Start with the money trail
A useful audit does not begin with a settings checklist. It begins by locating spend that cannot be connected to a valid business outcome, then works backward to the campaign, query, audience, or tracking decision that created it.
Review enough data to reduce day-to-day noise, but do not hide recent deterioration inside a long date range. Compare the current period with the previous equivalent period whenever possible.
The seven places to inspect
These areas repeatedly produce avoidable cost. The presence of one is not automatically a problem; the evidence must show material spend and weak outcomes before action is recommended.
- Search terms that spend without converting or do not match commercial intent.
- Broad-match expansion without sufficient negatives or conversion-quality controls.
- Campaign budgets that repeatedly exhaust early while stronger campaigns remain constrained.
- Location settings that include people merely interested in the target region.
- Device, network, or day-part segments with a persistent CPA disadvantage.
- Duplicate keywords and internal competition that split useful learning.
- Conversion actions that count low-value events as primary outcomes.
Prioritize fixes by recoverable impact
Rank each issue by measured recoverable spend, confidence, and effort. A high-severity label without meaningful spend should not outrank a medium-severity leak with a clear financial impact.
After making a change, record the baseline and review the next complete reporting window. Optimization is only complete when the expected improvement appears in the account data.