Wasted spend in Google Ads: 10 causes and their fixes

1. 01 C-12 C-13 C-16

   Conversion tracking that counts wrong

   Smart Bidding can only learn from what the account reports. When tracking is broken, partial or counts the same sale twice, bidding holds back on the searches that sell, or chases the ones that do not. Look out for conversions that do not fire on mobile, an Analytics import added on top of a Google Ads tag, and Enhanced Conversions switched off.

   Where to look

   Goals, then Conversions, then Summary: every conversion action, its status, and which ones count for bidding.

   The fix

   Count each sale once, from one source, with Enhanced Conversions on. Then compare the totals with your CRM or your payments every month.

   What the free audit checks

   • C-12 Does the account count sales at all? Whether sales tracking exists and counted anything in the last 30 days - the check everything else depends on.
   • C-13 Tags that went quiet Enabled conversion actions that have recorded nothing for 30+ days while spend kept running.
   • C-16 Counting the same sale twice A Google Ads tag AND an Analytics import both set as primary for the same sale type.

2. 02 C-14

   Sales that arrive after the counting window closes

   A conversion action only counts a sale made within its window after the click: Google calls it the click-through conversion window, and each action has its own. When your buyers take longer than that, their sales are never counted, and Smart Bidding never learns which searches bring them.

   Where to look

   Goals, then Conversions, then Summary: open your main action, then Edit settings, then the click-through conversion window.

   The fix

   Set the window to cover how long your sales really take. If deals close in your CRM, import them back into Google Ads.

   What the free audit checks

   • C-14 Sales arriving after the counting window closes How long buyers really take from click to sale, joined to your action's counting window - sales slower than the window never get counted.

3. 03 C-01 C-02

   Searches that spend and never sell

   People search for things you do not sell: free, DIY, jobs, a competitor, a close but wrong product. Your ad shows, you pay for the click, and nothing comes of it. Negative keywords are how you stop paying for those searches.

   Where to look

   Campaigns, then Insights and reports, then Search terms, sorted by cost.

   The fix

   Read the search terms report every month and add the irrelevant ones as negative keywords. Keep them in shared lists, so every campaign uses them.

   What the free audit checks

   • C-01 Searches that spend and never sell Every search term that took money in the last 30 days without producing a single sale - listed with its cost and clicks.
   • C-02 Blocked searches in place Whether the account excludes junk searches at all (Google calls these negative keywords), and how many are in place.

4. 04 C-03

   Broad match left as the default

   Broad match lets Google show your ad for searches far from your keyword. It has its place as a deliberate test, not as the setting for every keyword.

   Where to look

   Campaigns, then Keywords: the match type of each keyword, beside the search terms it brought.

   The fix

   Review the broad keywords. Move the ones that sell to phrase or exact match, and add negatives for the rest.

   What the free audit checks

   • C-03 Broad-match bleed How much of the zero-sale spend came in through loose keyword matching.

5. 05 C-04

   A low Quality Score nobody reads

   A keyword with a low Quality Score costs more per click than it needs to. The warning sits in columns you have to add to the keyword table yourself.

   Where to look

   Campaigns, then Keywords: add the Quality Score, Exp. CTR, Ad relevance and Landing page exp. columns.

   The fix

   Find the keywords with a low score and the weakest of their three parts. Rewrite the ads to match the search, fix the landing page, or pause what is not worth fixing.

   What the free audit checks

   • C-04 Overpaying for the same click Keywords where a weak quality component makes Google charge you more than a competitor for the SAME click - with the weak part named and a fix hint.

6. 06 C-05

   Performance Max paying for your own brand

   Performance Max can show on searches for your own name. Those clicks convert easily, which flatters its results, but many of them would probably have come anyway, through your brand campaign or a plain search result.

   Where to look

   The Performance Max campaign settings: brand exclusions.

   The fix

   Add your brand to the brand exclusions of Performance Max and keep your brand searches in their own Search campaign. To see what it really adds, compare with a period when it was paused.

   What the free audit checks

   • C-05 Paying twice for your own name Performance Max overlapping your own brand searches - clicks you would probably have won anyway, with the detected brand terms shown.

7. 07 C-06

   Search Partners switched on

   A Search campaign includes Google search partners by default: other sites that show Google ads. Their clicks are paid like any other, and in the campaign table they sit with Google Search until you split the results by network.

   Where to look

   Campaign settings, then Networks: "Include Google search partners".

   The fix

   Split the results by network. If the partner sites spend without selling, untick them.

   What the free audit checks

   • C-06 Search Partners switched on Campaigns buying traffic on non-Google search sites - with the measured spend, clicks and sales it actually produced last month.

8. 08 C-08

   Ads shown to people only interested in your area

   Presence or interest, the default and recommended location option, also reaches people who have only shown interest in your area. Someone far away who once looked up your city can see your ad.

   Where to look

   Campaign settings, then Locations, then Location options.

   The fix

   If you only serve people where you are, choose Presence: people in or regularly in your targeted locations.

   What the free audit checks

   • C-08 Targeting by "interest" instead of presence Campaigns reaching people merely interested in your area - tourists and out-of-region lookers included.

9. 09 C-10 C-19

   Your best campaigns capped by their budget

   When a campaign that sells is limited by its budget, its ads show less often than they could, while weaker campaigns keep spending. The Search lost IS (budget) column says how often that happens.

   Where to look

   The campaigns table, with the Search lost IS (budget) column added.

   The fix

   Move budget from the campaigns that do not sell to the ones that do, or merge small campaigns, before you raise the total.

   What the free audit checks

   • C-10 Winners capped by budget Campaigns that produce sales but hit their budget ceiling - with Google's own estimate of what a raise would add.
   • C-19 Visibility lost to budget How often your ads simply did not show because the budget ran out - per campaign.

10. 10 C-22

    Recommendations applied for you

    Auto-apply lets Google make some of its own suggested changes in your account. Some are worth having. Others mostly serve Google: budget raises, looser keyword matching, Search Partners and Display.

    Where to look

    Campaigns, then Recommendations, then Auto-apply settings.

    The fix

    Turn auto-apply off, read the recommendations yourself, and apply only the ones that fit your goals.

    What the free audit checks

    • C-22 Is anyone minding this account? Who last touched the account (human vs automation), what kind of work it was, Google's own unread suggestions triaged into act vs ignore, and Google's own account grade.

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