The 20-Minute Google Ads Audit: A 2026 Checklist to Stop Wasted Spend

Last updated: October 2026 · Written by 20 Minute Marketing · 10 min read

This checklist is for anyone who looks after a Google Ads account: people learning paid search for a marketing role, freelancers auditing a client account before they quote, staff who have inherited an account at work, and owners running ads for their own business. The examples use local service businesses because those are the accounts most beginners manage first. A tidy audit written up in plain language is also one of the most useful things you can show an employer or a prospective client.

📘 Want the full picture? Read the Google Search Ads guide, the complete pillar guide this article is part of.

Google Ads works well when someone checks it regularly. Left alone, broad targeting and automated changes can send spend to searches that will never become a customer. The four checks below are ordered so the biggest leaks are found first.

The settings check (0 to 5 minutes)

Start with the campaign settings where Google's defaults are broader than most accounts need.

1. Location presence or interest

By default, Google can show ads to people who are in your target location or who show interest in it. For a Sydney plumber, that can mean ads appearing for someone overseas researching Sydney.

• The audit task: Open the campaign, go to Settings > Locations > Location options.
• The fix: For a local service, choose Presence: people in or regularly in your included locations. That keeps clicks to people who can actually become customers.

2. Search partners and the Display Network

Search campaigns can be opted into Google search partners and the Display Network, and new campaigns often start with these switched on. Traffic from those networks behaves differently from Google Search and is worth checking separately.

• The audit task: Check the Networks setting in each Search campaign, then segment performance by network.
• The fix: If the budget is tight or the partner and Display traffic is not converting, untick them and keep spend on Google Search results, where intent is highest.

3. Auto-applied recommendations

Google can apply some recommendations automatically, such as adding keywords, changing bid strategies or broadening match types. Google explains auto-apply as optional and controlled in the account. Changes you did not choose are one of the most common reasons an inherited account behaves unexpectedly.

• The audit task: Go to Recommendations and open Auto-apply. Then check the change history for anything applied automatically.
• The fix: Leave on only the recommendation types you have deliberately agreed to. Review the rest manually each month instead.

The search terms deep clean (5 to 12 minutes)

This is the most important part of the audit. The search terms report shows what people actually typed before they clicked an ad, which is often different from the keywords in the account.

1. Mining for negative keywords

Broad match is the default and widest match type. Google describes broad match as reaching searches related to the keyword, even when they do not contain its words, using recent search activity, landing page content and the other keywords in the ad group. That reach can be useful with good conversion data, but it also means an ad for "legal advice" can appear for "legal aid jobs" or "free legal templates".

• The audit task: Go to Insights and reports > Search terms and sort by cost.
• The fix: Look for terms that include words like "free", "jobs", "cheap", "course" or "DIY" and add the irrelevant ones as negative keywords, at campaign level or in an account level negative list.

2. Search terms that spend without converting

Look for terms with clicks and cost but no conversions. If a term has spent more than the target cost per acquisition without producing a lead, it is a red flag.

• Tip: Do not just exclude the term. Ask why it did not convert. Does the ad promise something the landing page does not deliver? Understanding the searcher is covered in the buyer persona guide.

The tracking and assets check (12 to 17 minutes)

Automated bidding is only as good as the conversion data it learns from. If tracking is wrong, the bidding optimises toward the wrong thing.

1. Conversion health

Is the primary conversion something that actually matters, like a submitted form, a purchase or a qualifying phone call? Button clicks and page views are easy to trigger and make performance look better than it is.

• The audit task: Go to Goals > Conversions > Summary. Check which actions are set as primary and whether each one is recording.
• The fix: Keep only meaningful actions as primary. Set up enhanced conversions, which use hashed first party data such as an email address from a form to improve how accurately conversions are measured.

2. Ad strength and asset variety

Responsive search ads mix and match headlines and descriptions. Google allows up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions per ad, and the ad strength rating shows whether there is enough variety.

• The audit task: Check the ad strength column.
• The fix: If an ad is rated Poor or Average, add distinct headlines. Lead with what the customer gets, not only features: "Quotes the same day" says more than "20 years experience".

3. Assets (formerly extensions)

Sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets and call assets were once called extensions. They are now called assets, and they make ads larger and more useful. Call assets add a phone number or call button to the ad. They replaced call extensions, and Google is moving phone-led advertisers away from the older call-only ad format toward call assets.

• The audit task: Open Assets and check which are active at account, campaign and ad group level.
• The fix: Make sure every Search campaign has sitelinks, callouts and, for phone-led businesses, a call asset scheduled for hours when someone can answer.

The device and schedule check (17 to 20 minutes)

Small changes to when and where ads show can make a noticeable difference to efficiency.

1. Mobile and desktop performance

For many B2B services, mobile clicks are more often casual browsing. For urgent consumer services, such as emergency plumbing, mobile is usually where the calls come from.

• The audit task: Segment by device and compare cost per conversion between mobile, desktop and tablet.
• The fix: If one device is clearly more expensive per lead on manual bidding, apply a negative bid adjustment to it. Most Smart Bidding strategies set bids per auction and, according to Google, only accept a device adjustment as a full opt out (Target CPA is the exception, where it changes the target instead). On those campaigns, treat this as a reporting check.

2. The after hours drain

Are clicks coming in overnight when nobody can answer the phone?

• The audit task: Review performance by day and hour, then check the ad schedule.
• The fix: If the data shows certain hours never convert, and the business relies on calls, schedule ads (and call assets) for the hours someone is available. Keep enough data before you decide: a few weeks of results is better than a few days.

Why audits get skipped

Most people do not skip audits because they lack the skill. They skip them because they do not have a routine. They log in, see a wall of graphs and log out. A fixed checklist solves that: you are not trying to fix everything at once, just the few settings and search terms that move the most budget.

A competitor with a much bigger budget cannot be outbid, but a tighter, more relevant account can still win plenty of good clicks. Automation does more of the bidding every year, which makes human review of settings, search terms and tracking more valuable, not less.

Turning the audit into a habit

Run the checklist once a month and keep a short log of what you changed and why. After a few months you have a record that explains the account's performance, which is exactly what an employer, a client or your own business needs.

An audit is only one part of paid search. The account also has to connect to a landing page that converts and a follow up process for the leads it brings in.

Frequently asked questions

Can I practise a Google Ads audit without a business of my own?
Yes. Write a fictional brief, for example a Melbourne electrician with a monthly ad budget, and build a draft campaign structure for it in a Google Ads account without turning ads on. Then work through this checklist against your own setup and write a one page audit report covering settings, search terms you would exclude, conversion actions and assets. That report makes a solid portfolio piece for interviews or client pitches.

How often should I audit a Google Ads account?
A short audit once a month suits most small and medium accounts. Check the search terms report more often, weekly if possible, when a campaign is new or uses broad match.

Should I turn off auto-applied recommendations?
Review them rather than switching everything off without looking. Keep only the types you have chosen deliberately, and check the change history so you know what Google has changed in the account.

What is the difference between extensions and assets?
They are the same features under a newer name. Google now calls sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets and call buttons assets. Call assets replaced call extensions and are the recommended way to drive calls now that the older call-only ad format is being retired.

Is broad match always a bad idea?
No. Broad match can find useful searches, especially with Smart Bidding and reliable conversion tracking. It needs close watching of the search terms report and a good negative keyword list, so it suits accounts that are checked often.

Can I audit a client's account without admin access?
Ask for read only or standard access to the client's Google Ads account. Read only access is enough to run this audit and recommend changes without touching the live campaigns.

Ready to learn this properly? take Google Ads: PPC Powerhouse ($149, 13 lessons).