[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":349},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-index":3},[4],{"id":5,"title":6,"body":7,"date":339,"description":340,"extension":341,"keyword":342,"meta":343,"navigation":344,"path":345,"published":344,"seo":346,"stem":347,"__hash__":348},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fgoogle-ads-budget-leaks.md","The 7 Places Google Ads Budget Leaks (And How to Find Them in 15 Minutes)",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":325},"minimark",[10,14,22,27,34,37,65,68,74,78,81,84,95,100,104,107,110,121,126,130,133,147,150,155,159,170,181,186,190,199,207,212,216,219,233,238,242,245,266,269,273,285,296,300,322],[11,12,13],"p",{},"Money goes out every day. Conversions trickle in — or don't. Most founders and agencies aren't failing because they ignored bid strategy. The budget is leaking in predictable places nobody checked this week.",[11,15,16,17,21],{},"Here is a ",[18,19,20],"strong",{},"15-minute audit order"," for the seven most common leaks, ranked by how often we see them when reviewing campaigns.",[23,24,26],"h2",{"id":25},"_1-search-terms-youre-still-paying-for","1. Search terms you're still paying for",[11,28,29,30,33],{},"Open the ",[18,31,32],{},"search terms report"," for the last 30 days. Sort by cost.",[11,35,36],{},"Look for:",[38,39,40,47,53,59],"ul",{},[41,42,43,46],"li",{},[18,44,45],{},"Informational queries"," — \"how to,\" \"what is,\" \"free,\" \"template\"",[41,48,49,52],{},[18,50,51],{},"Job seekers"," — \"careers,\" \"salary,\" \"hiring,\" \"jobs\"",[41,54,55,58],{},[18,56,57],{},"Competitor research"," — people comparing tools with no buy intent",[41,60,61,64],{},[18,62,63],{},"Wrong product"," — adjacent keywords that click but never convert",[11,66,67],{},"If 20–40% of spend sits on terms that never converted, that's your first fix: add negatives before you touch bids.",[11,69,70,73],{},[18,71,72],{},"Action:"," Export top 50 terms by spend. Flag any with spend > 2× your target CPA and zero conversions.",[23,75,77],{"id":76},"_2-keywords-with-clicks-but-no-conversions","2. Keywords with clicks but no conversions",[11,79,80],{},"The keywords view shows what you bid on; search terms show what people actually typed. Both matter.",[11,82,83],{},"High-spend keywords with many clicks and zero conversions often mean:",[38,85,86,89,92],{},[41,87,88],{},"Match type too loose (broad pulling junk)",[41,90,91],{},"Landing page mismatch",[41,93,94],{},"Offer wrong for the query",[11,96,97,99],{},[18,98,72],{}," Pause or tighten keywords that spent 3× target CPA with no conversions in 14+ days.",[23,101,103],{"id":102},"_3-broad-match-without-guardrails","3. Broad match without guardrails",[11,105,106],{},"Broad match can work — with a tight negative list and strong conversion data. Without that, it becomes a leak.",[11,108,109],{},"Signs broad is hurting you:",[38,111,112,115,118],{},[41,113,114],{},"Search terms report full of unrelated queries",[41,116,117],{},"CTR looks fine but CVR is terrible",[41,119,120],{},"One broad keyword eating 30%+ of campaign spend",[11,122,123,125],{},[18,124,72],{}," Move worst performers to phrase or exact. Add campaign-level negatives from search term mining.",[23,127,129],{"id":128},"_4-broken-or-misconfigured-conversion-tracking","4. Broken or misconfigured conversion tracking",[11,131,132],{},"Before optimizing anything, confirm:",[38,134,135,138,141,144],{},[41,136,137],{},"Primary conversion action matches what you care about (purchase, lead, signup)",[41,139,140],{},"Test conversions fire on mobile and desktop",[41,142,143],{},"No duplicate tags inflating counts",[41,145,146],{},"Google Ads conversions align with CRM or analytics (within reason)",[11,148,149],{},"We've seen accounts spend thousands with a broken thank-you page event. The campaign \"looked\" fine in the dashboard.",[11,151,152,154],{},[18,153,72],{}," Submit a test lead or purchase. Verify it appears in Google Ads within a few hours.",[23,156,158],{"id":157},"_5-device-and-location-waste","5. Device and location waste",[11,160,161,162,165,166,169],{},"Segment by ",[18,163,164],{},"device"," and ",[18,167,168],{},"location",":",[38,171,172,175,178],{},[41,173,174],{},"Mobile CPA 2× desktop with same landing page → speed or UX issue on mobile",[41,176,177],{},"Spend in regions you don't serve → exclude or bid down",[41,179,180],{},"\"Presence\" vs \"interest\" targeting pulling remote clicks",[11,182,183,185],{},[18,184,72],{}," Compare CPA by device and top 10 locations. Cut or bid-adjust the outliers.",[23,187,189],{"id":188},"_6-budget-pacing-and-limited-by-budget-campaigns","6. Budget pacing and limited-by-budget campaigns",[11,191,192,193,165,196,169],{},"Check ",[18,194,195],{},"search impression share",[18,197,198],{},"budget lost",[38,200,201,204],{},[41,202,203],{},"Campaigns limited by budget may be starving winners",[41,205,206],{},"Campaigns pacing 100%+ before noon can burn budget on low-intent hours",[11,208,209,211],{},[18,210,72],{}," Note campaigns with high conversion rate but low impression share due to budget — those are scale candidates, not cut candidates.",[23,213,215],{"id":214},"_7-landing-page-mismatch-after-the-click","7. Landing page mismatch after the click",[11,217,218],{},"High CTR + low CVR often means the ad promise doesn't match the page:",[38,220,221,224,227,230],{},[41,222,223],{},"Slow load (especially mobile)",[41,225,226],{},"Headline doesn't match ad copy",[41,228,229],{},"Form too long or broken",[41,231,232],{},"Wrong page for the keyword intent",[11,234,235,237],{},[18,236,72],{}," Pick your top 3 keywords by spend. Click your own ad on phone and desktop. Time the load. Count form fields.",[23,239,241],{"id":240},"the-15-minute-weekly-routine","The 15-minute weekly routine",[11,243,244],{},"When you only have a quarter hour, run this order:",[246,247,248,254,260],"ol",{},[41,249,250,253],{},[18,251,252],{},"Tracking"," — one test conversion (2 min)",[41,255,256,259],{},[18,257,258],{},"Search terms"," — top 20 by spend, flag junk (8 min)",[41,261,262,265],{},[18,263,264],{},"Top campaign by spend"," — device + location CPA split (5 min)",[11,267,268],{},"Fix what costs the most first. Don't start with bid tweaks.",[23,270,272],{"id":271},"when-manual-review-breaks-down","When manual review breaks down",[11,274,275,276,279,280,284],{},"One account? This routine works weekly. ",[18,277,278],{},"Twelve client accounts?"," You need triage — which campaign is bleeding ",[281,282,283],"em",{},"today"," — not a deeper spreadsheet.",[11,286,287,288,295],{},"That's what we built ",[289,290,294],"a",{"href":291,"rel":292},"https:\u002F\u002Fmyr.ad",[293],"nofollow","myr"," for: read-only Google Ads sync, agents that flag wasted spend and conversion drops, and plain-English reports ranked by impact.",[23,297,299],{"id":298},"try-it-on-your-account","Try it on your account",[38,301,302,312],{},[41,303,304,311],{},[18,305,306],{},[289,307,310],{"href":308,"rel":309},"https:\u002F\u002Fmyr.ad\u002Ftools\u002Fdeep-analysis",[293],"Free deep analysis"," — upload a CSV or connect one campaign; get a diagnostic report in minutes.",[41,313,314,321],{},[18,315,316],{},[289,317,320],{"href":318,"rel":319},"https:\u002F\u002Fmyr.ad\u002Fsignup",[293],"14-day trial"," — agents monitor campaigns ongoing; you approve every change.",[11,323,324],{},"What's the worst leak you've found in a Google Ads account — and how long had it been running before someone caught it?",{"title":326,"searchDepth":327,"depth":327,"links":328},"",2,[329,330,331,332,333,334,335,336,337,338],{"id":25,"depth":327,"text":26},{"id":76,"depth":327,"text":77},{"id":102,"depth":327,"text":103},{"id":128,"depth":327,"text":129},{"id":157,"depth":327,"text":158},{"id":188,"depth":327,"text":189},{"id":214,"depth":327,"text":215},{"id":240,"depth":327,"text":241},{"id":271,"depth":327,"text":272},{"id":298,"depth":327,"text":299},"2026-07-12","Most wasted Google Ads spend hides in search terms, tracking gaps, and match types — not bid strategy. A practical 15-minute audit for founders and agencies.","md","Google Ads wasted spend",{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fgoogle-ads-budget-leaks",{"title":6,"description":340},"blog\u002Fgoogle-ads-budget-leaks","91mXMwj7rzUBRP9M8Lnjr9VS2dsWggPnzPGoWTCgafY",1784137532948]