Tools
Google Ads Audit Tool
This free Google Ads audit tool reads your keyword and campaign reports and runs 14 checks: wasted spend, low Quality Score, duplicate keywords, budget and rank limits, bidding fit and more. You get a health score, a monthly waste estimate and a prioritized fix list. No sign-up, and your files never leave your browser.
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How to use the Google Ads Audit Tool
- Download the reports
In Google Ads, open the Keywords and Campaigns tables and pick a date range of at least 30 days. Add the Quality Score, impression share and bid strategy columns, then use the download icon above the table and choose CSV or Excel CSV.
- Drop the files
Drag both reports into the box or use Choose files. The tool detects the report type, delimiter, number format and columns on its own; if a column looks wrong, you fix it under Columns.
- Set your options
Type your brand terms, separated by commas, so brand searches do not flatter the averages. If the report has no date line, enter the period in days; you can also adjust every threshold.
- Work through the findings
The list starts with the most urgent finding. Each card shows the affected spend, the threshold, what to do and a link to Google Ads Help. Open the affected rows and check them one by one.
- Export and measure again
Download the findings as CSV and the pause candidates as a separate file, or save the report as a PDF. Two to four weeks after your changes, run the same audit again and compare the score.
How does the tool calculate the score and the waste?
The tool runs a rule only when the columns it needs are present. The score depends on the weight of each rule it evaluates and on the share of spend that rule affects; information rules leave the score unchanged.
100 × (1 - Σ(weight × impact) / Σ weight)affected share of spend / share for full impact (0 to 1)0 conversions and (cost ≥ X × account CPA or clicks ≥ N)N = 3 / account conversion rate (at least 10)cost - conversions × account CPAwaste in the period × 30.4 / days in the periodconversions × lost IS (budget) / impression shareWeights: wasted spend 22, conversion tracking 16, Quality Score 10, match type mix 9, excessive CPC 9, bid strategy 8, budget 7, rank 7, duplicates 5, bloated ad groups 4, dead keywords 3. Pareto, brand split and campaign type mix add context but leave the score alone. The automatic click threshold follows the rule of three from statistics: with that many clicks and no conversion, the keyword most likely converts below the account average.
What did the audit find in the sample account?
The rows come from the fictional running shoe store that the Sample data button loads: a 28 day keyword and campaign report with stridepro as the brand term. Health score 43, estimated monthly waste $2,294.
| Check | Finding | Amount | Severity | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wasted spend | 6 keywords, 0 conversions; the largest is cheap running shoes | $1,495.96 | High | Check the search terms, then pause or add negatives |
| Excessive CPC | carbon plate running shoes: CPC $16.00 against a campaign median of $1.17 | $615.62 excess cost | Medium | Set a bid limit and give it its own ad group |
| Match type mix | 26 broad match keywords in manual CPC campaigns | $3,026.56 affected | High | Switch to phrase or exact, or move to Smart Bidding |
| Budget limited winner | Search | Brand: CPA $2.60, 24% of impressions lost to budget | up to about 51 extra conversions | Opportunity | Shift budget from weaker campaigns |
| Bid strategy fit | Search | Accessories: Target ROAS with 6.4 conversions per 30 days | - | Medium | Use conversion based bidding until it reaches 15 conversions |
| Brand split | Brand takes 4.4% of spend and 41.8% of conversions | Non brand CPA $40.00 | Info | Judge performance on the non brand CPA |
The amounts come from a fictional example; your own results depend on how your account is built. Always check the search terms before you pause a keyword.
The 14 checks, default thresholds and sources
You can change every threshold under Settings. Where Google publishes an official limit, the source column points to Google Ads Help; the rest are practical rules of this tool.
| Check | Default threshold | What it catches | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Wasted spend | 0 conversions; cost ≥ 1 × account CPA or clicks ≥ 3 / conversion rate | Keywords that spend without converting | Tool rule; search terms report |
| 2. Low Quality Score | Quality Score ≤ 4 | Weak expected CTR, relevance or landing page | Google Ads Help: Quality Score |
| 3. Duplicate keywords | Same text and match type in different ad groups | Split data and lost control | Google Ads Help: ad group prioritization |
| 4. Match type mix | Broad match in campaigns without Smart Bidding | Uncontrolled broad traffic | Google Ads Help: keyword matching options |
| 5. Dead keywords | 0 impressions or Low search volume | Clutter in the account | Google Ads Help: Low search volume |
| 6. Excessive CPC | CPC > 3 × campaign median, weak conversions | Overpriced clicks | Tool rule |
| 7. Budget limited winners | Lost IS (budget) > 10%, CPA ≤ account CPA | Room to grow | Google Ads Help: impression share |
| 8. Rank limited | Lost IS (rank) > 50% | Ad Rank problems | Google Ads Help: impression share |
| 9. Conversion tracking | Zero conversions, conversions > clicks or ROAS bidding without values | Broken or missing measurement | Google Ads Help: counting options, Target ROAS |
| 10. Bloated ad groups | More than 20 active keywords | Loose themes | Tool rule; Google theme guidance |
| 11. Spend concentration | Keywords that make up 80% of spend | Review order | Tool rule, info |
| 12. Brand split | Brand terms you enter | The real CPA behind brand traffic | Tool rule, info |
| 13. Bid strategy fit | Manual bidding with 30+ conversions per 30 days; Target ROAS under 15 | Bidding that does not fit the data | Google Ads Help: Target CPA, Target ROAS |
| 14. Campaign type mix | Performance Max share of spend | Priority between Search and Performance Max | Google Ads Help: Performance Max, info |
What is a Google Ads audit and why run one regularly?
A Google Ads audit is a structured review that shows where your budget goes and which settings hold results back. Accounts drift over time: you add keywords, budgets shift and automated recommendations grow the structure. As a result, small leaks pile up and can run for months before anyone notices them.
Talha Aslan and the team run this review every month in the accounts we handle through our Google Ads management service. This tool opens up the core of those checks: you drop your keyword and campaign reports, and the tool runs 14 rules. In return, you get a health score, an estimated monthly waste figure and a fix list in order of urgency. Each finding also links to the matching Google Ads Help page.
An audit is not a one time job. Look again whenever you change budgets, launch campaigns or switch bid strategies. What is more, your report never reaches a server, because the analysis runs entirely in your browser.
How do you download the reports from Google Ads?
The tool needs two core reports: the keyword report and the campaign report. The Google Ads Help page on reports from statistics tables describes a simple method. Go to the page with the table and select the download icon above it, in the upper right corner. Then pick a format. Google offers Excel CSV, TSV, PDF, XLSX, XML and Google Sheets there.
In the keyword table, add the Quality Score, Exp. CTR, Ad relevance, Landing page exp. and Search lost IS (rank) columns. In the campaign table, turn on Campaign type, Bid strategy type, Budget, Search impr. share and both lost IS columns. Then choose a date range of at least 30 days, so conversion lag distorts the result less.
The tool reads CSV, TSV and Excel CSV files. Excel CSV is in fact tab separated text in UTF-16, and the tool recognises that encoding on its own. It does not read XLSX workbooks, so pick CSV or Excel CSV instead. If you add a search terms report, the tool shows a short summary; for phrase level analysis, open the search term n-gram analyzer.
Which metrics does a Google Ads audit read?
Quality Score is a diagnostic score from 1 to 10 at keyword level. Google splits it into three components: expected clickthrough rate, ad relevance and landing page experience. Each component comes back as above average, average or below average. However, Google's Quality Score page states plainly that Quality Score is not a key performance indicator and not an input in the ad auction. That is why the tool treats it as a pointer to the weak component rather than a target.
Search impression share compares the impressions you received on the Search Network with the estimated impressions you could have received. Lost impression share has two causes: budget and Ad Rank. In Google's words, Search lost IS (budget) is the percentage of time your ads did not show on the Search Network due to insufficient budget. Search lost IS (rank), on the other hand, describes the share you missed because of poor Ad Rank.
Cost, conversions and conversion value measure efficiency. The tool compares each keyword's cost per conversion (CPA) with the account average. For example, if the account CPA is $40, a keyword that spent $40 without a conversion lands on the wasted spend list. To plan the budget side, try the Google Ads budget calculator, and to check returns, use the ROAS calculator.
How should you read match types and bid strategy together?
Broad match is not bad on its own. Google calls it critical to use Smart Bidding with broad match, because the bid for each search should reflect the signals present at auction time. The trouble starts in campaigns where broad match runs on manual CPC. There, every search gets the same bid, so irrelevant traffic builds up fast.
That is why the tool reads broad match keywords together with the bid strategy of their campaign. Without a campaign report, it shows only the broad match share of spend. Once it sees the bid strategies, it also lists broad match in campaigns without Smart Bidding as a separate finding. To rework match types quickly, try the keyword match type tool.
For the bid strategy check, we use two official references. First, Google recommends judging Target CPA over a period with at least 30 conversions. So a manual CPC campaign at that volume makes a strong candidate for a Smart Bidding test. Second, Google's Target ROAS page lists at least 15 conversions in the past 30 days as a requirement for Search campaigns. In addition, ROAS bidding needs values on your conversions.
In which order should you fix the findings?
The tool sorts findings by severity, and we suggest that you fix them in the same order. First, look at critical findings: if the whole account shows zero conversions, the problem most likely sits in measurement. In that case every other decision would rest on wrong data, so check the conversion action and the tag before anything else.
Next, move to high severity findings. Wasted spend, broad match without Smart Bidding and low Quality Score usually carry the most money. Medium findings, in other words excessive CPC, duplicate keywords and rank limits, belong to the second round. Low severity items such as dead keywords and bloated ad groups simply keep the account lean.
The opportunity label marks room to grow rather than a problem. For instance, when a campaign beats the account CPA but loses a quarter of its impressions to budget, shifting budget there from weaker campaigns is often the quickest win. Finally, read the info cards: Pareto, brand split and campaign type mix give your decisions context. When you plan the budget again, our guide on how to set a Google Ads budget can help.
Why does your data never leave the browser?
Google Ads reports carry sensitive business data: campaign names, keywords, costs and revenue. That is why we built the tool so that it never sends a file to a server. When you choose a file, your browser loads it into memory, the tool reads the rows and draws the result on the same page. Once you close the page, the data disappears too.
This approach has another benefit: even a large keyword report takes only seconds, because nothing needs to travel over the network. Still, if you plan to share the report with someone, check campaign names for client names or personal data first.
When you work with an agency or a consultant, granting access to the Google Ads account is usually safer than emailing exports. In short, this audit does not require you to share a file with anyone.
When should you bring in a PPC specialist?
The tool finds the problems that the numbers in your reports reveal. However, some decisions sit outside the report: brand strategy, the persuasive power of your landing pages, the technical setup of conversion tracking and your profit margin. For example, a ROAS target requires knowing your product margins, and the tool does not guess them.
Talking to a specialist makes sense in three cases. Your score is below 50, a critical measurement finding appears, or monthly waste reaches a meaningful share of your budget. Talha Aslan and the team start every engagement of our Google Ads management service with this kind of audit, then fix measurement, structure and bidding in order. Our article on what Google Ads consulting includes explains what to expect.
If you keep managing the account yourself, run the tool every month with the same settings. That way, the change in score and waste shows the effect of your fixes.
Common Google Ads audit mistakes
- ✕MistakeDeciding on a 7 day report.✓Do this insteadUse at least 30 days; over short periods, conversion lag makes good keywords look weak.
- ✕MistakePausing a keyword without checking its search terms.✓Do this insteadLook at the search terms that trigger it first; the real problem often lies in the match type.
- ✕MistakeTreating Quality Score as a target.✓Do this insteadGoogle describes it as a diagnostic tool; fix the weak component and the score follows.
- ✕MistakeLeaving brand searches in the analysis.✓Do this insteadEnter your brand terms in the settings; brand conversions make the account CPA look better than it really is.
- ✕MistakeChanging bids before checking conversion tracking.✓Do this insteadIf the whole account shows zero conversions or ROAS bidding runs without values, fix measurement first.
- Google Ads Help: About Quality Score for Search campaigns (accessed September 29, 2026)
- Google Ads Help: Get impression share data (accessed September 29, 2026)
- Google Ads Help: About keyword matching options (accessed September 29, 2026)
- Google Ads Help: About Target ROAS bidding (accessed September 29, 2026)
- Google Ads Help: Create, save, and schedule reports from your statistics tables (accessed September 29, 2026)
Frequently Asked Questions
Want us to fix what the audit found?
Talha Aslan and the team audit Google Ads accounts on a regular schedule, cut wasted spend and move budget to the campaigns that pay back.
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