After auditing 100+ Google Ads accounts, we see the same five mistakes over and over.
1. Broad Match Without Negative Keywords
If you’re using broad match with no negatives, you’re paying for searches that have nothing to do with your product. Fix: Build a negative keyword list weekly using the Search Terms report.
2. Ignoring Impression Share at the Top
If your Search Top IS is below 60%, you’re losing premium real estate. Fix: Increase bids on high-converting keywords or improve Quality Score.
3. No Conversion Value Tracking
Optimising for conversions is fine, but optimising for value is better. Fix: Pass purchase value back via the API or GTM.
4. Single-Variant Ads
Google’s machine learning needs at least 3-5 RSA assets to find winners. Fix: Pin only one headline; rotate the rest.
5. Skipping Audience Layering Observations on demographics + in-market segments tell you who actually converts. Fix:
Add audience observations to every campaign and bid-adjust based on data after 30 days.
Most accounts can recover 20-40% of wasted spend by fixing just these five issues.