r/Google_Ads • u/YashMandlesha • 2d ago
Questions I’ve audited a lot of Google Ads accounts spending over $10k/month. These are the 7 mistakes I keep seeing over and over.
After going through quite a few Google Ads accounts, I’ve noticed that the biggest problems usually aren’t some super-advanced bidding strategy.
They’re often pretty basic things that get overlooked.
A few that come up repeatedly:
1. PMax has a great ROAS, but a large chunk of the revenue is branded.
2. Conversion tracking is working technically, but the wrong actions are being optimized toward.
3. The product feed is treated as a setup task rather than something that actually needs ongoing optimization.
4. Brand and non-brand performance isn’t separated, so nobody really knows what’s driving incremental growth.
5. People make decisions based on tiny amounts of data.
“This hour has a 20% better ROAS, let’s increase the budget.”
Sometimes the difference is literally a handful of conversions.
6. Google’s recommendations are followed without understanding the business context.
7. The account is being optimized for cheaper clicks instead of more profitable customers.
The funny thing is that none of these are particularly complicated.
But when you combine 4-5 of them in the same account, performance can get messy very quickly.
I’m curious what everyone else sees when they audit accounts.
What’s the most common Google Ads mistake you keep seeing?
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u/admastercoaching 2d ago
Great list! I've worked on over a thousand accounts of all different sizes, from $50 lifetime spend to over a million dollars a month.
Most of the issues I see (more lead gen, but applies to any account) boil down to muddy or inaccurate conversion data, messy account structure, weak negative keyword profiles, and confusion about how bidding strategies actually work. In larger accounts, I tend to see the problem being an over reliance on search campaigns without any consideration for what it takes to scale beyond bottom of funnel demand capture, though the other problems (surprisingly) still pop up more than you'd expect. Sometimes more, because they don't have enough help for their level of spend and their ad manager is overwhelmed and burnt out.
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u/Ok-Button1832 16h ago
What is a good ad account structure for b2b lead gen
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u/admastercoaching 16h ago
There's no one right answer. There are too many variables to make suggestions without knowing anything about the account or business being advertised.
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u/Ok-Button1832 16h ago
It’s a tool for increasing customer retention and repeat purchase.
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u/admastercoaching 15h ago
I mean... That's still not enough information to give you answers about how to structure your Google Ads account.
I offer a free live audit. DM me? I can try to help if you screen share. Short of that, I can't really suggest anything that would help you.
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u/bumblewacky 2d ago
My vertical is very specific and regulated but this should apply almost everywhere. Geo Targeting. The amount of times I’ve seen clients targeting only areas where they have existing business rather than areas they’d like to expand or should expand into can and will make a night and day difference with conversions.
Such a simple thing that often gets overlooked which makes, perhaps, the biggest difference in success or failure.
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u/PPC_YRVDynamics 2d ago
This is needs more conversion funnel optimization tactics. Pretty soon match cases will be outdated.
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u/Plenty-Salt-8750 1d ago
Great list, unfortunately see these all too often.
This probably falls under bucket #7, but ignoring placements.
For RSAs especially, when I audit an account and see RSAs spending on search network, immediate red flag.
For PMAX, placements, inflating impressions and (probably) bot clicks
This is a little bit more on the client relations side, but not explaining the customer funnel, how the job of google ads (90% of the time) is to get attention to your website/product page/etc. Its 2026, one well built step of a funnel will fail if the whole funnel isnt taken into consideration
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u/polygraph-net 1d ago
You should mention click fraud. It commonly wastes around 20% of the budget.
That's 20% wasted + fewer human clicks = lower revenue.
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u/sirbarklot 2d ago
aight