Free Google Ads Audit
Find out what your campaigns are actually doing — and what they should be doing instead.
By Peter Empson, Google Premier Partner — 25+ years in paid search.
What a real Google Ads audit looks like
Most businesses running Google Ads have never had an independent review of their account. They're relying on Google's own recommendations — which are designed to increase spend, not improve returns — or on reports from their agency that are built to show things in the best possible light.
A proper audit looks at the account with fresh eyes and asks a simple question: is every pound being spent in the best possible way? In my experience, the answer is almost always no — and the gaps are rarely trivial.
I offer a free audit to any business that's currently running Google Ads. There's no obligation, no sales process attached to it, and I'll give you my honest assessment of what I find — including if I think your account is genuinely well-managed and there's little I could add.
What the audit covers
A thorough Google Ads audit isn't a checklist exercise. It's a structured analysis of how your account is structured, how it's being managed, and whether it's aligned with what your business actually needs. Here's what I look at:
Campaign structure and architecture
How your campaigns are organised tells you a lot about how well the account will perform. I look at whether your structure supports the bidding strategies you're using, whether campaigns are cannibalising each other, and whether the segmentation makes sense given your goals.
Bidding strategy and conversion tracking
Smart Bidding only works as well as the conversion data it's trained on. I check whether your conversion tracking is accurate, whether you have enough conversion volume for the strategies you're using, and whether your target ROAS or CPA targets are set appropriately.
Wasted spend and negative keyword coverage
This is where most accounts have the most to gain. I review search term reports to identify irrelevant traffic, look at whether negative keyword lists are being actively maintained, and identify where budget is being consumed without a realistic chance of returning value.
Ad copy and asset quality
I review your Responsive Search Ads, Performance Max assets, and any other ad formats in use. This includes headline and description coverage, ad strength, whether you're testing meaningfully, and whether your copy is actually aligned with what people are searching for.
Performance Max and Shopping
For e-commerce accounts, I look specifically at how your Performance Max campaigns are structured, what product feed quality looks like, and whether your Shopping campaigns are performing efficiently. This is an area where I see significant issues in most accounts I review.
Missed opportunities
Beyond fixing what's wrong, I look at where there's untapped potential — keywords you're not bidding on, audiences you're not reaching, or campaign types that could complement what you're already doing.
What you get from the audit
At the end of the audit, I'll give you a clear, honest summary of what I've found. This isn't a report designed to justify a fee — it's a practical assessment that tells you what's working, what isn't, and what I'd prioritise if I were taking over the account.
- An honest assessment of your current account performance against what should be achievable
- The specific issues I've found, ranked by likely impact
- Clear recommendations for what should be fixed first
- An honest view of whether your account is being well-managed, and whether there's a genuine case for change
If after the audit you decide you'd like me to take over management, we can discuss that. But the audit itself comes with no strings attached.
Who this is right for
The audit is most valuable for businesses in one of these situations:
- You're with an agency and performance has plateaued. You're getting reports but not sure if they reflect reality, or you suspect there are gains being left on the table.
- You've been managing your own campaigns. You know Google Ads reasonably well but haven't had an independent set of eyes on the account for a long time.
- You're spending significant budget and want a second opinion. At £5,000+ per month, even a 15% improvement is worth material money.
- You're considering switching providers. An audit gives you a baseline — and ensures you're not being told the same story by a new agency that the old one was telling.
- Performance has dropped and you can't identify why. This is exactly the kind of diagnostic work I do well.
Request your free audit
To get started, I need read-only access to your Google Ads account. The quickest way is to email me directly — I'll send you the access request and we can arrange a brief call to go through what I find.
No forms, no automated processes. Just an email to me directly:
Frequently asked questions
Is the audit really free?
Yes. I offer a free audit because it's the fastest way to demonstrate the value of what I do. If your account is performing well and there's nothing significant to improve, I'll tell you that. If there are issues, you'll have a clear picture of them — and you can decide what to do with that information.
How long does the audit take?
It depends on the complexity of your account, but typically I'll complete an initial review within 3–5 working days of getting access. I'll then arrange a call to walk through the findings — usually 30–45 minutes.
Do I need to give you full access to my account?
Read-only access is sufficient for the audit. I'll send you a standard Google Ads access request — it only requires you to accept an invite in your Google Ads account. You can revoke access at any time.
Will you try to sell me something?
I'll give you the audit findings honestly. At the end, if it makes sense for both of us, I may suggest that we discuss an ongoing management relationship — but that's a conversation, not a sales pitch. If I don't think I can add significant value to your account, I'll tell you that directly.
My account is managed by an agency — can you still audit it?
Yes. In fact, this is one of the most common situations. You're entitled to access your own Google Ads account and to invite anyone you choose to review it. Your agency doesn't need to be involved or informed.
What size accounts do you audit?
I work with accounts spending from £2,000 to £200,000+ per month. The audit process is the same at any scale, though what I focus on varies — at lower spend levels I'm looking at structural efficiency; at higher spend levels there are usually more sophisticated opportunities around bidding strategy, feed optimisation, and campaign segmentation.