[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":348},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-\u002Fblog\u002Fgoogle-ads-budget-leaks":3},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"date":338,"description":339,"extension":340,"keyword":341,"meta":342,"navigation":343,"path":344,"published":343,"seo":345,"stem":346,"__hash__":347},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fgoogle-ads-budget-leaks.md","The 7 Places Google Ads Budget Leaks (And How to Find Them in 15 Minutes)",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":324},"minimark",[9,13,21,26,33,36,64,67,73,77,80,83,94,99,103,106,109,120,125,129,132,146,149,154,158,169,180,185,189,198,206,211,215,218,232,237,241,244,265,268,272,284,295,299,321],[10,11,12],"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.",[10,14,15,16,20],{},"Here is a ",[17,18,19],"strong",{},"15-minute audit order"," for the seven most common leaks, ranked by how often we see them when reviewing campaigns.",[22,23,25],"h2",{"id":24},"_1-search-terms-youre-still-paying-for","1. Search terms you're still paying for",[10,27,28,29,32],{},"Open the ",[17,30,31],{},"search terms report"," for the last 30 days. Sort by cost.",[10,34,35],{},"Look for:",[37,38,39,46,52,58],"ul",{},[40,41,42,45],"li",{},[17,43,44],{},"Informational queries"," — \"how to,\" \"what is,\" \"free,\" \"template\"",[40,47,48,51],{},[17,49,50],{},"Job seekers"," — \"careers,\" \"salary,\" \"hiring,\" \"jobs\"",[40,53,54,57],{},[17,55,56],{},"Competitor research"," — people comparing tools with no buy intent",[40,59,60,63],{},[17,61,62],{},"Wrong product"," — adjacent keywords that click but never convert",[10,65,66],{},"If 20–40% of spend sits on terms that never converted, that's your first fix: add negatives before you touch bids.",[10,68,69,72],{},[17,70,71],{},"Action:"," Export top 50 terms by spend. Flag any with spend > 2× your target CPA and zero conversions.",[22,74,76],{"id":75},"_2-keywords-with-clicks-but-no-conversions","2. Keywords with clicks but no conversions",[10,78,79],{},"The keywords view shows what you bid on; search terms show what people actually typed. Both matter.",[10,81,82],{},"High-spend keywords with many clicks and zero conversions often mean:",[37,84,85,88,91],{},[40,86,87],{},"Match type too loose (broad pulling junk)",[40,89,90],{},"Landing page mismatch",[40,92,93],{},"Offer wrong for the query",[10,95,96,98],{},[17,97,71],{}," Pause or tighten keywords that spent 3× target CPA with no conversions in 14+ days.",[22,100,102],{"id":101},"_3-broad-match-without-guardrails","3. Broad match without guardrails",[10,104,105],{},"Broad match can work — with a tight negative list and strong conversion data. Without that, it becomes a leak.",[10,107,108],{},"Signs broad is hurting you:",[37,110,111,114,117],{},[40,112,113],{},"Search terms report full of unrelated queries",[40,115,116],{},"CTR looks fine but CVR is terrible",[40,118,119],{},"One broad keyword eating 30%+ of campaign spend",[10,121,122,124],{},[17,123,71],{}," Move worst performers to phrase or exact. Add campaign-level negatives from search term mining.",[22,126,128],{"id":127},"_4-broken-or-misconfigured-conversion-tracking","4. Broken or misconfigured conversion tracking",[10,130,131],{},"Before optimizing anything, confirm:",[37,133,134,137,140,143],{},[40,135,136],{},"Primary conversion action matches what you care about (purchase, lead, signup)",[40,138,139],{},"Test conversions fire on mobile and desktop",[40,141,142],{},"No duplicate tags inflating counts",[40,144,145],{},"Google Ads conversions align with CRM or analytics (within reason)",[10,147,148],{},"We've seen accounts spend thousands with a broken thank-you page event. The campaign \"looked\" fine in the dashboard.",[10,150,151,153],{},[17,152,71],{}," Submit a test lead or purchase. Verify it appears in Google Ads within a few hours.",[22,155,157],{"id":156},"_5-device-and-location-waste","5. Device and location waste",[10,159,160,161,164,165,168],{},"Segment by ",[17,162,163],{},"device"," and ",[17,166,167],{},"location",":",[37,170,171,174,177],{},[40,172,173],{},"Mobile CPA 2× desktop with same landing page → speed or UX issue on mobile",[40,175,176],{},"Spend in regions you don't serve → exclude or bid down",[40,178,179],{},"\"Presence\" vs \"interest\" targeting pulling remote clicks",[10,181,182,184],{},[17,183,71],{}," Compare CPA by device and top 10 locations. Cut or bid-adjust the outliers.",[22,186,188],{"id":187},"_6-budget-pacing-and-limited-by-budget-campaigns","6. Budget pacing and limited-by-budget campaigns",[10,190,191,192,164,195,168],{},"Check ",[17,193,194],{},"search impression share",[17,196,197],{},"budget lost",[37,199,200,203],{},[40,201,202],{},"Campaigns limited by budget may be starving winners",[40,204,205],{},"Campaigns pacing 100%+ before noon can burn budget on low-intent hours",[10,207,208,210],{},[17,209,71],{}," Note campaigns with high conversion rate but low impression share due to budget — those are scale candidates, not cut candidates.",[22,212,214],{"id":213},"_7-landing-page-mismatch-after-the-click","7. Landing page mismatch after the click",[10,216,217],{},"High CTR + low CVR often means the ad promise doesn't match the page:",[37,219,220,223,226,229],{},[40,221,222],{},"Slow load (especially mobile)",[40,224,225],{},"Headline doesn't match ad copy",[40,227,228],{},"Form too long or broken",[40,230,231],{},"Wrong page for the keyword intent",[10,233,234,236],{},[17,235,71],{}," Pick your top 3 keywords by spend. Click your own ad on phone and desktop. Time the load. Count form fields.",[22,238,240],{"id":239},"the-15-minute-weekly-routine","The 15-minute weekly routine",[10,242,243],{},"When you only have a quarter hour, run this order:",[245,246,247,253,259],"ol",{},[40,248,249,252],{},[17,250,251],{},"Tracking"," — one test conversion (2 min)",[40,254,255,258],{},[17,256,257],{},"Search terms"," — top 20 by spend, flag junk (8 min)",[40,260,261,264],{},[17,262,263],{},"Top campaign by spend"," — device + location CPA split (5 min)",[10,266,267],{},"Fix what costs the most first. Don't start with bid tweaks.",[22,269,271],{"id":270},"when-manual-review-breaks-down","When manual review breaks down",[10,273,274,275,278,279,283],{},"One account? This routine works weekly. ",[17,276,277],{},"Twelve client accounts?"," You need triage — which campaign is bleeding ",[280,281,282],"em",{},"today"," — not a deeper spreadsheet.",[10,285,286,287,294],{},"That's what we built ",[288,289,293],"a",{"href":290,"rel":291},"https:\u002F\u002Fmyr.ad",[292],"nofollow","myr"," for: read-only Google Ads sync, agents that flag wasted spend and conversion drops, and plain-English reports ranked by impact.",[22,296,298],{"id":297},"try-it-on-your-account","Try it on your account",[37,300,301,311],{},[40,302,303,310],{},[17,304,305],{},[288,306,309],{"href":307,"rel":308},"https:\u002F\u002Fmyr.ad\u002Ftools\u002Fdeep-analysis",[292],"Free deep analysis"," — upload a CSV or connect one campaign; get a diagnostic report in minutes.",[40,312,313,320],{},[17,314,315],{},[288,316,319],{"href":317,"rel":318},"https:\u002F\u002Fmyr.ad\u002Fsignup",[292],"14-day trial"," — agents monitor campaigns ongoing; you approve every change.",[10,322,323],{},"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":325,"searchDepth":326,"depth":326,"links":327},"",2,[328,329,330,331,332,333,334,335,336,337],{"id":24,"depth":326,"text":25},{"id":75,"depth":326,"text":76},{"id":101,"depth":326,"text":102},{"id":127,"depth":326,"text":128},{"id":156,"depth":326,"text":157},{"id":187,"depth":326,"text":188},{"id":213,"depth":326,"text":214},{"id":239,"depth":326,"text":240},{"id":270,"depth":326,"text":271},{"id":297,"depth":326,"text":298},"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":5,"description":339},"blog\u002Fgoogle-ads-budget-leaks","91mXMwj7rzUBRP9M8Lnjr9VS2dsWggPnzPGoWTCgafY",1784137533346]