--- name: "google-ads-audit" description: "Audit a Google Ads account across measurement, search terms, structure, settings, ads, and bidding; rank material risks and prepare approval-gated fixes. Use when a media buyer needs a defensible Google Ads audit before changing the account." license: MIT compatibility: "The checklist works in Agent-Skills-compatible clients. Live Google Ads reads and supported changes require Adspirer and network access." metadata: author: "Adspirer" version: "1.0.0" adspirer_category: "ad-ops-optimization" adspirer_source: "https://www.adspirer.com/skills/google-ads-audit" adspirer_connection_url: "https://adspirer.ai/sign-up" adspirer_primary_keyword: "google ads audit" adspirer_secondary_keywords: "google ads audit checklist,ppc audit google ads,google ads account audit" adspirer_launch_wave: "wave-1" adspirer_trigger: "Audit my Google Ads account and prioritize the issues before we change anything." adspirer_kind: "skill" adspirer_level: "operator" adspirer_platforms: "google" adspirer_supported_clients: "claude,claude-code,chatgpt,codex,cursor,gemini,windsurf" adspirer_summary: "Audit Google Ads with evidence, rank the risks that matter, and prepare a safe remediation plan before account changes." adspirer_story: "A new client has granted access to a Google Ads account that has been running for two years. Before anyone changes bids or budgets, the team needs a defensible audit of tracking, waste, structure, ads, and settings." adspirer_connections_required: "adspirer" adspirer_connections_optional: "ga4" adspirer_page_type: "workflow-skill" adspirer_tool_component: "google-ads-audit" adspirer_seo_title: "Google Ads Audit Checklist + AI Skill | Adspirer" adspirer_seo_h1: "Google Ads Audit: Checklist, Priorities, and AI Skill" adspirer_meta_description: "Run a free Google Ads audit checklist, find measurement and wasted-spend risks, and download an AI skill for evidence-backed account reviews." --- # Google Ads Audit A new client has granted access to an account that has been running for two years. There are dozens of campaigns, three primary conversions, and no shared change log. This skill gathers the evidence first, ranks what could materially affect decisions, and prepares fixes without quietly touching the account. ## First-run onboarding 1. Read `references/client-setup.md` only when the user needs installation or connector help. The public checklist can be used without a connection; a live audit requires authenticated, read-only Google Ads access through Adspirer. 2. Confirm the exact account ID, manager hierarchy, date range, currency, business goal, primary conversions, and known recent changes. 3. Explain that GA4 is an optional reconciliation source. Missing optional data lowers confidence; it does not justify invented conclusions. 4. Begin read-only. Connecting an account or requesting an audit never authorizes edits. ## Use this when - A new account needs review before an agency handover or optimization sprint. - Performance changed and the team needs account-wide evidence rather than isolated suggestions. - Measurement, search-term waste, structure, settings, creative, or bidding may be undermining results. This is a Google Ads-specific audit, not a cross-platform performance report or automatic account cleanup. ## What you need - Read access to the intended Google Ads account through Adspirer, plus account ID, dates, currency, and business goal. - The conversion actions that should guide bidding and reporting. - Optional GA4 evidence, margin or lead-quality context, and a list of recent changes. ## Procedure 1. Lock the audit frame: account, dates, comparison period, goals, conversion source, and requested decision. Record missing inputs before inspecting performance. 2. Pull a read-only inventory and load `references/platform-rules.md`. Review measurement first, then campaign settings and structure, search terms and exclusions, ads and assets, bids and budgets, disapprovals, and change history. 3. Quantify each finding using the same date and currency basis. Separate verified defects, material opportunities, watch items, and unknowns; do not confuse platform recommendations with audit evidence. 4. Rank issues by expected business impact, evidence strength, urgency, and reversibility. Use `assets/output-template.md` for the audit record and name the owner of every non-Adspirer fix. 5. Re-read live state before presenting a remediation batch. Show the exact proposed changes, expected effect, risk, and rollback approach, then wait for explicit approval. ## Fixed checks - Verify account ID, currency, timezone, networks, locations, languages, and conversion goals. - Reconcile totals and distinguish Google Ads attribution from GA4, CRM, or finance outcomes. - Inspect search terms, negatives, brand treatment, disapprovals, budget limits, and recent changes with dated evidence. - Never describe a recommendation score or automated suggestion as proof that a change is beneficial. - Keep fixes small enough to attribute and reverse. ## Stop conditions - Success: the audit inventory, prioritized findings, evidence, owners, and approval-ready remediation plan are complete. - No-op: no material issue is supported; report healthy checks and the next monitoring date. - Blocked: the account, conversion definitions, date basis, or required read access cannot be verified. - Needs-approval: any change to campaigns, ads, budgets, bids, targeting, negatives, conversions, or status awaits explicit approval. ## Approval boundaries Inventory, reporting, reconciliation, and drafting are read-only. After explicit approval, Adspirer may create or update only the supported Google Ads campaigns and ads named in the approved batch. GTM or GA4 implementation, site code, billing, policy appeals, feed repairs, and asset production require the appropriate person or connector. ## Example prompts - "Audit Google Ads account 123-456-7890 for the last 90 days against the prior 90 days. Show findings before fixes." - "Check whether conversion setup or search-term waste could explain the CPA increase. GA4 is unavailable, so label the confidence limit." - "Turn the audit into a prioritized remediation batch, but do not change the account until I approve each item." ## Cannot do - Do not audit the wrong customer account through an unconfirmed manager hierarchy. - Do not infer tracking health from conversion volume alone or fabricate unavailable search-term, change-history, GA4, or CRM data. - Do not promise outcomes from proposed fixes. - Do not apply live changes without explicit approval. ## What you get A Google Ads audit that ties each priority to dated evidence, shows what is healthy as well as what is risky, and hands the team an owner-specific remediation plan with explicit approval gates.