--- title: "Google Ads Audit Checklist: 77 Checks + Free Template (2026)" description: "Google Ads account audit in 77 checks: conversions, AI Max, PMax and bidding, with the 2026 changes and a free CSV template." canonical: https://lionelz.com/en/blog/google-ads-account-audit/ lang: en --- Google Ads # Google Ads Audit Checklist: 77 Checks + Free Template (2026) Google Ads account audit in 77 checks: conversions, AI Max, PMax and bidding, with the 2026 changes and a free CSV template. **Lionel Fenestraz** · 11 May 2026 · 29 min read · Updated: November 2026 Google Partner · CXL Certified Optimizer · 7+ years in Google Ads and Meta Ads ![Audit checklist with a magnifying glass and a binder with coloured tabs: a Google Ads account audit](https://lionelz.com/images/blog/2026/09/auditoria-cuenta-google-ads-hero.webp) In this article [What a Google Ads audit is (and isn’t)](#what-a-google-ads-audit-is-and-isnt) [What changed in 2026 and needs checking](#what-changed-in-2026-and-needs-checking) [1\. Access, ownership and security (checks 1 to 5)](#1-access-ownership-and-security-checks-1-to-5) [2\. Conversion tracking and goals (checks 6 to 19)](#2-conversion-tracking-and-goals-checks-6-to-19) [3\. Campaign settings (checks 20 to 29)](#3-campaign-settings-checks-20-to-29) [4\. Search terms and negatives (checks 30 to 35)](#4-search-terms-and-negatives-checks-30-to-35) [5\. Keywords, match types and Quality Score (checks 36 to 40)](#5-keywords-match-types-and-quality-score-checks-36-to-40) [6\. Account structure (checks 41 to 44)](#6-account-structure-checks-41-to-44) [7\. Bidding strategy (checks 45 to 49)](#7-bidding-strategy-checks-45-to-49) [8\. Ads and assets (checks 50 to 56)](#8-ads-and-assets-checks-50-to-56) [9\. Audiences (checks 57 and 58)](#9-audiences-checks-57-and-58) [10\. Performance Max and Shopping (checks 59 to 65)](#10-performance-max-and-shopping-checks-59-to-65) [11\. Display, Demand Gen and YouTube (checks 66 to 68)](#11-display-demand-gen-and-youtube-checks-66-to-68) [12\. Landing pages (checks 69 to 73)](#12-landing-pages-checks-69-to-73) [13\. Budget and competition (checks 74 to 77)](#13-budget-and-competition-checks-74-to-77) [How to prioritise what you find](#how-to-prioritise-what-you-find) [Summary checklist and template](#summary-checklist-and-template) [How often to audit Google Ads](#how-often-to-audit-google-ads) [If you’d rather I ran the audit](#if-youd-rather-i-ran-the-audit) [Frequently asked questions about Google Ads audits](#frequently-asked-questions-about-google-ads-audits) [Sources](#sources) In this article [What a Google Ads audit is (and isn’t)](#what-a-google-ads-audit-is-and-isnt)[What changed in 2026 and needs checking](#what-changed-in-2026-and-needs-checking)[1\. Access, ownership and security (checks 1 to 5)](#1-access-ownership-and-security-checks-1-to-5)[2\. Conversion tracking and goals (checks 6 to 19)](#2-conversion-tracking-and-goals-checks-6-to-19)[3\. Campaign settings (checks 20 to 29)](#3-campaign-settings-checks-20-to-29)[4\. Search terms and negatives (checks 30 to 35)](#4-search-terms-and-negatives-checks-30-to-35)[5\. Keywords, match types and Quality Score (checks 36 to 40)](#5-keywords-match-types-and-quality-score-checks-36-to-40)[6\. Account structure (checks 41 to 44)](#6-account-structure-checks-41-to-44)[7\. Bidding strategy (checks 45 to 49)](#7-bidding-strategy-checks-45-to-49)[8\. Ads and assets (checks 50 to 56)](#8-ads-and-assets-checks-50-to-56)[9\. Audiences (checks 57 and 58)](#9-audiences-checks-57-and-58)[10\. Performance Max and Shopping (checks 59 to 65)](#10-performance-max-and-shopping-checks-59-to-65)[11\. Display, Demand Gen and YouTube (checks 66 to 68)](#11-display-demand-gen-and-youtube-checks-66-to-68)[12\. Landing pages (checks 69 to 73)](#12-landing-pages-checks-69-to-73)[13\. Budget and competition (checks 74 to 77)](#13-budget-and-competition-checks-74-to-77)[How to prioritise what you find](#how-to-prioritise-what-you-find)[Summary checklist and template](#summary-checklist-and-template)[How often to audit Google Ads](#how-often-to-audit-google-ads)[If you’d rather I ran the audit](#if-youd-rather-i-ran-the-audit)[Frequently asked questions about Google Ads audits](#frequently-asked-questions-about-google-ads-audits)[Sources](#sources) Free review · 30 min I go through your Google Ads account with you and show you where the budget is going. [Book a call →](https://calendar.app.google/G3jeffmFY52dg38GA) A Google Ads audit is a structured review of your account that answers two questions: can you trust the data you’re making decisions with, and where is money going that never comes back? The order matters. If conversion tracking is broken, everything you analyse afterwards (bids, keywords, ads) is built on bad data. There’s good reason to do one. WordStream analysed 15,666 accounts run through its Performance Grader between January and November 2025: the average account wasted $1,127 a month, 25% had never added a single negative keyword and 29% recorded zero conversions over 90 days ([WordStream](https://www.wordstream.com/blog/google-ads-performance), summarised by [PPC Land](https://ppc.land/most-google-ads-accounts-waste-1-127-a-month-study-of-15k-accounts-finds/)). Store Growers, which publishes the results of 122 audits of online stores, found conversion tracking problems in 66 of them, 54% ([Store Growers](https://www.storegrowers.com/google-ads-mistakes/), updated in October 2026). Both samples are self-selected (accounts whose owners asked for a diagnosis), but the patterns match what I find when I open a new account. This guide is the checklist I use: 77 checks across 13 areas, in the order I go through them. If you still search for it as an “AdWords audit”, it’s the same thing: in June 2018 Google announced that AdWords was becoming Google Ads ([Google](https://blog.google/technology/ads/new-advertising-brands/)). What has changed is what you need to check. In 2026 alone we got the automatic upgrade to AI Max and the migration from Display to Demand Gen, and Google announced new channel allocation controls. > **In 30 seconds:** > > - Audit in this order: access, conversions, settings, search terms, keywords, structure, bidding, ads, audiences, Performance Max, Display and Demand Gen, landing pages and budget. > - Across 122 ecommerce audits, 54% of accounts had a conversion tracking problem and 76% of those running Performance Max had at least one PMax issue ([Store Growers](https://www.storegrowers.com/google-ads-mistakes/)). > - Since September 2026, Search campaigns with automatically created assets or campaign-level broad match are being upgraded to AI Max automatically ([Google](https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/dsa-upgrade-to-ai-max-2026/)). Check which of yours changed. > - The Quality Score you see in the account is a diagnostic tool and doesn’t go into the auction as-is ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6167118)). Your KPI is still CPA or ROAS. > - Cadence: a full audit every quarter, a quick review every month. At the end you’ll find the [CSV template](https://lionelz.com/downloads/google-ads-audit-template.csv) with all 77 checks. --- ## What a Google Ads audit is (and isn’t) An audit isn’t your optimisation score or the Recommendations tab. Those tools suggest changes Google likes (more budget, broad match, more automation), but they don’t know whether your margin can absorb a higher CPA, or whether half your “conversions” are clicks on the phone number in your header. A useful audit ends with three things: 1. **A list of problems ranked by how much money they cost**, even when the most expensive one isn’t the easiest to fix. 2. **An estimate of spend that isn’t doing anything**: irrelevant search terms, campaigns with no conversions, locations outside your market. 3. **An ordered plan of changes**, because touching bids before fixing tracking just speeds up the problem. ### Before you start - **Date range**: compare the last 90 days against the previous 90. Anything under 30 days is too noisy for smaller accounts. - **Business context**: margin per product or service, the CPA or ROAS the business can afford, and how many leads turn into sales. Without this you can’t judge whether a number is good. - **A spreadsheet**: one row per check, with columns for status (OK, review, critical), finding, estimated impact and proposed change. The [downloadable template](https://lionelz.com/downloads/google-ads-audit-template.csv) is already set up that way. --- ## What changed in 2026 and needs checking If your last audit was in 2025, these changes may have altered the account without anyone touching it: Change Date What to check Automatic upgrade to AI Max for campaigns with automatically created assets or campaign-level broad match From September 2026 ([Google](https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/dsa-upgrade-to-ai-max-2026/)) Which campaigns changed, and which search term matching and text customisation settings were switched on (check 24) Delay to the automatic migration of dynamic search ads (DSA) to AI Max Pushed back to February 2027 ([PPC Land](https://ppc.land/google-delays-dsa-to-ai-max-automigration-to-february-2027/)) If you still run DSA, decide beforehand whether to test AI Max with an experiment Migration of Display campaigns to Demand Gen From June 2026; it can’t be undone ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/17051545)) Shared budgets and campaign-level content exclusions before migrating (check 66) Smart Bidding exploration in Shopping and Performance Max October 2026, a tolerance of 5% to 30% on target ROAS ([PPC Land](https://ppc.land/google-lets-shopping-and-pmax-campaigns-lower-roas-targets-by-up-to-30/)) Whether it’s on and whether it fits your margin (check 46) Channel prioritisation and allocation limits in Search, Shopping, PMax and Demand Gen Announced in October 2026, rolling out over the coming months ([Search Engine Journal](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-ads-introduces-channel-prioritization-and-budget-allocation/592833/)) Which channels sit at high priority by default (check 77) --- ## 1\. Access, ownership and security (checks 1 to 5) I always start here, even though it doesn’t save a penny, because it’s the least reviewed area and the most expensive one to lose. If the account is in an agency’s name, switching provider can mean losing the history. 1. **Account ownership.** At least one admin should be an email address belonging to the business itself, not the agency or a former employee. If the account sits under an MCC, check who owns that MCC. 2. **Users and access levels.** In Admin > Access and security, remove anyone who no longer works on the account and downgrade anyone who only needs to look. Read-only access is enough to audit, although with Standard access you’ll be able to run diagnostics ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9978556)). 3. **2-Step Verification.** It should be on for every user ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/12864186)). An account with a card attached and shared passwords is a real risk. 4. **Billing.** The payments profile should belong to the business, and the spend Google invoices should match what the agency reports. If you pay through the agency, ask for the Google invoices. 5. **Change history.** Tools > Change history keeps the last 2 years ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/19888)). It often explains drops nobody remembers causing and tells you how often the account gets touched. If you’re inheriting an account from an agency, I have a guide on [what to check when you take over an inherited account](https://lionelz.com/en/blog/google-ads-account-agency-handover/). --- ## 2\. Conversion tracking and goals (checks 6 to 19) After access, this is the first thing I review. If your conversions are set up wrong, Smart Bidding optimises towards the wrong goal and every report you read afterwards misleads you. In the accounts I audit, this is where I most often find something broken. The most common duplicate has a recognisable signature: the purchase tag lives both in Google Tag Manager and hard-coded in the store template (often added by a plugin or a previous agency). In Tag Assistant, the order confirmation page fires two conversion events, and in the account Google Ads purchases run at roughly double the real orders for the same period. ### Which actions count and how 6. **Status of each action.** In Goals > Conversions > Summary, look at the status column. “Inactive”, “Needs attention” or “No recent conversions” call for a diagnosis, and Google lets you launch Tag Assistant right from there ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/10989978)). 7. **Primary or secondary.** Only primary actions feed the “Conversions” column that bidding uses; secondary actions sit in “All conversions” for observation ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/10995103)). The classic mistake: a micro-conversion (scroll, WhatsApp click) set as primary alongside the real sale or lead. 8. **Count: “Every” or “One”.** Website conversions are counted as “Every” by default. That makes sense for sales; for leads, Google suggests counting one lead per click ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/3438531)). A form submitted three times isn’t three customers. 9. **Conversion window.** The default is 30 days after the click ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/3123169)). If your B2B sales cycle runs two months, a short window leaves real sales out; if you sell impulse purchases, a long window over-attributes. 10. **Attribution model.** Google now only offers “Data-driven” and “Last click”; first click, linear, time decay and position-based were retired ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6259715)). If an important action is still on last click, ask why. 11. **Values.** A fixed value of 1 for everything makes Target ROAS meaningless. In ecommerce, the value should be dynamic from the cart. In B2B, assign different values by lead quality or import offline conversions from your CRM ([offline conversions for B2B Google Ads](https://lionelz.com/en/blog/google-ads-b2b-conversiones-offline/)). 12. **Duplicate conversions.** Two common cases: the same purchase imported from GA4 and measured with the Google Ads tag, both set as primary; or the tag placed in Tag Manager and also hard-coded in the store template, as in the example above. Keep a single source as primary for each action. ### Signal quality 13. **Auto-tagging switched on.** Without the GCLID parameter, neither the GA4 link nor offline imports work properly ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/3095550)). 14. **Enhanced conversions.** They send your own customer data (email, phone) hashed with SHA-256 to improve measurement ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9888656)). Check they’re on and that the diagnostics show no errors. I walk through it step by step in the guide to [enhanced conversions](https://lionelz.com/en/blog/google-ads-enhanced-conversions/). 15. **Consent Mode v2.** If you have users in the European Economic Area, Google requires you to collect their consent and pass those signals on; without them you lose measurement and personalisation features ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/13695607)). Your cookie banner should send `ad_user_data` and `ad_personalization`. 16. **Cross-check with the source of truth.** Compare Google Ads conversions with orders in your store or leads in your CRM for the same period. They won’t match 100% (attribution, consent, windows), but a large gap with no explanation points to an implementation problem. ### Goals and value 17. **Each campaign’s goals.** Campaigns use either the account-default goals or campaign-specific ones. Open each campaign’s settings and see what it’s actually bidding towards: it’s common to find a lead generation campaign also optimising for 10-second calls. 18. **Value rules.** They let you raise or lower value by location, device or audience ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/10518330)). If any exist, make sure someone knows why, and that they aren’t inflating the ROAS you report. 19. **New customer acquisition goal.** If it’s on, check that your existing customer list is up to date; otherwise Google overpays for people who already buy from you ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/12080169)). --- ## 3\. Campaign settings (checks 20 to 29) These are settings chosen once when the campaign is built and never looked at again. That’s why they hide spend, especially in locations and networks. 20. **Location options.** By default Google uses “Presence or interest”, which includes people who aren’t in your area but have shown interest in it ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/1722043)). If you only sell in one country, “Presence” is usually the right choice. Then open the locations report and look for clicks from countries or regions you don’t serve. 21. **Languages.** They should match those of your ads and your website. 22. **Networks.** In Search campaigns, check whether the Display Network and search partners are switched on. Segment performance by network before you decide. 23. **Auto-applied recommendations.** Under Recommendations > Auto-apply, review which types are active and the history of what was applied ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/10279006)). Store Growers found it switched on in 31 of the 88 accounts where it checked, 35% ([Store Growers](https://www.storegrowers.com/google-ads-mistakes/)). 24. **Campaigns upgraded to AI Max.** Since September 2026, Google has been upgrading Search campaigns with automatically created assets or campaign-level broad match to AI Max ([Google](https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/dsa-upgrade-to-ai-max-2026/)). According to [PPC Land](https://ppc.land/google-ads-broad-match-campaigns-face-ai-max-auto-upgrade-on-september-1/), if you never switched on either option, you’re not affected. Look in Change history for which campaigns changed and with which settings. 25. **Automatically created assets.** Do the headlines and descriptions Google generates from your site promise things you no longer offer? 26. **Schedule and devices.** With Smart Bidding, the system already adjusts bids in every auction, so the useful question is a different one: is there a time slot or device you should exclude entirely? 27. **IP exclusions.** They can now be applied at account level, which means they also cover Performance Max and Demand Gen; at campaign level they take up to 500 IPs ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2456098)). Exclude your office and your agency’s. 28. **Tracking template and final URL suffix.** If there are parameters at account, campaign and ad level, the most specific one wins ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6305348)). An old template without `{lpurl}` breaks the journey to your site. 29. **Linked accounts.** GA4, Merchant Center and, where relevant, YouTube and Search Console should be linked to the right account. A link to an old GA4 property explains a lot of “the numbers don’t match”. --- ## 4\. Search terms and negatives (checks 30 to 35) This is the area with the fastest payback in almost any account. In WordStream’s study, accounts with at least one negative keyword had an average conversion rate of 13%, versus 4.6% for accounts with none ([PPC Land](https://ppc.land/most-google-ads-accounts-waste-1-127-a-month-study-of-15k-accounts-finds/)). Store Growers found unmanaged search terms and keywords in 75 of its 122 audits, 61% ([Store Growers](https://www.storegrowers.com/google-ads-mistakes/)). That’s a correlation: people who add negatives tend to manage everything else better too. Even so, few audit actions are this cheap. 30. **A 90-day search terms report, sorted by cost.** Filter for terms with no conversions. Google leaves out low-volume terms for privacy reasons ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2472708)), so you’ll see most of the spend, never 100% of it. 31. **Patterns, not single terms.** “Free”, “course”, “jobs”, “second hand”, products you don’t sell. Those patterns go into shared negative keyword lists: up to 20 lists per account, with 5,000 keywords each ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7102995)). 32. **Account-level negatives.** For things you never want in any campaign. There’s a limit of 1,000 per account, and they apply to Search, Shopping, Performance Max (search and shopping inventory), Smart, Local and App campaigns ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/11396330)). 33. **AI Max terms on their own.** The report shows “AI Max” as a match type and a source column that tells you whether the match came from broad match or keywordless technology ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/15910187)). 34. **Negatives blocking your own keywords.** A negative that’s too broad can stop keywords you do want from showing. Check the conflict warnings in Recommendations and cross-check your lists against your active keywords. 35. **Competitor brands.** Are you paying for competitor searches without having decided to? If it is a decision, measure their CPA separately. I have dedicated guides on [reading the search terms report](https://lionelz.com/en/blog/search-terms-google-ads/) and on [negative keyword strategy and lists](https://lionelz.com/en/blog/negative-keywords-google-ads/). --- ## 5\. Keywords, match types and Quality Score (checks 36 to 40) Here you review the keywords you chose yourself. 36. **Keywords with no impressions in 90 days.** If the status is “Low search volume”, pause them; if not, check bid, match type and negatives before deleting them. 37. **Keywords with spend and no conversions.** Is it an intent problem (wrong keyword) or a page problem (good keyword, poor landing page)? The answer decides whether you pause it or fix the site. 38. **Broad match without the conditions it needs.** It works with Smart Bidding and solid tracking. Without both, it’s usually the biggest source of irrelevant terms. More in the [keyword match types guide](https://lionelz.com/en/blog/keyword-match-types-google-ads/). 39. **Duplicate keywords** across ad groups or campaigns, competing for the same search. Google Ads Editor finds them under Tools > Find duplicate keywords. 40. **Quality Score by component.** Add the Quality Score columns and the three component columns, filter for your highest-spend keywords and see which component shows “Below average”. It only appears for keywords with enough exact-match searches ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6167118)). Weak component What it usually means Where to fix it Expected CTR The ad doesn’t stand out for that search Headlines, assets, tighter ad groups Ad relevance The keyword and the ad talk about different things Split the ad group, rewrite RSAs Landing page experience The page doesn’t answer the search, or loads badly Dedicated landing page, speed, message In WordStream’s study, the average Quality Score sat between 5 and 6, only 12% of accounts reached 8 or above and 36% fell below 4 ([PPC Land](https://ppc.land/most-google-ads-accounts-waste-1-127-a-month-study-of-15k-accounts-finds/)). The [Quality Score guide](https://lionelz.com/en/blog/google-ads-quality-score/) covers what actually moves it. --- ## 6\. Account structure (checks 41 to 44) Auditing structure means checking whether the way campaigns and ad groups are split lets you read results and gives Smart Bidding enough data. 41. **Brand and non-brand in the same campaign.** Brand converts far cheaper and “subsidises” non-brand in reports, so you never know whether non-brand is profitable. 42. **Ad groups with mixed intent.** Practical rule: if you can’t write one ad that fits every keyword in the group, the group needs splitting. 43. **Over-fragmentation.** The opposite: dozens of campaigns with very few conversions each. How many have fewer than 15 conversions a month? 44. **Roles split between PMax and Search or Shopping.** Decide which campaign covers brand and which products go to each; checks 60 and 62 will tell you whether they overlap. If you’re unsure, read [Google Shopping vs Performance Max](https://lionelz.com/en/blog/google-shopping-vs-performance-max/). There’s no single perfect structure. The right one lets you see separately whatever has different margins, intent or budgets. --- ## 7\. Bidding strategy (checks 45 to 49) Smart Bidding works well when it has enough reliable data. Without it, it usually performs worse than well-run manual bidding. 45. **Strategy matches the goal.** Maximise clicks on a campaign that should sell, or Maximise conversions with no cap when margins are thin, are two common mistakes. 46. **Smart Bidding exploration in Shopping and PMax.** It lets you temporarily lower target ROAS by 5% to 30% to pick up new searches, and it doesn’t work with portfolio strategies ([PPC Land](https://ppc.land/google-lets-shopping-and-pmax-campaigns-lower-roas-targets-by-up-to-30/)). If it’s on, check your margin can take that lower ROAS. 47. **Minimum volume.** For Target ROAS on Search and Shopping, Google asks for at least 15 conversions in the past 30 days ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6268637)). At exactly that volume, the target tends to be unstable. 48. **Realistic targets.** If the target ROAS is well above the actual ROAS of recent months, the campaign stops bidding and loses impressions. Compare the target with history before blaming the algorithm. 49. **Learning.** Changing strategy or settings can send a campaign back into “Learning”, and Google says calibration typically takes one or two conversion cycles ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/13020501)). If Change history shows weekly edits, the campaign never finishes learning. To choose the right strategy for each case, see the [Smart Bidding guide](https://lionelz.com/en/blog/smart-bidding-google-ads/). --- ## 8\. Ads and assets (checks 50 to 56) Here you check whether your ads have enough material, whether the message filters out people who won’t buy, and whether everything they show is approved. 50. **Complete responsive search ads.** They take up to 15 headlines of 30 characters and 4 descriptions of 90 ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7684791)). Ad groups with 3 or 4 headlines give the system very little to work with. 51. **Ad strength.** Use it as a to-do list (repeated headlines, few keywords in the text), not as a target: Google makes clear it isn’t used to calculate Ad Rank or Quality Score ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/9921843)). 52. **Pinning.** Google doesn’t recommend pinning for most advertisers. In Optmyzr’s study of around 20,000 accounts (April 2026), partial pinning had the best average CPA compared with no pinning or pinning everything ([Optmyzr](https://www.optmyzr.com/blog/google-rsa-performance-study/)). 53. **Headline length.** In the same study, headlines under 20 characters had an average CPA of $9.35, against $18.27 for headlines of 21 to 30. These are Optmyzr customer accounts, so treat it as a hypothesis worth testing. 54. **Message.** Does the ad state price, timing, guarantee or whatever sets you apart? Or could it belong to any competitor? 55. **Assets (sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, images).** Check that they exist, point to working pages and don’t advertise expired offers. 56. **Disapproved or limited ads.** Policy manager shows which ads and assets aren’t serving or are serving with restrictions, and you can appeal from there ([Google](https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/9338593)). To test copy variants properly, see the guide to [RSA ad testing](https://lionelz.com/en/blog/ad-copy-testing-rsa-google-ads/). --- ## 9\. Audiences (checks 57 and 58) 57. **Observation or Targeting.** In Search and Shopping, audiences added under “Targeting” restrict who sees the ad; under “Observation” they only report ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7365594)). A remarketing list set to “Targeting” by mistake leaves the campaign with no reach. 58. **Customer and remarketing lists kept up to date.** Customer Match lists need refreshing (ideally automatically from your CRM or store). Also check whether recent customers should be excluded from acquisition campaigns. --- ## 10\. Performance Max and Shopping (checks 59 to 65) For years, auditing Performance Max was close to impossible because the data wasn’t there. In 2025 we got the channel report (in beta), full asset stats, the search terms report and campaign-level negatives ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/16451273)). It’s needed: in Store Growers’ audits, 64 of the 84 accounts using PMax had at least one problem in those campaigns ([Store Growers](https://www.storegrowers.com/google-ads-mistakes/)). 59. **Channel report.** How much spend goes to Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube or Gmail? If most of it goes to channels that don’t convert for your business, you have an asset or signal problem. 60. **Search terms.** Apply the approach from check 30 and add campaign negatives (check 61). If PMax is taking your brand searches, compare its CPA with your brand campaign’s. 61. **Campaign negatives.** They only apply to Search and Shopping inventory ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/15726455)). 62. **Brand exclusions.** Brand lists stop PMax from showing on searches for your brand (or others) in Search and Shopping inventory ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/14505308)). Use them if you want your Search campaign to cover brand. 63. **Final URL expansion (PMax and AI Max).** If it’s on, Google can send traffic to any page on your site. Exclude the blog, jobs, contact or anything that doesn’t sell, in PMax ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/14670793)) and in Search with AI Max ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/15910187)). 64. **Asset groups.** Stats per asset: which images, videos and texts drive conversions and which just spend. 65. **Merchant Center and feed (for ecommerce).** Disapproved products, weak titles, outdated prices and diagnostic warnings in Merchant Center ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/16300258)). The [Performance Max for ecommerce guide](https://lionelz.com/en/blog/performance-max-ecommerce-2026/) goes deeper into structure and signals. --- ## 11\. Display, Demand Gen and YouTube (checks 66 to 68) 66. **Display to Demand Gen migration.** Google is migrating Display campaigns to Demand Gen, and the migration can’t be undone. Before it happens, remove shared budgets and campaign-level content exclusions ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/17051545)). Also check the bid strategy isn’t Manual CPC, which Demand Gen doesn’t support. 67. **Campaign-level placement exclusions.** Review where your ads have shown: apps, games and low-quality sites tend to soak up cheap clicks that don’t convert ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2454012)). 68. **Account-level content suitability.** Exclusion lists and inventory type are set for the whole account ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/12764663)). Check they fit your brand. --- ## 12\. Landing pages (checks 69 to 73) If the landing page doesn’t deliver what the ad promises, conversion rate drops, along with the landing page experience component of Quality Score. 69. **Intent match.** If the ad talks about “women’s trail running shoes”, the page should show exactly that, not the general footwear category. 70. **Speed.** Google’s benchmark is an LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) of 2.5 seconds or less at the 75th percentile of page loads, on both mobile and desktop ([web.dev](https://web.dev/articles/lcp)). 71. **Test form or test purchase.** Fill in the form yourself or place a real order. It’s the only way to confirm the conversion records, and you test the CTA at the same time. 72. **Mobile.** On a real phone: does a pop-up cover the content? Does tapping the phone number start a call? Does the phone field bring up the numeric keypad? 73. **Tag on every landing page.** Open every final URL that receives traffic with Tag Assistant, including those on subdomains or external booking tools. A landing page without the tag records no conversions and feeds no audiences. If the account gets clicks but no sales, the guide on [why Google Ads isn’t converting](https://lionelz.com/en/blog/google-ads-not-converting/) follows this thread further. --- ## 13\. Budget and competition (checks 74 to 77) The last area ties everything back to money, and it produces the figure that does most to support your changes. 74. **Impression share lost to budget or to rank.** If a profitable campaign is losing impressions to budget, it’s capped. If it’s losing them to rank, the problem is bids or quality, and more budget won’t fix it. 75. **Spend with no return.** Add up spend on campaigns, ad groups and search terms with no conversions in 90 days. That’s the number that goes on the first line of the report. 76. **Margin per campaign and Auction insights.** A campaign with lots of low-margin sales can contribute less profit than a smaller one. The Auction insights report also tells you who you’re competing with and whether anything has changed. 77. **Channel prioritisation.** Google is rolling out channel priority controls and allocation limits in Search, Shopping, PMax and Demand Gen; every channel starts at high priority and the limits are guidance, not hard caps ([Search Engine Journal](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-ads-introduces-channel-prioritization-and-budget-allocation/592833/)). When they show up in your account, check they reflect where you want to invest. PMax (area 10), search terms (area 4), conversions (area 2) and auto-applied recommendations (check 23). Denominators vary: 84 accounts with PMax, 88 checked for recommendations, 122 for the rest. Source: [Store Growers](https://www.storegrowers.com/google-ads-mistakes/). --- ## How to prioritise what you find With 77 checks, a full audit almost never turns up a single problem. If you apply every change at once, you won’t know what worked, and you’ll push several campaigns back into learning at the same time. I apply changes in four batches: 1. **Whatever corrupts the data or puts the account at risk.** Access, duplicate conversions, micro-conversions set as primary, wrong values. This goes first, even though it doesn’t directly cut spend. 2. **Spend you can cut without risk.** Negatives, location options, networks switched on by default, IP and placement exclusions, assets promising things you don’t offer. These rarely affect bid learning. 3. **Whatever touches learning.** Structure, bid strategy, ROAS or CPA targets, AI Max. One change per campaign, logged with a date, and at least one conversion cycle before you judge it. 4. **What gets validated with a test.** Ads, landing pages, URL expansion. Here you need an experiment or, at the very least, a dated before-and-after comparison. The “proposed change” column in the template should carry the batch number too. ## Summary checklist and template Area Checks Where to look Red flag 1\. Access and security 1–5 Access and security, Billing No admin from the business; no 2-Step Verification 2\. Conversions and goals 6–19 Goals > Conversions ”Inactive” or “Needs attention”; micro-conversions set as primary; duplicates with GA4 3\. Settings 20–29 Campaign settings ”Presence or interest” for no reason; campaigns moved to AI Max without review 4\. Search terms and negatives 30–35 Search terms report Spend on terms unrelated to your offer; no negative lists 5\. Keywords and QS 36–40 Keywords + QS columns Expensive keywords with “Below average” components 6\. Structure 41–44 Campaigns view Brand and non-brand together; campaigns with very few conversions 7\. Bidding 45–49 Bid strategies + Change history Targets far above history; weekly edits 8\. Ads 50–56 Ads and assets, Policy manager RSAs with few headlines; disapproved assets 9\. Audiences 57–58 Audiences Remarketing set to “Targeting” by mistake 10\. Performance Max 59–65 Channel report, search terms, Merchant Center Spend concentrated in channels with no conversions; feed errors 11\. Display and Demand Gen 66–68 Placements, content suitability Spend on apps; migration not prepared 12\. Landing pages 69–73 The site itself, PageSpeed Slow LCP; untested forms 13\. Budget 74–77 Impression share, Auction insights Profitable campaigns “Limited by budget” **[Download the audit template as CSV](https://lionelz.com/downloads/google-ads-audit-template.csv)**: all 77 checks with columns for status, finding, impact and batch. It opens in Google Sheets or Excel. Accounts with no conversions or no negatives are caught in areas 2 and 4; Quality Score is reviewed in check 40. Source: [PPC Land](https://ppc.land/most-google-ads-accounts-waste-1-127-a-month-study-of-15k-accounts-finds/), based on [WordStream](https://www.wordstream.com/blog/google-ads-performance) data. --- ## How often to audit Google Ads Melissa Mackey of Compound Growth Marketing recommends auditing accounts “at least every quarter” so that small mistakes don’t turn into costly problems ([Optmyzr, 2025](https://www.optmyzr.com/blog/google-ads-audit/)). I agree, with one caveat: some checks can’t wait three months. **Monthly review (about 30 minutes):** - New search terms and negatives (checks 30 to 35). - Conversion action statuses (check 6). - Auto-applied recommendations, Change history and disapproved ads (checks 5, 23 and 56). **Quarterly audit (half a day on an account with 10 to 20 campaigns):** - All 77 checks. - ROAS or CPA targets against your current margin. - Structure: does it still reflect how you sell today? **An extra audit** after any big change: a new website, a tag migration, a bidding strategy switch, an automatic upgrade like the AI Max one, or when you inherit the account from someone else. If you’re planning the next half-year, I also have a [mid-year campaign audit checklist](https://lionelz.com/en/blog/auditoria-campanas-mitad-ano-2026/) that leans more towards planning. --- ## If you’d rather I ran the audit This guide lets you do it yourself. But auditing your own account has a limit: it’s hard to spot mistakes you set up yourself, and some problems (attribution, Consent Mode, overlap between PMax and Search) take having seen them in many accounts to recognise quickly. I’m Lionel Fenestraz, a freelance Google Ads consultant, Google Partner and CXL Certified Optimizer, with more than 7 years managing accounts for businesses in Spain and other markets. Here’s how my audit works: - **A free 30-minute call.** I go through your account with you live and point out the 2 or 3 problems costing you the most. No compulsory sales pitch; if you don’t need help, I’ll tell you. - **A full audit**, if we decide to work together. It covers the 77 checks in this guide and ends with a list of changes ranked by impact. It can be a one-off consulting project (I hand over the plan and your team carries it out) or the start of ongoing management, as part of the initial setup, which also includes restructuring and configuring GA4 and enhanced conversions. - **I work in your account**, never an agency account. If we stop working together one day, the history stays yours. [Book the 30-minute call](https://calendar.app.google/G3jeffmFY52dg38GA) or see how I work on my [freelance Google Ads consultant](https://lionelz.com/en/consultor-google-ads/) page. If you’d like to know pricing first, it’s in [how much a Google Ads consultant costs](https://lionelz.com/en/blog/google-ads-consultant-pricing/). --- ## Frequently asked questions about Google Ads audits ### How long does a Google Ads audit take? For a mid-sized account (10 to 20 campaigns), a first full audit takes me about half a day. The first time you do it yourself will take longer, because part of the work is understanding how the account was built. Later audits are faster because you already know where to look. ### How much does a Google Ads audit cost? It depends on who does it and what they deliver. Many agencies offer “free” audits as a sales tool, and they usually end in a management proposal. An independent audit is paid for and delivers a plan of changes you can carry out with whoever you like. My rates are in [how much a Google Ads consultant costs](https://lionelz.com/en/blog/google-ads-consultant-pricing/). ### Are there free tools for auditing Google Ads? Yes, and they’re a good starting point: WordStream’s Performance Grader, the Recommendations tab, Google Ads Editor (which flags errors and warnings) and Google Ads scripts. None of them knows your margin or whether your conversions are real, so you have to review the checks in areas 1, 2 and 13 yourself. ### Is the optimisation score an audit? No. It measures how many of Google’s recommendations you’ve applied or dismissed. Many are useful, but they don’t check whether your conversions are real or whether your CPA is profitable. Treat it as one more source of ideas. ### How do I audit the agency running my account? Start with area 1: who’s an admin, who owns the account and whether the spend Google invoices matches what you’re being reported. Then look at Change history to see how often the account is worked on, and at areas 2 and 4. I have a guide on the [signs your Google Ads agency isn’t working](https://lionelz.com/en/blog/google-ads-agency-not-working/). ### Is an AdWords audit the same as a Google Ads audit? Yes. Google AdWords was renamed Google Ads in June 2018, and the audit follows the same logic. What differs is the content: today you also need to review Performance Max, AI Max, Demand Gen, enhanced conversions and Consent Mode, none of which existed under the old name. ### What should I check first if my account is losing money? Conversion tracking (area 2) and search terms (area 4). If conversions are wrong, you don’t know what works. If you have no negatives, you’re paying for traffic that will never buy. Fix those two before touching bids or budget. ### Can you audit a Performance Max campaign? Yes. Since 2025 it has a search terms report, full asset stats, a channel report (in beta) and campaign-level negatives ([Google](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/16451273)). It’s still less transparent than a Search campaign, but checks 59 to 65 can be reviewed methodically. ### Can I audit my account myself or do I need a professional? With this guide and the template, you can do it yourself. Bringing in someone external makes more sense if the account mixes several campaign types (Search, Shopping, PMax), if tracking includes offline conversions, or if results have been getting worse for months and you don’t know why. In that case, [a 30-minute call](https://calendar.app.google/G3jeffmFY52dg38GA) is usually enough to tell whether it’s worth going further. --- ## Sources Main sources. The Google help pages used for each check are linked in the text. 1. WordStream. _Our Biggest Google Ads Performance Study Yet: What We Found._ [wordstream.com](https://www.wordstream.com/blog/google-ads-performance). Data from January to November 2025. 2. PPC Land. _Most Google Ads accounts waste $1,127 a month, study of 15K accounts finds._ [ppc.land](https://ppc.land/most-google-ads-accounts-waste-1-127-a-month-study-of-15k-accounts-finds/). February 2026. 3. Store Growers (Dennis Moons). Google Ads mistakes found in 122 ecommerce audits. [storegrowers.com](https://www.storegrowers.com/google-ads-mistakes/). Updated 16 October 2026. 4. Google (official blog). Announcement of the upgrade of DSA and campaigns with automatically created assets to AI Max. [blog.google](https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/dsa-upgrade-to-ai-max-2026/). April 2026, updated June 2026. 5. PPC Land. _Google delays DSA to AI Max automigration to February 2027._ [ppc.land](https://ppc.land/google-delays-dsa-to-ai-max-automigration-to-february-2027/). June 2026. 6. Google Ads Help. Migrating Display campaigns to Demand Gen. [support.google.com](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/17051545). 7. PPC Land. _Google lets Shopping and PMax campaigns lower ROAS targets by up to 30%._ [ppc.land](https://ppc.land/google-lets-shopping-and-pmax-campaigns-lower-roas-targets-by-up-to-30/). October 2026. 8. Search Engine Journal. _Google Ads introduces channel prioritization and budget allocation._ [searchenginejournal.com](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-ads-introduces-channel-prioritization-and-budget-allocation/592833/). October 2026. 9. Google Ads Help. _About Quality Score._ [support.google.com](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6167118). 10. Google Ads Help. _Unlock more visibility and control in Performance Max._ [support.google.com](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/16451273). August 2025. 11. Google Ads Help. _How AI Max for Search campaigns works._ [support.google.com](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/15910187). 12. Google Ads Help. Attribution models. [support.google.com](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6259715). 13. Google Ads Help. IP exclusions. [support.google.com](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2456098). 14. Google Ads Help. _About Target ROAS bidding._ [support.google.com](https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6268637). 15. Optmyzr. _Google RSA performance study._ [optmyzr.com](https://www.optmyzr.com/blog/google-rsa-performance-study/). April 2026. 16. Optmyzr. _How to conduct a Google Ads audit._ [optmyzr.com](https://www.optmyzr.com/blog/google-ads-audit/). August 2025. 17. web.dev. _Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)._ [web.dev](https://web.dev/articles/lcp). Free account review Is your Google Ads account leaking budget? I review your account in 30 minutes and show you where the money is going. No pitch, no commitment. [Book a free 30-min call →](https://calendar.app.google/G3jeffmFY52dg38GA) No commitment · 30 min · Google Meet Free audit Room to improve your account? 30 minutes to review together. No commitment. [Book a call →](https://calendar.app.google/G3jeffmFY52dg38GA) No commitment · 30 min · Google Meet Share [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https://lionelz.com/en/blog/google-ads-account-audit/) [X / Twitter](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://lionelz.com/en/blog/google-ads-account-audit/&text=Google%20Ads%20Audit%20Checklist%3A%2077%20Checks%20%2B%20Free%20Template%20\(2026\)) Related service **Google Ads Consultant** Campaign management with full access to your account. [See service →](https://lionelz.com/en/consultor-google-ads/) ## Related articles [ ![](https://lionelz.com/images/blog/2026/11/conversiones-mejoradas-google-ads-mobile-hero.webp) Google Ads ### Google Ads enhanced conversions: an implementation guide November 2026 ](https://lionelz.com/en/blog/google-ads-enhanced-conversions/)[ ![](https://lionelz.com/images/blog/2026/10/senales-agencia-google-ads-no-funciona-mobile-hero.webp) Google Ads ### 11 signs your Google Ads agency isn't working October 2026 ](https://lionelz.com/en/blog/google-ads-agency-not-working/)[ ![](https://lionelz.com/images/blog/2026/10/cuenta-google-ads-heredada-agencia-mobile-hero.webp) Google Ads ### Google Ads account handover from an agency: 14-day plan October 2026 ](https://lionelz.com/en/blog/google-ads-account-agency-handover/) ![Lionel Fenestraz — Freelance Google Ads & Meta Ads Consultant](https://lionelz.com/images/lionelfenestraz.webp) Lionel Fenestraz Freelance PPC & CRO Consultant · Google Partner · CXL Certified · Google Ads Search Certified 7+ years managing Google Ads and Meta Ads for vacation rental, B2B and ecommerce. 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