Google Ads Waste Check
Is your Google Ads account wasting money? Answer 18 questions and find out.
Most wasted Google Ads spend comes from a handful of settings, not from the ads themselves: tracking that counts the wrong thing, location targeting left on its default, search terms nobody reads, and traffic sent to the homepage. Answer each question about your account. You get a score out of 100 and your fixes ranked by how much money they save.
Tracking
Do your Google Ads conversions count real leads or sales (submitted forms, calls, purchases), not page views or button clicks?
Can you match the leads or orders in Google Ads to real customers in your CRM, inbox or store?
Are only the actions you want more of set as primary conversions?
Targeting
Is the location option set to "Presence: people in or regularly in your included locations"?
Are your Search campaigns kept off the Display Network?
Have you checked Search Partners results separately from Google Search?
Does your ad schedule match the hours you can answer calls and messages?
Keywords
Has someone read your search terms report in the last 14 days?
Do you have negative keyword lists for jobs, salaries, courses, DIY and competitors you do not want?
If you use broad match, is it paired with Smart Bidding and working conversion tracking?
Are searches for your own brand name in a separate campaign from everything else?
Ads and pages
Does each ad group send people to a page about that exact service or product, not your homepage?
On a phone, can a visitor call, message or submit a short form without scrolling?
Do your ads have sitelinks, callouts and a call asset?
Bidding and budget
When a campaign is limited by budget, is it one of your best performers by cost per lead or sale?
Have you reviewed auto-applied recommendations so Google cannot add keywords or change bids without you knowing?
If you run Performance Max, have you reviewed its brand exclusions and final URL expansion settings?
Ownership
Is the Google Ads account owned by your company, with admin access in your name?
How the waste check works
The 18 questions cover six areas we check first in every account we take over: tracking, targeting, keywords, ads and landing pages, bidding and budget, and account ownership. Each question carries a weight from 1 to 3. Weight 3 means the problem leaks money every day, such as counting the wrong conversions or never reading search terms.
Not sure counts as No. A setting nobody has checked is usually still on its default, and Google's defaults are built for reach, not for your budget. Your fix list is sorted by weight, so start at the top.
A self-check shows where to look. A proper audit uses your live data to show how much each issue costs. That is part of our Google Ads management in Dubai and Google Ads management in Riyadh. To see what clicks cost in your industry first, use the CPC lookup.
Common questions
What is a Google Ads audit?
A Google Ads audit is a structured review of an account's tracking, targeting, keywords, ads, landing pages and bidding to find where money is wasted and where growth is blocked. This self-check covers the settings that most often cause waste, in about five minutes.
How is the score calculated?
Each question has a weight of 1 to 3 based on how directly it causes wasted spend. You earn the weight for every Yes. Not sure counts as No, because a setting nobody has checked is usually on its default. The score is the share of points earned, from 0 to 100.
Why does the location setting matter so much?
Google's default location option is "Presence or interest", which includes people who show interest in your location without being there. A clinic in Dubai can pay for clicks from people abroad researching Dubai. Switching to Presence keeps spend on people who can actually visit or buy.
How often should I check these?
Search terms every week or two. Tracking whenever the website changes. Everything else once a quarter or whenever results suddenly change.
Can Big AL audit my account properly?
Yes. A full audit reviews your live data: search terms, conversion paths, auction insights and landing page results. Book a strategy call and we will tell you what we would change first.