How to Audit a Google Ads Account: 7-Step Checklist

Every engagement at Shopiator starts with an audit. Before we touch a bid, change a budget, or restructure a campaign, we need to understand exactly what's happening in the account. Our audit engine grades accounts from A+ to E across multiple dimensions, analyzing performance over 7-day, 30-day, and 90-day windows.

Here are the 7 checks, in the order they should be run, with the thresholds we use to decide whether something is fine, worth watching, or actively costing money. Run them in order: the later checks are meaningless if the earlier ones fail, because you'd be optimizing against data you can't trust.

1. Conversion Tracking Health

Before looking at any performance data, we verify that the data itself is trustworthy. Are conversions being tracked correctly? Are there duplicate conversion actions? Is the attribution model appropriate? We've seen accounts where a single purchase was being counted 3 times because of duplicate tracking tags.

• ▶Are all conversion actions properly configured and firing?
• ▶Any duplicate conversion counting?
• ▶Is the attribution model appropriate for ecommerce?
• ▶Are conversion values accurate (matching actual revenue)?
• ▶Are enhanced conversions enabled?

2. Campaign Structure

The structure of your campaigns determines how well you can control spend, optimize bids, and scale. We look at whether campaigns have clear roles, whether there's overlap or cannibalization, and whether the architecture supports scaling.

• ▶Does every campaign have a clear, non-overlapping role?
• ▶Is there proper segmentation between brand and non-brand?
• ▶Are Shopping campaigns structured for scale (feeder-converter)?
• ▶Is PMax properly segmented or is it a catch-all?
• ▶Are remarketing audiences properly separated?

3. Search Term Quality

This is where we typically find the biggest waste. We analyze every search term the account is paying for and flag irrelevant queries, branded bleed, and missed opportunities. The average account has 15-30% of spend going to search terms that will never convert.

• ▶What percentage of spend goes to irrelevant search terms?
• ▶Is there branded bleed in non-brand campaigns?
• ▶Are negative keyword lists comprehensive and up to date?
• ▶Are there high-value search terms not being targeted?
• ▶How is search term management cadence (daily, weekly, monthly)?

4. Product Performance

In Shopping and PMax, not all products are equal. We grade every SKU as a Performer, High Potential, Leaker, or Zombie. Leakers are products eating budget with no conversions. Zombies are products getting zero impressions. Both need to be addressed.

• ▶Which products are consuming budget without converting?
• ▶Which top-performing products are under-budgeted?
• ▶Are product groups segmented by margin tier?
• ▶Is the product feed optimized (titles, attributes, images)?
• ▶Are there products that should be excluded entirely?

5. Bid Strategy Assessment

We evaluate whether the bid strategies in use are appropriate for each campaign's role and maturity level. A new non-brand campaign shouldn't use the same bid strategy as a proven Shopping converter.

• ▶Are bid strategies matched to campaign objectives?
• ▶Are target ROAS/CPA values realistic based on historical data?
• ▶Are campaigns with insufficient conversion data using appropriate strategies?
• ▶Is there budget capping preventing bid strategies from performing?
• ▶Are portfolio bid strategies being used where appropriate?

6. Budget Allocation

Many accounts have the right campaigns but the wrong budget allocation. A high-performing Shopping campaign might be capped at $200/day while a low-performing PMax campaign gets $500/day. We look at the relationship between spend, performance, and opportunity.

• ▶Are top-performing campaigns constrained by budget?
• ▶Are underperforming campaigns over-funded?
• ▶Is budget allocation aligned with funnel stage priorities?
• ▶Is there impression share lost to budget on profitable campaigns?
• ▶Does the total budget support the account's growth targets?

7. Competitive Position

Finally, we look at where the account stands relative to competitors. Impression share, auction insights, and competitive benchmarks tell us whether the brand is gaining or losing ground — and where the biggest opportunities lie.

• ▶What is the impression share across key campaigns?
• ▶Where is impression share being lost (budget vs. rank)?
• ▶How does CPC compare to industry benchmarks?
• ▶Are competitors bidding on your brand terms?
• ▶What search queries are competitors capturing that you're not?

What Happens After the Audit

The audit produces a scorecard with grades and prioritized action items. From there, we follow our Scaling Protocol: fix leaks first, then restructure, then launch new campaigns, then scale. The audit isn't just diagnostic — it's the roadmap for everything that follows.

If you want to see how your Google Ads account grades, apply for a free scaling audit. We'll run your account through our engine and show you exactly where the opportunities are.