7 places wasted Google Ads spend hides
Wasted spend is rarely one big mistake. It hides in seven predictable places. Here's where to look and how to quantify it.
Most accounts do not have a wasted-spend problem because of one catastrophic error. They have seven small leaks that compound. This is where to look, roughly in order of how much they usually cost.
1. Irrelevant search terms
The classic. Broad match, phrase match and DSAs surface queries that were never going to convert. Pull the search terms report and sort by cost with zero conversions.
2. Broad match with no negatives
Broad match is powerful with disciplined negatives and expensive without them. If you enabled broad match and never revisited negatives, that is the leak.
3. Duplicate keywords across ad groups
The same keyword in multiple ad groups creates internal competition, raises CPC and splits conversion data so no ad group has enough signal.
4. Underperforming geographic segments
Spend often concentrates in locations that convert poorly — mismatched service areas, low-intent regions or regions you cannot serve.
5. Device imbalances
Mobile clicks are cheap; mobile conversions sometimes are not. If mobile CPA is multiples of desktop CPA and you have not adjusted bids, you are subsidising clicks that do not convert.
6. Time-of-day waste
Ads running when no one can answer the phone, or during hours that historically never convert, are pure waste for call-driven businesses.
7. Performance Max brand cannibalisation
Performance Max can absorb brand queries you would otherwise get cheaply, inflating apparent PMax ROAS while raising blended cost. Check brand terms separately.
Quantifying the waste
For each leak, estimate monthly waste as:
wasted spend = spend in segment × (1 − segment conversion rate / account conversion rate)This is a rough but useful prioritisation. A segment converting at half the account rate is roughly half-wasted.
Fixing it
- Add negatives systematically, not once.
- Restructure duplicate keywords into a single ad group per theme.
- Apply geo and device bid adjustments from observed data.
- Schedule ads to match business hours for call-driven campaigns.
- Add brand exclusions or a separate brand campaign for PMax.
MyAd scans for all seven automatically and reports the projected monthly savings for each. Try the free audit to see what your account is leaking.
Run this on your own account
MyAd audits Google Ads and Meta Ads automatically, ranks findings by projected savings and can apply the fixes with your approval.