How to Spot Wasted Ad Spend in Google Ads

Every Google Ads account has hidden budget leaks that silently drain performance. The good news? Eliminating just 10% of wasted spend can free up budget to scale your best-performing campaigns by 30% or more. Here's how to quickly identify and fix the biggest sources of waste in your account.

Identify High-Waste Search Terms and Keywords

Search terms with low intent or high bounce rates are your biggest budget drains. Use the Search Terms report to find queries that generate clicks but no conversions. Look for terms like "free," "cheap," "jobs," or "how to" that indicate research intent rather than buying intent.

Broad match keywords without proper negative keyword coverage create massive waste. If you're bidding on "marketing software" as broad match, you might be showing for "free marketing software," "marketing software jobs," or "marketing software reviews." Build comprehensive negative keyword lists to prevent irrelevant traffic.

Overlapping campaigns where the same keywords appear in multiple campaigns cause you to compete against yourself and drive up costs. Use the Auction Insights report to identify when your own campaigns are competing. Consolidate duplicate keywords or use negative keywords to prevent overlap.

Find Placement and Targeting Waste

Display and YouTube placements often generate cheap clicks with poor conversion rates. Review the Placements report to identify websites or YouTube channels that consume budget without delivering results – exclude low-performing placements and focus your display budget on sites that actually convert.

Underperforming devices, locations, and time periods drain budget from your best opportunities. Use demographic and geographic reports to identify segments with high costs but low conversion rates. If desktop traffic costs twice as much as mobile but converts at the same rate, shift budget toward mobile.