10 Google Ads Mistakes That Waste Your Budget (and How to Fix Them)
The 10 Google Ads mistakes I find most in account audits — from missing tracking to wrong location settings — and exactly how to fix each one.
Google Ads makes it easy to start spending money and surprisingly easy to waste it. When I audit accounts, I see the same mistakes again and again — and fixing them often lowers the cost per lead dramatically without increasing the budget.
Here are the ten most common ones, and how to fix each.
1. No (or broken) conversion tracking
Without tracking, Google’s bidding has nothing to optimise for, and you can’t tell good keywords from bad ones. Track form submissions, calls and purchases, and test them regularly. My GA4 conversion tracking guide explains how.
2. Ignoring the search terms report
Your keywords are not the same as the searches that trigger your ads. Review the search terms report weekly to discover irrelevant searches and new keyword ideas.
3. Not using negative keywords
Negative keywords stop your ads from showing for searches you don’t want — such as “free”, “jobs”, “course” or competitor brand names. Build a negative keyword list from day one and keep adding to it.
4. Broad match without guardrails
Broad match can find valuable new searches, but only when combined with reliable conversion tracking, smart bidding and negative keywords. Without those, it often spends heavily on loosely related searches. Start with phrase and exact match if your data is limited.
5. Search campaigns running on the Display Network
New Search campaigns can include the Google Display Network by default. That sends your budget to banner placements on websites and apps instead of search results. Unless you deliberately want it, switch this option off and run Display as a separate campaign.
6. Wrong location settings
The default location option can target people who are “in, regularly in, or have shown interest in” your area. For local services, choose Presence so your ads only show to people who are actually in your target locations.
7. Sending all traffic to the homepage
Someone searching for “emergency IT support” should land on a page about emergency IT support — not on a generic homepage. Dedicated landing pages improve conversion rates and Quality Score.
8. Too many keywords per ad group
When one ad group contains dozens of loosely related keywords, the ad can’t be relevant to all of them. Group closely related keywords together and write ads that match their intent.
9. Missing assets
Sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, calls and images (formerly called extensions) make ads larger and more informative, and often improve click-through rates — at no extra cost per click.
10. Auto-applying every recommendation
Some Google Ads recommendations are useful; others mainly increase spend. Review recommendations manually and turn off auto-apply for changes such as adding broad match keywords or raising budgets.
Bonus: changing everything too often
Smart bidding needs time and data to learn. Constant changes to budgets, bids and targeting keep campaigns in a learning phase. Make deliberate changes, then give them time to show results.
A quick Google Ads health check
- Are conversions tracked and firing correctly?
- When did someone last review the search terms report?
- Is the Display Network disabled in Search campaigns?
- Is location targeting set to “Presence”?
- Does each ad group send traffic to a relevant landing page?
- Are sitelinks, callouts and call assets active?
If you answered “no” or “not sure” to any of these, there is money to save.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take for Google Ads to work?
Campaigns can bring clicks on day one. Expect a few weeks of optimisation before costs and lead quality stabilise.
Should I manage Google Ads myself?
You can for small budgets if you have time to learn and review the account weekly. As spend grows, professional management usually pays for itself through lower costs per lead.
Is Google Ads better than SEO?
They do different jobs. Read Google Ads vs SEO for a full comparison.
Want a free Google Ads audit?
I’ll review your account for wasted spend, structure and tracking issues, and give you a clear action list. Learn more about my Google Ads management or request an audit.
