage instead of a relevant landing page

What we see: Even when keyword targeting and ad copy are well structured, we regularly find every ad group pointing to the homepage. Someone searching for a specific service lands on a broad overview page and has to hunt through the menu to find what they asked for.

Why it matters: If visitors can’t immediately see that you offer exactly what they searched for, they hit the back button and your cost per lead climbs. Pairing paid traffic with dedicated landing pages built around a single offer consistently outperforms sending clicks to a busy homepage.

How to check: In your Ads table, add the “Final URL” column and scan where your highest-spending ads are sending traffic. Visit those URLs on your phone to see how quickly a first-time visitor understands your offer and finds the enquiry form.

The fix: Route each ad group to the most specific service or category page on your site. Where those pages lack clear calls to action, proof points or fast mobile forms, fix those before increasing spend.

9. Settings that no longer exist or work differently

What we see: Google Ads updates its interface and campaign controls constantly, leaving older accounts configured around assumptions that no longer hold. For example, Google has been removing the campaign-level language setting from Search campaigns during autumn 2026, which shifts more responsibility onto your ad copy, keywords and landing pages to reach the right users.

Why it matters: Legacy settings and blind imports create subtle mismatches. When Google campaigns are copied into Microsoft Ads campaigns using the import tool, they can end up running on Microsoft’s search partners and Audience Network without anyone deciding to, and carry over bid adjustments that made sense in Google but not in Microsoft.

How to check: Review campaign settings each quarter and whenever Google announces platform updates, and use the change history log to see how recent changes have affected your live campaigns.

The fix: Make sure your headlines, descriptions and landing page copy clearly reflect the language and regional terms of your target market rather than relying on old settings. Whenever you import campaigns across platforms, check every setting manually before switching spend on.

10. Account ownership and access problems

What we see: When a business decides to review its paid search performance, we sometimes discover that the previous supplier created the Google Ads account under their own login and holds sole administrative ownership. In other cases, former employees and freelance contractors still have full admin access years after leaving.

Why it matters: Your Google Ads account holds years of conversion history, audience lists and auction insights that belong to your business. Losing access, or leaving former staff connected, is both a commercial headache and an avoidable security risk.

How to check: Click Admin in the left-hand menu, open “Access and security”, and inspect the Users and Managers tabs. Check who holds Admin-level permissions and verify every email domain listed.

The fix: Make sure your business owns the Google Ads account directly, with at least two trusted senior contacts holding Admin access, and connect agencies through a manager account link. Revoke access for any former employees or inactive partners straight away.

How often should you audit a Google Ads account?

A good Google Ads account audit is not a one-off event that you file away and forget. We recommend splitting your checks into a light monthly health check and a deeper quarterly review:

• Monthly health check: Review search terms, check conversion totals against real enquiries, confirm budgets are pacing evenly and make sure no auto-applied recommendations have crept back in.
• Quarterly deep-dive audit: Reassess campaign structure, test fresh ad creative, review landing page conversion rates, check geographic and device performance, and verify user access permissions.

Certain trigger points also warrant an immediate review: changing agencies or bringing management in-house, a sharp rise in cost per lead without an obvious seasonal reason, or major changes to Google’s campaign types and bidding controls. Using a structured Google Ads account health checklist keeps those reviews consistent so nothing slips through the cracks.

DIY check or independent audit?

Working through the ten areas above will catch most of the obvious leaks in a small or mid-sized account. If you are managing Google Ads campaigns internally and have access to your CRM numbers, an afternoon spent checking conversion actions, location options and search terms can save meaningful budget straight away.

Where an independent audit earns its keep is in spotting the subtler problems that are hard to see from inside the account, such as overlapping match types, feed quality issues and landing page friction that calls for proper conversion rate optimisation rather than more ad spend.

If you would like an objective, plain-spoken view of where your budget is going and what to fix first, request a Google Ads review with our team and we will walk you through what we find.