Three campaigns. Tens of thousands of dollars spent. Zero conversions in the reports. Not because conversions didn’t happen, but because no one configured them to count. The Google algorithm didn’t know what to track as a result and optimized for clicks instead.
This is a real scenario from an auto parts online store that came to us for a google ads audit. Another client, a chain of tire shops, ran ads for two years without campaign segmentation, without analytics, and with a chaotic budget distribution across regions.
Both cases are typical. Over years of practice, the same mistakes repeat over and over. We’ve identified the 20 most frequent ones, grouped them by category, explained why they are a problem, and how to fix them.
Contents
Account Structure: 4 Mistakes That Start the Chaos
A bad account is visible even before reviewing metrics. Just open the campaign list.
1. One Campaign for the Entire Business
Products, services, brand, competitors – all in one campaign. The budget is distributed evenly between queries like “buy tires Kyiv” and “what is wheel balancing.” Google doesn’t distinguish intent; it sees one campaign and one goal.
How to fix: Separate campaigns for each business goal. Product ads separately. Services separately. Brand separately. For one of our clients (a tire shop chain), after segmentation into Search, PMax, Display, and remarketing, the CR (conversion rate) for the seasonal campaign reached 21%.
2. No Geographic Segmentation
The business operates in three cities, but the campaign is set for all of Ukraine. Or conversely, a local business in Lviv shows ads in Odesa, where there is no delivery or pickup point.
How to fix: Set targeting for specific locations. If budgets and prices differ by region, create separate campaigns for each city. This allows you to control bids and budgets at the regional level. More on basic settings in our guide to setting up Google Ads from scratch ().
3. Ignoring Language Settings
The campaign is set only for Ukrainian, but part of the audience searches in Russian. Or conversely, you show ads to English-speaking users in Ukraine, even though your site is only in Ukrainian.
How to fix: Check the Languages report in Google Ads. Add the necessary languages in campaign settings. For Ukraine, a combination of Ukrainian and Russian usually works best.
4. Campaigns Without Clear Names or Logic
Names like “Campaign 1”, “Test”, “Copy of Campaign (2)”. After three months, even the author doesn’t remember what is where. When handing over the account to another specialist or agency – total chaos.
How to fix: Use a single naming format. For example: [Type] [Product] [Geo] – “[Search] Winter Tires – Kyiv”. This isn’t about aesthetics; it’s about the ability to filter and analyze quickly.
Conversions & Analytics: 4 Mistakes That Kill Optimization
Without correct conversions, Google Ads works blind. Bid algorithms (Smart Bidding) optimize campaigns for conversions. If there are no conversions or they are incorrect, the algorithm optimizes for the wrong thing.
5. Conversions Not Configured at All
This is the mistake we found in the auto parts store account. Three campaigns spent hundreds of thousands, yet Google had no signal of what a “successful action” meant for this business. Optimization went for clicks. There were many clicks. No sales.
How to fix: Set up conversions in GA4 (Google Analytics 4) and import them into Google Ads. Purchase, lead form, phone call – at least one real business action. More on the GA4 and Google Ads connection in our guide to setting up Google Ads ().
6. Tracking Micro-conversions Instead of Real Ones
Viewing the “Contacts” page. Scrolling to the bottom. Clicking the phone number (which could have been accidental). Google sees this as conversions and reports hundreds of “results.” The account owner looks at the report and thinks – everything works. But there are only five real leads a month.
How to fix: Separate conversions into primary and secondary. Primary (purchase, lead form) – for bid optimization. Secondary (view product, add to cart) – for observation only. In Google Ads, this is configured in the Goals section as “standard” and “observation.”
7. Missing E-commerce Tracking
An online store spends on ads but doesn’t see which campaign generates revenue. Without e-commerce tracking (purchase tracking) in GA4, there is no data on revenue, ROAS (Return on Ad Spend), or average order value per channel.
How to fix: Set up Enhanced E-commerce in GA4. Pass transaction_id, value, and items. After this, a “Conversion value” column will appear in Google Ads, allowing you to compare campaigns not by the number of conversions, but by profit.
8. GA4 and Google Ads Not Linked
GA4 collects data separately. Google Ads – separately. Remarketing audiences from GA4 are unavailable for campaigns. Conversions from GA4 are not imported. Website behavior data is not used for bid optimization.
How to fix: Link GA4 with Google Ads via Admin – Product Links. Enable automatic conversion import. Enable remarketing audiences in GA4 (Admin – Data Settings – Data Collection).
“In 8 out of 10 accounts that come for an audit, conversions are either not set up or the wrong things are being counted. Until this is fixed, the rest of the optimization makes no sense. That’s why we always start an audit with analytics.”
– Volodymyr Kashalaba, CEO Guild of Marketing
Keywords: 4 Mistakes That Drive Untargeted Traffic
If conversions are the foundation of algorithms, then keywords are the filter for who sees the ad at all. Incorrect keywords = incorrect audience.
9. Broad Match Without Negative Keywords
Broad match is a keyword type where Google shows ads for queries it deems related to your keyword. “Buy tires” might show for “free used tires,” “tires for kids drawings,” or “how tires are made documentary film.”
How to fix: Either use Phrase/Exact match for key queries, or definitely add negative keywords. Broad match works – but only with a developed list of exclusions and a Smart Bidding strategy.
10. Negative Keywords Missing or Not Updated
Negative keywords are queries for which ads should NOT be shown. “Free,” “used,” “DIY,” “how to do it yourself,” “term paper” – a basic list for a commercial account.
How to fix: Check the Search Terms report weekly for the first 2 months, then twice a month. Add irrelevant terms as negative keywords. Use shared negative keyword lists (Shared Library – Negative Keyword Lists) – one list for the whole account for general exclusions.
11. Duplicate Keywords Between Campaigns
Two or more campaigns compete for the same query. Google randomly chooses which campaign to show. The budget of the expensive campaign goes to queries that the cheaper one should handle.
How to fix: Divide semantics without overlaps. If an overlap is unavoidable, use cross-negative keywords. The “Brand Tires” campaign negatives general queries, while the “General Tires” campaign negatives brand terms.
12. Outdated Semantics
Keywords were added when the campaign was created a year ago and haven’t been touched since. New products appeared – no keywords for them. Old products were removed – keywords still burn the budget. Seasonality is ignored.
How to fix: Review semantics quarterly. Check current demand via Google Keyword Planner. Add new keywords for new products/services. Pause keywords with zero impressions in the last 90 days. More on CPC and keyword selection in our article on Google Ads ad costs ().
Ads: 4 Mistakes That Lower CTR and Quality Score
Google rates every ad for relevance, CTR (click-through rate), and landing page quality. This is Quality Score (QS). Higher QS – lower cost per click.
13. Too Few Headlines in RSA
RSA (Responsive Search Ad) allows adding up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions. Google combines them for each auction. Most advertisers add 3-5 headlines and 2 descriptions. Minimum.
How to fix: Fill all 15 headline slots. Use different angles: with price, with guarantee, with delivery, with brand, with specific benefit. Use PIN (pinning) only for mandatory elements – brand or disclaimer. Let Google test the rest.
14. Missing Extensions (Assets)
Sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, phone number – all of this free increases ad space on search. More space – higher CTR – lower click price.
How to fix: Add at least 4 sitelinks, 4 callouts, structured snippets, and a phone number. For e-commerce, also add price extensions and promotion extensions for sales.
15. Irrelevant Landing Page
The ad promises “Winter tires from $60” – the link leads to the homepage. The user doesn’t find winter tires in 3 seconds – they leave. Google sees this (bounce rate) and lowers Quality Score.
How to fix: Each ad group leads to a relevant page. “Winter tires” – to the winter tire catalog with filters. “Pneumatic suspension repair” – to the service repair page. Not to the homepage. Not to “About Us.”
16. Ads Not Tested
One ad works since the campaign was created. No one checks its effectiveness, writes alternatives, or looks at the Ad Strength metric.
How to fix: Launch at least 2 RSAs per ad group. Once a month, check: replace headlines with “Low” ratings with new variants. The Ad Strength goal is “Good” or “Excellent.”
Budget & Bidding: 3 Mistakes That Burn Money
Even with perfect structure and conversions – an incorrect budget or bidding strategy will undo everything.
17. Too Low Daily Budget
$10/day for a campaign with 200 keywords. The budget runs out by noon. After 12:00, the ad doesn’t show. The Smart Bidding algorithm doesn’t gather enough data for learning.
How to fix: For search campaigns, we recommend at least $15/day. For PMax (Performance Max) – from $25-$35/day. If the budget is limited, reduce the number of campaigns, but give each enough. Better one campaign with a normal budget than five starving ones. More on budgets in our article on Google Ads ad costs ().
18. Incorrect Bidding Strategy
Manual CPC on an account with hundreds of keywords. Or Target CPA on a new campaign without conversion history. Or Maximize Clicks when the goal is sales.
How to fix: For new campaigns – Maximize Conversions without a target CPA. After 30-50 conversions – switch to Target CPA with a CPA 10-20% higher than actual. For e-commerce with e-commerce tracking – Target ROAS. Manual CPC makes sense only for small accounts with 10-20 keywords where you control every click. More on bidding strategies and campaign types in our Performance Max guide ().
19. ROAS Not Tracked
The advertiser knows how much they spent. They don’t know how much they earned. Without ROAS (Return on Ad Spend), it’s impossible to evaluate if the ads are profitable.
How to fix: Set up value (conversion value) passing in GA4. For e-commerce – order amount. For services – average lead value. After this, ROAS will appear in Google Ads for each campaign, group, and keyword.
Feeds & Shopping: 3 Mistakes That Sink Product Ads
Shopping campaigns and Performance Max work based on a product feed (file with product catalog) in Google Merchant Center. Feed quality determines ad quality.
20. Dirty Feed
Products with empty descriptions. Photos on a white background in one format for the whole catalog – or worse, photos with watermarks. Prices not updated: $80 on the site, $70 in the feed. Google detects the discrepancy and blocks the product.
Product names – “Article ABC-123” instead of “Winter Tires Michelin Alpin 6 205/55 R16”. Google doesn’t know who to show this product to because the name contains no search queries.
How to fix: Product name = main search query + brand + characteristics. Descriptions – from 150 characters with keywords. Prices synchronized automatically (plugin or API). Stock updated at least once a day. Photos – high quality, no watermarks, different angles.
21. No Product Group Optimization
All products in one product group. High-margin and loss-making products get the same budget. Seasonal products are advertised all year round.
How to fix: Divide products by custom labels in Merchant Center. By margin: high margin, low margin. By seasonality: winter, summer. By availability: in stock, low stock. Separate groups – separate bids.
Діагностика в Merchant Center показує десятки або сотні помилок: missing GTIN (глобальний номер товару), invalid price, policy violation, missing shipping info. Кожна помилка – товар не потрапляє в рекламу.
22. Merchant Center with Errors
Diagnostics in Merchant Center shows dozens or hundreds of errors: missing GTIN (global product number), invalid price, policy violation, missing shipping info. Each error means the product doesn’t appear in ads.
How to fix: Check the Diagnostics tab in Merchant Center weekly. Priority: first errors, then warnings. For the Ukrainian market, typical problems: missing GTIN for no-name products (use identifier_exists = false), incorrect currency, discrepancy between site price and feed price.
More on Merchant Center settings on our page:
guildofmarketing.ua/en/registration-and-configuration-of-merchant-centre/.
How to Conduct an Audit Yourself: Minimal Checklist
A full audit is 50+ check points and 3-5 hours of specialist work. But there is a minimum you can check in 30 minutes.
Conversions
Open Google Ads – Goals – Conversions – Summary. Check: Is there at least one active conversion? Is it a real action (purchase, lead), not a micro-conversion? Are conversions imported from GA4? If the answer to any question is “no” – this is the first problem.
Search Terms
Google Ads – Keywords – Search Terms. Review the last 30 days. How many queries are irrelevant? If more than 20% – there is a problem with match types or negative keywords.
Budget
Are there campaigns with the status “Limited by budget”? If so – the campaign is under-serving impressions. Either increase the budget or narrow the targeting.
Ad Quality
Check Ad Strength for RSA. If “Poor” or “Average” – you need new headlines and descriptions. Check extensions – are sitelinks, callouts, and phone numbers added?
Merchant Center (for e-commerce)
How many errors in Diagnostics? How many products active vs disapproved? If disapproved is more than 10% – the catalog needs cleaning.
“An audit is not a one-time event. It’s a process. We recommend clients run the minimal checklist once a month, and a full audit once a quarter. The market changes, competitors don’t sleep, Google updates algorithms. An account that was perfect three months ago might now be wasting 30% of the budget.”
– Volodymyr Kashalaba, CEO Guild of Marketing
More about contextual advertising and Google Ads – on our service pages: guildofmarketing.ua/en/google-ads/ and guildofmarketing.ua/en/contextual-advertising/.
FAQ
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How often should I do a Google Ads audit?
Minimal checklist (conversions, search terms, budget) – once a month. Full audit with structure, feed, and analytics analysis – once a quarter. After significant changes (new site, new catalog, strategy change) – immediately.
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How much does a Google Ads audit cost?
Depends on the account size and number of campaigns. Guild of Marketing offers a free 30-minute express audit – we show key problems and growth points. Details at guildofmarketing.ua/en/audit-of-contextual-advertising/.
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Can I do an audit myself?
Basic – yes, using our checklist above. But there are nuances only a specialist with experience in dozens of accounts sees: campaign cannibalization, attribution issues, non-obvious budget leaks. For accounts with a budget from $750/month, we recommend a professional audit.
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What to do after an audit?
Prioritize: first conversions and analytics (they block optimization), then structure and keywords, lastly ads and extensions. Don't try to fix everything at once – change step-by-step and track results after each change.
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Why isn't my Google Ads working?
Most common reasons according to our statistics: conversions not set up (40% of cases), incorrect campaign structure (25%), untargeted traffic due to missing negative keywords (20%), dirty product feed (15%). Start checking with conversions – it's the most likely culprit.
Spending on Google Ads but unsure if the money is going where it should? We’ll check. Free 30-minute express audit: conversions, structure, keywords, feed. We’ll show where the fire is – and what to fix first.
Guild of Marketing – contextual advertising audit for e-commerce and service businesses. 300+ accounts, 13+ years of experience. Working across Ukraine.
Order an audit:
guildofmarketing.ua/en/audit-of-contextual-advertising/
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