A independent, no-fluff audit of your Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, and Performance Max account — showing exactly where budget is being wasted, what's broken, and what to fix first. No guesswork, no vague advice. Just a prioritized list you can act on immediately.
Most Google Ads and Microsoft Ads accounts run for years without a single independent review. Small settings drift, tracking quietly breaks, and Smart Bidding keeps optimizing toward whatever signal it's been given — right or wrong. A proper PPC audit is how you find out before it costs you another quarter of budget.
| Factor | Typical Un-Audited Account | After Drow Digital Audit + Fixes |
|---|---|---|
| Wasted Monthly Spend | ~31% of budget | Under 8% |
| Avg. Quality Score | 5.2 / 10 | 7.8 / 10 |
| Search Impression Share | 61% | 84%+ |
| Conversion Tracking Accuracy | ~78% | 99%+ |
| Avg. CTR (Search) | 3.1% | 4.6%+ |
| Negative Keyword List Size | Under 50 terms | 300+ terms, reviewed monthly |
| CPA Trend (90 Days) | Rising | Falling |
| Last Full Account Review | 14+ months ago | Ongoing quarterly cadence |
A real audit goes account-wide. Each of these nine areas gets its own line-by-line review, not a five-minute glance at the overview dashboard.
The right audit depends on where your account actually is — a brand-new account needs a different review than one that's been running for three years and just started slipping.
Keyword and audience settings are where most PPC waste actually hides. We break the review into five categories so nothing gets skimmed over.
How budget is allocated and how bids are set determines who actually sees your ads and what each customer costs you. We check both against what the account's data can actually support.
The most common starting strategy. We check whether it's converting efficiently or simply spending the full budget regardless of lead quality.
Requires a realistic, data-backed target. We check whether the number in use reflects 90-day actuals or was guessed at setup and never revisited.
Only works if conversion values are accurate. We verify revenue values are actually passed through correctly before trusting this number at all.
Optimizes for traffic, not conversions. We flag this immediately if it's still active on a campaign meant to drive sales or leads.
A hybrid between manual and automated bidding. We check whether it's a deliberate current choice or a legacy setting nobody's revisited in years.
Full control, but only useful with active daily management. We check whether anyone is actually adjusting these bids or if they've sat untouched for months.
| Business Type | Min. Viable Daily Budget | Healthy Search Impr. Share | Target Quality Score | Key Metric We Check |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E-Commerce (Small) | $30/day | 65%+ | 7+ | ROAS |
| E-Commerce (Mid/Large) | $150/day | 75%+ | 7+ | ROAS + New Customer Rate |
| Lead Gen (Service Biz) | $40/day | 70%+ | 6+ | Cost Per Lead |
| Local Business | $20/day | 80%+ | 6+ | Calls / Direction Requests |
| B2B / High-Ticket | $75/day | 60%+ | 6+ | CPL + Lead Quality |
| SaaS / Software | $60/day | 65%+ | 6+ | CPA + Trial-to-Paid Rate |
Every other finding in this audit depends on your conversion data being trustworthy. Tracking Verification (also called Conversion Tracking Audit) is where we always start, since it's the layer every optimization decision gets built on.
Cookie consent choices and browser restrictions (Safari's ITP, Firefox ETP) mean a meaningful share of real conversions never get reported back to Google Ads at all — which makes your numbers look worse than actual performance and can quietly mislead Smart Bidding.
Smart Bidding and Performance Max run on machine learning that optimizes toward whatever signal it's given — accurate or not. Our job in the audit is verifying the inputs, not just trusting the outputs.
Automation isn't the problem — unverified automation is. Smart Bidding will scale whatever behavior your tracking rewards, and Performance Max will spend across Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Discover, and Maps without much visibility unless someone goes looking.
Accounts with fully verified tracking and properly configured automation see 23% lower CPA and higher conversion volume compared to accounts running PMax and Smart Bidding on unverified settings.
| Tool | Category | What It Does | Best For | Price | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optmyzr | Audit & Automation | Automated PPC account audits, rule-based bid management, and Quality Score tracking across multiple accounts at once. | Agencies, Multi-Account | $208–$830/mo | ★★★★★ |
| SEMrush / SpyFu | Competitor Research | Competitor keyword and ad copy intelligence, historical Auction Insights, and market share estimates. | Competitive Audits | $30–$140/mo | ★★★★☆ |
| Adalysis | Ad Copy & QS | Automated ad testing analysis, Quality Score component breakdowns, and n-gram level search term analysis. | Ad Copy Audits | $99–$399/mo | ★★★★☆ |
| Google Ads Editor | Bulk Review | Free desktop tool for offline, bulk review of an entire account's structure without touching any live settings. | Every Audit | Free | ★★★★★ |
| Looker Studio | Reporting | Custom audit dashboards pulling Google Ads, GA4, and Search Console data into a single visual deliverable. | Reporting | Free | ★★★★★ |
| Supermetrics | Data Extraction | Pulls raw account data into spreadsheets for deeper manual analysis than native UI reports allow. | Deep-Dive Audits | $39–$739/mo | ★★★★☆ |
| WordStream Grader | Free Scorecard | Free automated health-check scorecard — a useful first signal, though far shallower than a manual audit. | Quick Checks | Free–$264/mo | ★★★☆☆ |
| Google Tag Assistant | Tracking QA | Browser-based tag debugging tool that verifies GTM and gtag events are firing correctly on the live site. | Tracking Audits | Free | ★★★★★ |
Responsive Search Ads give you 15 headlines and 4 descriptions to work with. Most accounts use a fraction of that space effectively — this is where we check exactly what's missing.
The vast majority of visitors leave without converting on their first visit. Remarketing is how you bring them back — but only if the lists exist, are sized correctly, and are actually being applied to active campaigns.
We check whether this specific segment exists as its own list with a sensible lookback window, rather than being buried inside a generic 90-day visitor list.
Reviewing whether active audience lists overlap so heavily with each other that they aren't really adding incremental reach — just duplicated targeting.
Checking upload cadence and hashing format compliance — many Customer Match lists are uploaded once at setup and never refreshed again.
Confirming recent purchasers or converters are actually excluded from prospecting campaigns, rather than quietly competing against themselves.
Checking whether newer audience types feeding Demand Gen and PMax carry real signal, or were simply left on default settings since launch.
Reviewing whether Google Ads and other ad platforms share suppression lists, so recently converted customers aren't chased across every channel at once.
Most accounts make changes on gut feel and call it optimization. We check for actual evidence of structured testing — and flag where a real experiment should have run but never did.
Most PPC dashboards are full of numbers that look fine in isolation. Our audit focuses on eight metrics that actually connect to wasted spend and real account health.
| Campaign | Spend | Quality Score | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search — Brand | $840 | 9.1 | Healthy |
| Shopping — Core Feed | $2,100 | N/A | Feed Issues |
| Performance Max | $3,400 | N/A | Needs Review |
| Search — Generic | $1,650 | 4.8 | Action Needed |
| Display — Remarketing | $520 | N/A | Healthy |
No hidden fees, no subscription trap. Whether you want a fast health check or a full multi-account teardown, our packages are built to match wherever your account actually is.
Additional page reviewed beyond the included 3.
Extended Auction Insights and ad copy teardown of up to 5 competitors.
We make the recommended changes ourselves instead of handing off the list.
A lightweight monthly re-check so issues get caught within weeks, not another year.
Here's our eight-step process, laid out clearly so you always know exactly what's happening and why — most Complete Audits run start to finish within 7 business days.
A sample of recent PPC audit findings across industries, budgets, and platforms — proof that a proper account review pays for itself many times over.
The questions we hear most often before someone books a PPC audit — answered plainly, with no sales spin.
A basic automated PPC audit is free and takes about 24 hours to deliver. A complete manual audit with a full prioritized action plan typically runs $497–$1,497 depending on account size and number of platforms, and that fee is usually credited toward management if you move forward with ongoing optimization.
A quick health check takes 24–48 hours. A Complete Audit covering account structure, keywords, tracking, bidding, and competitors takes 5–7 business days, since it requires at least 30–90 days of historical data to identify real patterns instead of noise.
Read-only access is all that's required — never edit access. We ask for read-only user access at the Google Ads account or MCC level, plus view access to Google Analytics 4 and Google Tag Manager if conversion tracking needs reviewing.
Across 1,200+ audits, we find an average of 31% of monthly spend going to non-converting search terms, poorly targeted placements, or broken conversion actions. Accounts that have never been audited before average closer to 38–42% recoverable waste.
The audit is a neutral, data-based diagnostic, not a performance review of any person. It's common to find both real issues and things being done correctly. We report findings against benchmarks and best practice, and leave judgments about who's responsible up to you.
Yes. Our Complete PPC Audit covers Google Ads as the primary platform, with Microsoft (Bing) Ads included at no extra charge when it's linked to the same account. Amazon Ads and other retail media audits are available as an add-on.
It's usually the first thing we check, because every other finding in the audit depends on trustworthy data underneath it. In our experience, roughly one in three accounts has at least one broken, duplicated, or misconfigured conversion action skewing every decision built on top of it.
A written report plus a live walkthrough call covering every finding, screenshots of the exact issues inside your account, a prioritized action list ranked by expected impact and effort, and a summary spreadsheet you can hand to whoever manages the account day to day.
No. The audit is a standalone, no-obligation deliverable. Many clients use it to hold their current agency accountable, brief a new in-house hire, or simply understand their account before making a change — there's no requirement to continue with Drow Digital afterward.
That happens, and it's a good outcome — it means your current setup is in solid shape. Even then, we typically still surface two or three smaller efficiency opportunities, and you walk away with independent confirmation that the account is being run properly, which has its own value.
From North America and Europe to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America — Drow Digital has audited Google Ads and Microsoft Ads accounts for businesses across 50+ countries. Find your industry and market below.
We audit Google Ads and Microsoft Ads accounts for e-commerce and retail brands worldwide — from Shopify stores to large multi-category retailers. Our review covers Performance Max asset groups, Shopping feed health, and retargeting audience quality to find exactly where ROAS is being left on the table.
Tell us about your account. Our PPC audit specialists will review your current Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, or Performance Max campaigns and show you exactly where budget is being wasted and where the opportunity is. Free, no obligation, delivered within 24 hours.
Free audit. Read-only access. No commitment.
A PPC audit is a structured, line-by-line review of a Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, or Performance Max account, covering account structure, keyword and search term quality, Quality Score, conversion tracking accuracy, bid strategy fit, and budget efficiency. Unlike a routine monthly report, an audit is diagnostic — it explains root causes rather than just restating what happened.
Across 1,200+ accounts audited, Drow Digital finds an average of 31% of monthly spend recoverable through fixes identified in the audit — most commonly irrelevant search terms, broken conversion tracking, and Smart Bidding strategies working from inaccurate data.
As an independent PPC audit provider, Drow Digital reviews every layer of a paid search account: campaign and account structure, keyword and negative keyword coverage, ad copy and Ad Strength, Quality Score components, conversion tracking and attribution, bid strategy and budget pacing, Performance Max asset groups and Shopping feed health, audience and remarketing lists, and landing page conversion fit.
We audit accounts across e-commerce, SaaS, local and home services, healthcare, real estate, and B2B/manufacturing — in markets across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.
Whoever manages your account day to day — an agency, a freelancer, or an in-house team — has an obvious incentive to report the account favorably. An independent PPC audit has no stake in that story; it reports what the data actually shows, whether that's good news or not.
Clients who act on their audit findings see an average 23% reduction in CPA within 60 days, without increasing budget — the gains come from cutting wasted spend and fixing broken inputs, not from spending more to compensate.
