Google Ads Not Working? Here's What to Audit First

"Google Ads isn't working" is one of the most common things I hear from business owners. But "not working" is a symptom, not a diagnosis. Sometimes the account is bleeding spend on irrelevant queries. Sometimes tracking is broken so badly that the algorithm cannot optimize. Sometimes the landing page just doesn't convert. The fix depends on where the real failure sits.

Here is a five-point audit sequence I run every time. It is ordered by impact — fix the first broken thing and stop before over-optimizing what is already fine.

Step 1: Verify conversion tracking

This is where most accounts silently break. If your conversion tracking is firing on page loads instead of form submits, counting duplicates, or disconnected from your CRM, the algorithm is optimizing toward garbage. Check that the conversion action fires once per real lead, that the value reflects actual business outcomes, and that the data matches what your CRM shows. I have seen accounts where Google reported 40 conversions in a month and the CRM showed 11 real leads. The gap was a misconfigured thank-you page that fired on every reload.

Step 2: Pull the search term report

Forget what keywords you are bidding on. What queries is Google actually matching you to? Open the search term report for the last 30 days and sort by spend. You will almost certainly find irrelevant terms eating budget — informational queries, competitor names, geographic mismatches, or entirely unrelated searches that broad match dragged in.

If more than 20% of spend is going to terms that could never convert, the account has a match type and negative keyword problem, not a budget problem. Tightening query control is one of the fastest ways to recover wasted spend.

Step 3: Check landing page alignment

Does the page match the ad promise?

Read your ad copy. Click through to the landing page. Does the headline echo the same problem? Does the page deliver on the ad's promise within three seconds? If the ad says "emergency plumber in Dallas" and the landing page is a generic services overview, you have an alignment problem that no amount of bid optimization will fix.

Is the conversion action obvious?

The visitor should not need to scroll or think to find the next step. Phone number visible, form above the fold, CTA language that matches intent. Test on mobile — that is where most service-business traffic lands.

Step 4: Build out negative keywords

Most underperforming accounts have thin or nonexistent negative keyword lists. Start with the search term report findings from Step 2 and add every irrelevant pattern you find. Then build proactive negatives: job-related terms, DIY terms, competitor brand names you do not want to bid on, geographic areas you do not serve.

• Add negatives at the campaign level for broad exclusions
• Use ad-group-level negatives for tighter query funneling
• Review and update the list weekly for the first month
• Create a shared negative keyword list for patterns that apply everywhere

Step 5: Evaluate bid strategy

Automated bidding strategies like Maximize Conversions or Target CPA need clean data to work. If your conversion tracking was broken (Step 1), the algorithm was learning from bad signals. After fixing tracking, consider resetting the bid strategy or switching to Manual CPC temporarily to regain control while fresh data accumulates.

Do not let Google push you into broad automated strategies on a small budget with thin conversion volume. You need at least 30–50 conversions per month for smart bidding to work reliably.

If your Google Ads account is underperforming, run these five checks in order. The answer is almost always in the first two steps. Fix tracking, control query matching, and align the landing page before you touch bids, budgets, or creative. That is how campaigns start converting again.