A Google Ads audit is a structured review of an account that finds what wastes budget or misleads bidding, then ranks what to fix first. Check the areas in the order data flows through the account: conversion tracking first, then structure, bidding and budgets, search terms, ads, Performance Max, audiences, landing pages and account health.
Conversion tracking is the Google Ads setup that records a purchase, lead or other valuable action after an ad click, and it is the data Smart Bidding learns from. This checklist is part of the Google Ads hub. It works for an inherited account, an agency managed account or your own account after a drop in results. Each section names the built-in report that gives the evidence, so no paid audit tool is needed.
What does a Google Ads audit cover, and in what order?
A Google Ads audit covers nine areas: conversion tracking, account structure, bidding and budgets, search terms and keywords, ads and assets, Performance Max, audiences, landing pages, and policy and account health. Audit them in that order, because each area depends on the one before it. Bidding cannot be judged on broken conversion data.
| Audit area | What to check | Built-in report or tool |
|---|---|---|
| Conversion tracking | Status per action, primary vs secondary, values, duplicates | Goals summary, conversion diagnostics |
| Account structure | Campaign split by goal, margin or market; overlap between campaigns | Campaigns view, Google Ads Editor |
| Bidding and budgets | Strategy fits the data, targets match margin, "Limited by budget" status | Bid strategy report, budget report |
| Search terms and keywords | Irrelevant terms, missing negatives, match type mix | Search terms report, search terms insights |
| Ads and assets | Ad strength, message per ad group, missing assets | Ads and Assets reports |
| Performance Max | Where spend goes, which terms and assets drive results | Channel performance report, Performance Max search terms report, asset reporting |
| Audiences | Audience segments in observation or targeting, exclusions | Audiences report |
| Landing pages | Match between query, ad and page; mobile speed | Landing pages report |
| Policy and account health | Disapprovals, limited ads, access, recent changes | Policy manager, change history |
How do you audit conversion tracking before anything else?
Audit conversion tracking first: check that every conversion action records, that only the actions you optimize for are primary, and that values match what a conversion is worth. Smart Bidding learns from primary actions, so a wrong primary action or a broken tag steers every automated bid in the account.
Read the status of each conversion action in the Goals section. Google's conversion tracking status troubleshooter lists five statuses as of October 2026: "Active," "Needs attention," "Misconfigured," "Awaiting conversions" (no conversions recorded in the last 7 days) and "Removed."
Smart Bidding is Google's set of automated bid strategies that set a bid for each auction. Per Google's page on primary and secondary conversion actions, primary actions are "reported in the 'Conversions' column in your reports and used for bidding," while secondary actions only appear in "All conversions."
Then check:
- Duplicates. Compare Google Ads conversions with orders or leads in your back end. Two tags firing for one purchase doubles the count.
- Values. Check whether values include VAT and shipping, and whether leads carry one flat value. Target ROAS only works on values that reflect margin.
- Outages. If tracking broke, check whether a data exclusion was set. Google says you "shouldn't use data exclusions frequently or for prolonged periods".
Also note the attribution model of each primary action, because it decides which click gets the credit.
How do you review account structure, bidding and budgets?
Review account structure by checking that each campaign has one clear goal and budget, then check that each bid strategy matches the data it gets and that targets follow from margin. A structure that splits campaigns too finely starves Smart Bidding of data, while one that lumps different margins together hides losses.
For structure, flag campaigns that compete for the same searches, ad groups with no traffic, and any campaign whose reason to exist you cannot state in one sentence. Bulk fixes are faster in Google Ads Editor.
For bidding, check that Target CPA and Target ROAS campaigns get steady conversion volume, then compare each target with the last 30 days of results. A target far above actual results cuts volume, and one far below wastes margin.
Budgets need a fresh look in 2026. Per Google's FAQ on target based bid strategies, budget limited Target CPA and Target ROAS campaigns have bid more consistently to their target since a rollout from August 17 to August 27, 2026, and "Google won't automatically adjust your daily budgets or your campaign bid targets." Flag every "Limited by budget" campaign with an old, loose target.
PPC Land reported in October 2026 that a Google Ads product manager said target and budget changes on steady campaigns cause no learning period. Treat that as reported, and read the bid strategy status column before you judge recent results.
What should you check in search terms, keywords and ads?
Check search terms for spend on queries that cannot convert, check keywords for match types and negatives that let those queries in, and check ads for a message that fits each ad group. The search terms report is the most direct evidence of wasted budget, because it shows what people actually typed before they clicked.
The search terms report is a list of the searches that triggered your ads and how they performed. Google's search terms report page notes that low volume terms are omitted for privacy, and search terms insights groups queries into themes based on the last 56 days.
- Sort by cost, then by conversions. High cost and no conversions over a full conversion cycle marks a negative keyword candidate.
- Read the match type column. Broad match keywords that bring in unrelated themes need negatives or a tighter keyword.
- Check negative keyword lists. Look for unapplied lists and negatives that block searches you want.
- Look for brand leakage. Brand searches in generic campaigns inflate their results.
For ads, check that each responsive search ad mentions the ad group's theme and that sitelinks, callouts and images are in place. Judge ads on conversion rate and cost per conversion; rising click prices are a separate question, covered in Google Ads cost.
Auction insights is a report that compares your impression share, overlap rate and outranking share with other advertisers in the same auctions. Per Google, it "doesn't show insights when impression share is less than 10%."
How do you audit Performance Max, audiences and landing pages?
Audit Performance Max by checking where its budget goes per channel, which search terms and assets drive conversions, and whether it takes over searches your Search campaigns should win. Then check audiences for missing exclusions, and landing pages for a clear match with the query and the ad that sent the click.
Performance Max is a Google Ads campaign type that runs one budget across Google's channels. As of October 2026, these built-in reports cover it:
- Channel performance report. Splits delivery across Google Search, the Display Network, YouTube, Discover, Maps, Gmail and Search partners, for any date range after June 6, 2025.
- Search terms report for Performance Max. Data starts in March 2023, and negatives apply at account or campaign level.
- Asset reporting. Asset reports work per asset, asset group, campaign or several campaigns.
- Search themes. Google allows up to 50 search themes per asset group.
If asset results look flat, run Performance Max asset testing instead of guessing.
For audiences, check that customer lists are current and that existing customers are excluded from new customer campaigns.
For landing pages, open the top pages from the landing pages report on a phone and check that each answers the search and loads quickly. A weak page is a conversion rate optimization problem, not a bidding one.
How do you check account health, policy issues and recent changes?
Check account health with three built-in tools: Policy manager for disapproved and limited ads, change history for who changed what and when, and the Recommendations page for what Google has applied automatically. Read optimization score as a count of open recommendations, not as a grade for the account's profitability.
Policy manager. Policy manager is the Google Ads page that lists policy issues and appeals, found under Tools, Troubleshooting, Policy manager per Google's policy help page. List every disapproved or limited ad. Each ad is limited to 3 appeals, so fix the cause first. A full suspension has its own process: see Google Ads account suspended.
Change history. Change history is a log of every edit in the account; Google's change history page says it covers changes "during the past 2 years." Automated changes can appear as "Google Ads system." Put the change timeline next to the performance graph, because a sudden drop often lines up with a change.
Recommendations and auto-apply. The "History" tab on the Recommendations page shows which recommendations were applied automatically. The guide to Google Ads AI covers which ones to keep.
Optimization score. Optimization score is Google's estimate of how well an account is set up to perform. Google's optimization score page says scores "run from 0-100%" and that "Optimization score is not used by your Quality Score."
How do you prioritize Google Ads audit findings?
Prioritize Google Ads audit findings with a simple score: impact times reach, divided by effort, each rated 1 to 3. Fix the highest scores first. One rule overrides the score: any finding that corrupts the conversion data used for bidding goes to the top, because every other fix is judged on that data.
This rubric is the Fix First score. It stops a missing sitelink from carrying the same weight as a broken purchase tag.
- Impact (1 to 3). How much the finding affects cost or conversions: 1 is cosmetic, 2 changes efficiency, 3 changes what the account optimizes for or where most of the budget goes.
- Reach (1 to 3). How much of the spend it touches: 1 is one ad group, 2 is one campaign, 3 is several campaigns or the whole account.
- Effort (1 to 3). How hard the fix is: 1 is a setting change, 2 is a few hours of work, 3 needs a developer, a new page or a test.
- Tracking gate. A finding in conversion tracking that affects a primary action skips the score and goes first.
| Finding | Impact | Reach | Effort | Fix First score | Order |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newsletter signup set as primary next to purchases | 3 | 3 | 1 | Tracking gate | 1 |
| Broad match terms with spend and no conversions across campaigns | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6.0 | 2 |
| Old, loose Target ROAS on a "Limited by budget" campaign | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4.0 | 3 |
| Landing page slow on mobile for the top campaign | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2.0 | 4 |
Ties go to the finding with the lower effort.
To turn findings into a Google Ads audit report template:
- Write the baseline. Record the business goal, target cost per conversion or ROAS, and the review period.
- Collect evidence per area. Note each finding with the report it came from.
- Score every finding. Apply the tracking gate first, then the Fix First score.
- Write the report. One table: finding, evidence, Fix First score, fix, owner, due date.
- Agree on a change log. Fix in score order and log each change.
- Recheck after a full conversion cycle. Compare against the baseline.
Whether a fix adds conversions or only moves credit is a question for a Google Ads Conversion Lift study.
Common mistakes in a Google Ads audit
The most common Google Ads audit mistakes come from skipping the order: judging bids before checking tracking, trusting the optimization score as a verdict, or changing things while still collecting evidence. Each one produces findings that look right in the report but point at the wrong cause.
- Starting with ad copy or keywords. If a primary conversion action is wrong, every cost per conversion in the account is wrong too. Check the Goals summary and conversion status first.
- Reading optimization score as a grade. Google says Quality Score does not use it, and the score rises when you apply recommendations, good or bad. Judge recommendations one by one.
- Auditing too short a period. A week of data hides conversion lag. Review at least one full conversion cycle.
- Fixing during the audit. Changes made halfway mix cause and effect. Collect the evidence first, score it, and then fix in order.
