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Google Ads Audit Checklist 2026 — 50 Points [Serbia]

Blog |Google Ads Audit|2026-05-09|18 min

Google Ads Audit · 2026-05-09 · 18 min

Quick answer

A 50-item Google Ads audit checklist across 10 categories. The average account that hasn't been audited in 6+ months wastes 15-25% of its budget inefficiently — this checklist pinpoints exactly where.

50

checkpoints

10

categories

30 min

quick audit

15-25%

average wasted spend

Quick answer

What does a Google Ads audit checklist cover?

A complete Google Ads audit checklist has 50 items across 10 categories — from account structure and conversion tracking to keywords, ads, and budget. A quick audit takes about 30 minutes, and the average account that hasn't been audited in 6+ months wastes 15-25% of its budget inefficiently — the checklist pinpoints exactly where.

Why an audit is critical right now (2026 perspective)

When I take over a new account, a detailed audit is always the first thing I run. In practice, over 90% of accounts I review share the same fundamental problems: conversion tracking that doesn't work properly, budget leaking into irrelevant search terms, poorly organized campaigns, or Smart Bidding trying to optimize on too little data.

What's different in 2026: Google has deprecated Standard Shopping for eCommerce — Performance Max is now the default. Smart Bidding requires real conversion value data (not just a conversion count). Consent Mode v2 is mandatory under GDPR and Serbia's local data-protection law (ZZPL). If your account hasn't been optimized in the last 6 months, odds are high that 15-25% of your budget is burning with zero conversions.

Concrete example: an eCommerce account I took over in Q1 2026 was spending 22% of its budget on "discovery" placements inside mobile apps — with zero conversions. Identified in 20 minutes of auditing, fixed in 5.

Recommended audit cadence

A quarterly deep audit (3-4 hours, all 50 items, full report) + a monthly quick check (30 minutes, the top 10 priority items). Additional triggers: taking over an account, a business model change, or a performance drop >20% week-over-week.

If you're looking for a Google Ads audit service that covers all of these categories, I'm happy to walk you through exactly what you get and how the process works.


What a good audit covers — 10 categories

A professional Google Ads audit isn't improvised — it's a structured checklist of 50 control points across 10 categories. Every category has Critical items (P1) you must check for the account to function at all, and Optimization items (P2) for more advanced accounts.

#CategoryFocus
1Account StructureCampaign organization, ad groups, MCC
2Conversion TrackingTag setup, dedupe, value tracking
3Campaign SettingsGeo, device, language, network
4Keywords & Search TermsMatch types, negatives, search term mining
5Ads & ExtensionsRSA quality, sitelinks, callouts
6Audiences & RemarketingList health, observation vs targeting
7Bidding StrategySmart Bidding readiness, tCPA/tROAS calibration
8Budget & AllocationPacing, daily limits, lost IS (budget)
9Tracking & AttributionGA4 link, attribution model, data quality
10Reporting & CommunicationKPI definitions, frequency, actionability

Category 1: Account Structure (5 items)

Poor structure kills performance before anything else even gets a chance. Good structure means weak spots get identified quickly and optimized easily. Nearly 70% of the Serbia-focused accounts I've audited had brand and non-brand terms in the same campaign — which destroys ROAS attribution.

1.1 — MCC access and naming consistency

What to check:

  • Do you have access to the account through an MCC, not just "user access"?
  • MCC + sub-account naming consistency — is there a clear pattern?
  • "Manager linked accounts" — are they all active? (the old agency link is often forgotten)

Red flag

If you're taking over an account and the previous agency is still linked on the MCC — escalate immediately. Smart Bidding signals get mixed between accounts.

1.2 — Campaigns grouped by objective

What to check:

  • Is every campaign clearly defined by a single objective (Sales / Leads / Awareness)?
  • Are different campaign types (Search, Shopping, PMax, Display) kept in separate campaigns?
  • Are brand vs non-brand search split into two campaigns?

1.3 — Ad groups: SKAG vs STAG vs hybrid

What to check:

  • Single Keyword Ad Groups (SKAG) — used where you have high-intent keywords (>3 conversions/month)?
  • Single Theme Ad Groups (STAG) — used where you have closely related variations?
  • "Catch-all" ad groups with 50+ keywords of mixed intent — red flag

Rule of thumb

If one ad group contains keywords with a CPC range that differs by >3x (e.g. $0.50 vs $2.00), that's a signal to split. Grouping expensive and cheap keywords together means bidding can't work efficiently for either.

1.4 — Naming convention

What to check:

  • Do campaigns follow the format [Geo]_[Type]_[Objective]_[Notes]? Example: RS_Search_Brand_2026Q2
  • Do ad groups follow [Match Type]_[Theme]? Example: Exact_Audit_Belgrade
  • Is the convention consistent between old and new campaigns?

1.5 — Active vs paused campaign cleanup

What to check:

  • How many paused campaigns does the account have? Are they older than 6 months?
  • Can they be archived (Google doesn't permanently delete without a "removed" flag)?

From experience

An account with 30+ paused campaigns is a sign nobody is cleaning up. That's technical debt that slows down reporting and dashboard reviews. An account that feels chaotic internally — that shows up in the quality of the optimizations too.


Category 2: Conversion Tracking (5 items)

Bad conversion tracking means everything downstream is meaningless. Auto-bidding can't learn, ROAS is an illusion, and optimization misses the real target. This is the most critical category of any audit — without valid conversions, the rest of the checklist doesn't matter.

For a detailed implementation walkthrough, see: Conversion Tracking for Google Ads, where I cover GTM setup, deduplication, and Enhanced Conversions step by step.

2.1 — Conversion actions setup

What to check:

  • How many conversion actions are defined? (ideally 5-10, not 50)
  • Which ones are marked as Primary (counted in the "Conversions" column)?
  • Is every conversion a real business outcome (purchase / lead / call), not a micro-conversion (page view)?

Red flag

If "Page View" is marked as the Primary conversion, Smart Bidding is optimizing for the wrong thing and burning budget on visits, not actual customers.

2.2 — Tag setup verification

What to check:

  • Is the Google Ads conversion tag active on every thank-you/success page?
  • Is there deduplication? (e.g. if you run GTM + a hardcoded gtag, the same event can fire twice)
  • Tag Assistant: test a real conversion — do you see 1 hit, or 2?

The most common mistake I see in Serbia

Clients run WordPress + a plugin that already fires a conversion tag, then add GTM on top, then also hardcode Google Ads code manually — triple counting. I see this constantly. Result: Smart Bidding believes it has 3x more conversions than it actually does.

2.3 — Conversion values (not just a count)

What to check:

  • Does every transaction send a value (real currency amount), not just "conversion happened"?
  • Are you using a dynamic value (actual order amount), not a fixed one (e.g. "$10" for every order)?
  • For leads, has a proxy value been assigned (e.g. average deal size × close rate)?

From experience: an eCommerce client sending only "1" as the conversion value meant tROAS bidding couldn't tell a $50 order from a $500 order apart. Once we added dynamic value, ROAS jumped from 2.1x to 3.4x in 30 days.

2.4 — Conversion windows

What to check:

  • Click-through window: 30 days (default) — is that adequate for your sales cycle?
  • View-through window: 1 day by default — often too short
  • B2B with a 60+ day sales cycle needs a 90-day click-through window — otherwise you lose attribution

2.5 — Enhanced Conversions + Consent Mode v2

What to check:

  • Is Enhanced Conversions for Web set up? (mandatory in 2026 for privacy-safe measurement)
  • Is Consent Mode v2 implemented? (cookie banner integration)
  • Has server-side tracking been considered for high-value conversions?

Important

Enhanced Conversions turned off = you lose 10-30% of conversions in attribution. Consent Mode v2 turned off = potential fines under GDPR / Serbia's ZZPL. Both are mandatory for 2026.


Category 3: Campaign Settings (5 items)

Google Ads' default settings are bad — designed for Google to earn more, not for you to get better results. Over 70% of the new accounts I review still run on defaults that waste budget in the wrong places.

3.1 — Geo targeting

What to check:

  • Are you targeting all of Serbia, or specific municipalities/cities?
  • "Presence" vs "Presence or interest" — which one is selected?
  • Excluded locations — do any exist (e.g. excluding areas you don't deliver to)?

Default trap

Google's default is "Presence or interest" — meaning someone abroad searching "Serbia" can see your ad. You almost always want Presence (geo-targeting based on the user's actual location, not their search intent).

3.2 — Language targeting

What to check:

  • Both "Serbian" and "English" selected? (many Serbian users have their Chrome set to English)
  • "All languages" trap — if you target Serbia with all languages selected, you show up on Russian/Arabic queries that happen to match your keywords

From experience

A client running "Plumber Belgrade" targeting had Language set to "All" — 8% of impressions were going to Arabic/Russian search terms. Switching to Serbian+English cut that waste by 8%.

3.3 — Network settings (Search Partners + Display)

What to check:

  • Search Partners — enabled? (I don't recommend it for most accounts — quality is lower)
  • Display Network expansion on Search campaigns — enabled? (turn it off)
  • "Apps" placements — segregated?

Rule

A Search campaign should never have Display Network expansion turned on. Display impressions are, 99% of the time, bot/junk traffic that burns budget without converting.

3.4 — Device bid adjustments

What to check:

  • How differently do Mobile vs Desktop vs Tablet convert?
  • Is there a bid adjustment based on actual data (the last 90 days)?
  • Tablet is often 40-60% weaker than mobile/desktop — apply a -50% adjustment, or turn it off entirely

3.5 — Ad rotation

What to check:

  • Is "Optimize" selected (Google's default)? Or "Rotate indefinitely"?
  • "Rotate indefinitely" is a trap — it doesn't test fairly, showing weak and strong ads equally
  • Default "Optimize" is fine as long as you have enough traffic volume

Category 4: Keywords & Search Terms (5 items)

Keywords aren't what you enter — they're the search terms people actually type. Every audit needs to dig into the Search Terms Report and identify where the budget is going. For serious keyword research, see: Google Ads Keyword Guide.

4.1 — Match type audit

What to check:

  • Broad match keywords — how many are there? What % of spend?
  • Phrase match — is it the primary match type?
  • Exact match — used as a defense for high-intent terms?

2026 update

Broad match is much better than it was 2-3 years ago, but only if you have Smart Bidding (tCPA/tROAS), 30+ conversions in the last 30 days, and a robust negative keyword list. Without all three, broad match just burns money.

4.2 — Search Terms Report — junk audit

What to check:

  • Go to Search Terms (last 30 days), sort by clicks descending
  • Identify search terms that are off-topic, competitor brand names, "free"-seeking, or slang that doesn't belong
  • Add the top 20 junk terms as negative keywords immediately

4.3 — Negative keyword lists

What to check:

  • Is there a shared negative keyword list at the MCC level?
  • Is it organized by category (irrelevant, competitor, low-intent, geo)?
  • When was it last updated?

From experience

A client with zero negative keywords was burning 25% of spend on irrelevant queries. After 30 minutes of work on the negative list, CTR rose 40% and CPA dropped 18%. For a starting point, see the complete negative keywords list organized by category.

4.4 — Single keyword duplicates

What to check:

  • Is the same keyword present in multiple ad groups?
  • Google picks where to show it — but this cannibalizes CTR and quality
  • Use Auction Insights to spot self-cannibalization

4.5 — Keyword expansion ideas

What to check:

  • Search Terms Report — search terms that convert but aren't in your keyword list
  • Promote them to exact match as a new variant
  • Repeat this process monthly

Pro tip

Quality Score depends directly on keyword relevance — the better you organize ad groups and match types, the better QS you get, and the lower CPC you pay.


Category 5: Ads & Extensions (5 items)

Ads are what potential customers actually see — but in practice, over 50% of the accounts I audit have "Poor" Ad Strength and barely any extensions. That's a missed opportunity: better ads mean a higher CTR, which means a lower CPC and more conversions.

5.1 — RSA quality

What to check:

  • A minimum of 3 RSAs per ad group (Google's preference)
  • Every RSA using the max: 15 headlines + 4 descriptions
  • "Ad Strength" rating — minimum Good, aim for Excellent

2026 reality + RSA guide

Google now factors AI-generated assets directly into RSA composition. You can opt out, but most clients see a boost when they leave them on. For a full setup walkthrough, see: RSA Guide.

5.2 — Headline variety

What to check:

  • Do your headlines cover different angles: benefit, urgency, social proof, USP, CTA?
  • Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) — used where relevant?
  • Not too many pinned headlines (leave Google room to test)?

5.3 — Sitelinks

What to check:

  • A minimum of 6 sitelinks per campaign (Google can display all of them if they're relevant)
  • Is the description text filled in on every one? You're losing SERP real estate if it's blank
  • Are sitelinks specific to the campaign, not a generic "About us" on a conversion-focused campaign?

5.4 — Callouts + Structured Snippets

What to check:

  • A minimum of 8 callouts (Google shows 4-6 at a time, and tests the rest)
  • Structured Snippets — which category is selected? ("Brands", "Services", "Types")
  • Promotion extension — active if you have a seasonal offer?

5.5 — Image extensions + Logo extensions

What to check:

  • Are image extensions set up?
  • Logo extension (if your brand is verified)?
  • Images: high quality, square ratio 1:1 + landscape 1.91:1

From experience

A client who added image extensions saw a +12% CTR boost on a Search campaign within 14 days. Minimal setup effort, concrete result.


Category 6: Audiences & Remarketing (5 items)

Remarketing is the easiest win in Google Ads — people who've already visited your site convert 3-5x better than cold traffic. For a full overview of strategies, see: Remarketing strategies.

6.1 — Remarketing list health

What to check:

  • Is the "All Visitors" list active with a minimum of 1,000 users?
  • Is a "Cart Abandoners" list (eCommerce) defined with a 3-7 day window?
  • Is any list older than 540 days (max retention) in need of a refresh?

Red flag

A list showing "Currently empty" or "Below threshold" takes up a slot in the account but does nothing useful.

6.2 — Customer Match

What to check:

  • Has an email list been uploaded? (CRM data, last 12 months)
  • "First-party data" is an increasing advantage in 2026's privacy-first era
  • Have lookalike audiences been created?

6.3 — Audience Targeting vs Observation

What to check:

  • Are audiences set to Observation mode (just monitor performance) or Targeting (only show to them)?
  • Most campaigns: Observation (wider reach, tracks who converts better)
  • Specific cases: Targeting (e.g. a dedicated-budget retargeting campaign)

6.4 — Excluded audiences

What to check:

  • Are "Existing customers" excluded from "new customer" campaigns?
  • Are "bounced visitors <10s on site" (low intent) excluded?
  • Have saved audiences older than 12 months been cleaned up?

6.5 — Demographic exclusions

What to check:

  • Age groups — is there a segment that never converts?
  • B2B SaaS: exclude under-18 or 65+ segments
  • Gender and parental status — relevant for certain product categories

Category 7: Bidding Strategy (5 items)

Smart Bidding is powerful, but only if you have enough conversions for the algorithm to learn from reliably. Over 40% of the accounts I audit run Smart Bidding with fewer than 10 conversions a month — that simply can't work. For a full strategy overview, see: Smart Bidding Guide.

7.1 — Smart Bidding readiness

What to check:

  • A minimum of 30 conversions in the last 30 days for tCPA/tROAS?
  • 15+ conversions = tCPA can work at the ad group level (as an experiment)
  • Fewer than 10 conversions = manual strategies (Manual CPC, Maximize Clicks) work better

Rule

Smart Bidding without enough data is just burning budget. You need data first. Better to stay on Maximize Conversions with no target and gather signal than to force tCPA without sufficient conversions.

7.2 — Target CPA / Target ROAS calibration

What to check:

  • What is tCPA currently set to? Does it reflect a realistic business target, or wishful thinking?
  • Reality check: a $10 tCPA target with an actual CPA of $30 isn't working — it needs to be relaxed
  • Learning period: allow 7-14 days after any bid change before evaluating results

From experience

A client with a tCPA of $8 that was never being hit — once we reset it to a more realistic $15, conversion volume grew 3.2x in 30 days. The algorithm got room to work and found conversions it hadn't even been bidding on before.

7.3 — Bid adjustments

What to check:

  • Is a day-of-week + hour-of-day schedule in place?
  • Are there location bid adjustments for high-converting regions?
  • Device bid adjustments (see 3.4)?

Common miss

A B2B account running 24/7, but conversions happen only on weekdays 9am-6pm. A -100% bid outside that window = a 30% cost reduction with 0% fewer conversions.

7.4 — Portfolio bidding strategies

What to check:

  • Are there portfolio strategies (e.g. tCPA across multiple campaigns)?
  • "Group bidding" for similar campaigns?
  • Portfolio strategies can aggregate conversions for a better learning period

7.5 — Seasonality adjustments

What to check:

  • Black Friday, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day — are these set up?
  • Category-specific seasonality (e.g. school holidays for parent-targeted services)?
  • Manual seasonality adjustments applied >7 days before the event?

Category 8: Budget & Allocation (5 items)

Budget allocation is one of the most common mistakes — the best campaigns are "Limited by budget" while the worst campaigns spend their full budget. That's like giving your best salesperson the fewest resources.

8.1 — Budget pacing

What to check:

  • "Lost IS (budget)" — how high is it over the last 30 days?
  • If >10%, budget is capping that campaign's real potential
  • How often is the "daily limit" hit?

8.2 — Shared budgets

What to check:

  • Are there shared budgets (multiple campaigns sharing one budget)?
  • Is the split fair, or does one campaign dominate?

8.3 — Lost IS (rank)

What to check:

  • How high is "Lost IS (rank)"?
  • If >20%, ad rank is low (Quality Score, bid, ad relevance)
  • Action: improve ad relevance, raise the bid, or both

8.4 — Top vs Other position

What to check:

  • What's the "Top of Page" vs "Other" rate?
  • For high-intent commercial queries you want >80% Top of Page
  • If it's below 50%, you're missing out on top placements

8.5 — Budget reallocation between campaigns

What to check:

  • Which campaign has the best CPA/ROAS per dollar of spend?
  • Is that where most of the budget is going?
  • Bad pattern: budget split "fairly" across campaigns — but conversions aren't distributed fairly

The 80/20 rule for budget

The top 20% of your campaigns by efficiency should get 60-70% of the budget. The rest gets a minimal testing budget or gets paused until it proves itself.


Category 9: Tracking & Attribution (5 items)

Tracking and attribution are the foundation of every decision you make. Without accurate data, every optimization is essentially a guess.

9.1 — GA4 link

What to check:

  • Is Google Ads linked to GA4?
  • Is "auto-tagging" enabled (the GCLID parameter)?
  • Is a GA4 → Google Ads conversion import set up?

9.2 — Attribution model

What to check:

  • What's the current model? Last Click? Data-Driven? Position-Based?
  • In 2026, Data-Driven is the default and is usually the best choice
  • Have you tested different models and compared the outcomes?

9.3 — UTM parameters

What to check:

  • Do manual UTMs on links override Google Ads auto-tagging?
  • Is the format consistent (utm_source=google, utm_medium=cpc)?

9.4 — Cross-device tracking

What to check:

  • "Signed-in users" — Google has cross-device data for them
  • Is a conversion on desktop after a mobile click getting attributed correctly?

9.5 — Server-side conversion tracking

What to check:

  • Has server-side tracking been considered for high-value conversions (>$50)?
  • It helps in the privacy era (cookie deprecation)
  • Setup: GTM Server Container, or a direct API call

Category 10: Reporting & Communication (5 items)

Reporting and communication are the last category, but not the least important — without actionable reporting, even a perfect account can't keep improving long-term.

10.1 — KPI definition

What to check:

  • What is the primary KPI? (ROAS, CPA, phone calls...)
  • Do all stakeholders share the same definition?
  • Bad pattern: marketing tracks ROAS, but finance knows returns eat 15% of revenue — the real ROAS is different

10.2 — Reporting frequency

What to check:

  • Does a monthly report exist?
  • Is there a weekly check-in?
  • Is there a real-time dashboard (Looker Studio, Data Studio)?

10.3 — Anomaly detection

What to check:

  • Is there a system that flags a performance drop >30% week-over-week?
  • Are email alerts set up?
  • Who receives them?

10.4 — Documented learnings

What to check:

  • Is there a decision log (what was tested, what worked)?
  • Bad pattern: "We tested something three months ago, don't remember the result"
  • Good pattern: a Notion page or Google Doc with hypotheses, experiments, and outcomes

10.5 — Client / stakeholder communication

What to check:

  • Does the client/stakeholder get actionable insights, not just numbers?
  • "Conversion volume +12%" = not actionable
  • "Conversion volume +12% because we added 15 negative keywords and cut waste — next month we're planning X" = actionable

30-minute quick audit — what to check first

If you don't have 3-4 hours, focus on these 10 priority items (one from each category). They identify 60-70% of the biggest problems.

#ItemTime
11.2 — Campaigns grouped by objective3 min
22.2 — Tag setup verification (Tag Assistant)5 min
32.5 — Enhanced Conversions on/off2 min
43.1 — Geo + "Presence" vs "Presence or interest"2 min
54.2 — Top 20 Search Terms → negative keywords8 min
65.1 — RSA Ad Strength check3 min
77.1 — Smart Bidding readiness (enough data?)2 min
88.1 — Lost IS (budget) %1 min
99.1 — GA4 link + auto-tagging2 min
1010.1 — KPI alignment (if a second stakeholder exists)2 min

Total: ~30 minutes — identifies 60-70% of the biggest problems in any account.


Scoring system — how to grade your result

After running the 50-item audit, assign a score per category. Each category has 5 items, so scoring works like this:

Items OKGradeWhat it means
0-2CriticalUrgent work needed
3Below AverageRoom for improvement
4GoodSolid, minor fine-tuning left
5ExcellentTop shape, maintenance only
Total scoreInterpretation
40-50 OKAccount in excellent shape (top 10%)
30-40 OKAbove average, minor gaps
20-30 OKAverage (where most accounts land)
10-20 OKSignificant disorganization — 15-25% wasted spend
<10 OKSerious problem, needs a rebuild

The most common mistakes I see in Serbia

From working with 30+ Serbia-focused accounts over the last two years — these are the mistakes that keep repeating. For a broader list, see: Google Ads Mistakes.

Mistake 1

Only "Presence or interest" geo targeting

Fix: Switch to "Presence" immediately. It eliminates irrelevant impressions from the diaspora and users abroad.

Mistake 2

Search Partners turned ON for Search campaigns without evaluation

Fix: Turn off Search Partners, gather 30 days of data without them, then turn it back on and segment the report to see if CPA is better or worse.

Mistake 3

A single conversion tag with no deduplication — double counting

Fix: Run a Tag Assistant test on the thank-you page. If you see 2+ hits for the same event, remove one of the sources (usually the hardcoded gtag).

Mistake 4

Smart Bidding without 30 conversions — Google is learning from noise

Fix: Go back to Maximize Conversions without a target CPA/ROAS until you gather 30+ conversions a month. Then introduce a target gradually.

Mistake 5

Brand and non-brand in the same campaign — misleading ROAS

Fix: Split brand into its own campaign. Brand has a lower CPC and higher CVR — mixing it in distorts the real non-brand performance, which is the actual test of your account's efficiency.

Mistake 6

Display Network expansion turned ON on Search campaigns

Fix: Turn it off immediately. This is the biggest budget leak I've seen — impressions on random websites with zero conversions.

Mistake 7

Zero negative keywords in the account

Fix: The easiest optimization, but often forgotten. 30 minutes on the negative list typically cuts 15-25% of wasted spend. Start with the complete negative keywords list.

Mistake 8

tCPA target based on wishful thinking, not reality

Fix: Set a target that's 10-20% better than your current CPA, not 50%+. The algorithm can't hit a magic number — but it can improve gradually.

Mistake 9

Mobile bid adjustment at 0% even though mobile converts 2x better

Fix: Analyze the device report over 90 days and set a bid adjustment based on actual data. +20-40% for mobile if it's converting better.

Mistake 10

A campaign called "1" with 50 ad groups named "1, 2, 3..." — impossible to maintain

Fix: Define a naming convention and apply it retroactively. For more on account organization, see: Google Ads Optimization.


FAQ — Questions about Google Ads audits

Should I hire an agency for an audit, or can I do it myself?
Do it yourself for the 30-minute quick audit if you have technical skills and know the interface. The detailed 3-4 hour audit is better handled by someone who has audited 50+ accounts — pattern recognition makes the difference. I spot mistakes at a glance that an inexperienced advertiser wouldn't catch in an hour.
How much does a Google Ads audit cost?
Range: $100-500 for a one-time audit, depending on account size and depth. Many agencies offer a free quick audit as a lead magnet — that's legitimate, but it covers 10-15 items, not 50. If an account spends more than $1,000/month, the investment in a detailed audit pays for itself in the first month of optimizations.
How often should I run an audit?
Quarterly deep audit + monthly quick check. If you run an audit and find nothing for two quarters in a row, that's a signal the account is in great shape, not that the audit is pointless. A proactive audit always beats a reactive one.
Does an audit guarantee better performance?
An audit identifies problems. What you do with them is the action phase. I see the biggest improvement in accounts that haven't been audited in 6+ months — that's where you typically get a 15-25% efficiency gain right after implementing the recommendations.
Is it enough to just follow Google's "Recommendations" tab?
No. Google's Recommendations mostly favor Google's interests: more spend, broader match, automated targeting expansion. A third-party audit looks out for your business's interests. Those aren't the same goal.

Ran through the checklist and found 5+ red flags?

I offer a free 30-minute consultation where we review your specific setup, identify the top 3 biggest leaks, and map out concrete next steps. No sales pitch — just useful information.

Keep reading — these guides cover specific topics from the checklist in more depth:

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