Free audit

Free Google Ads audit

Give us read-only access and see where the budget goes. Your report arrives within 3 working days. No card, nothing to install, nothing in your account changes.

Request my free audit

A Google Ads audit is a check of your account for spend that isn't producing results, and for the settings that let it leak. Some people call it a health check. ClickGuardian's free audit checks conversion tracking, search terms, budgets and bidding, Quality Score and ad strength. It checks where and when your ads show, and the invalid clicks Google caught. Every figure comes from your own account's data.

Written by Dan Slay, Founder · Last updated 21 October 2026

What it checks

The checks you'd expect

Conversion tracking, search terms that cost money and never convert, budgets and bidding, Quality Score and ad strength, and the changes Google applied for you.

Conversion tracking.

Whether the conversions Google optimises for are real leads, calls and sales, or page views and duplicates.
Search terms.

The searches that cost money and didn't convert in 90 days, sorted by cost.
Budgets.

Campaigns Google says are limited by budget, and the share of searches your ads missed because the money ran out.
Bidding.

The bid strategy on each campaign, and whether Google reports it as learning, limited or misconfigured.
Quality Score.

How much of your Search spend sits on low Quality Score keywords, and which part is dragging it down.
Ad strength.

Ads and Performance Max asset groups Google rates Poor or Average, and the spend going through them.
Changes Google applied for you.

Recommendations set to apply automatically, and what they changed in the last 30 days.

What most audits miss

The ones most audits skip

Clicks from outside your area, Search Partners and Display expansion, app placements, overnight spend, and the invalid clicks Google caught and didn't charge you for.

Clicks from outside your area.

What you spend on people outside the places you target, and the setting that lets them in.
Search Partners and Display expansion.

What partner sites and the Display Network cost you, and how they convert next to Google Search.
App placements.

Spend on mobile app placements, and the share of Performance Max impressions shown in apps.
Overnight spend.

What you spend between midnight and 6am, and whether those clicks convert like daytime ones.
Invalid clicks Google caught.

The clicks Google counted as invalid and didn't charge you for, by campaign and by network.

The limit

The one no audit can do

Google doesn't tell advertisers the IP address behind a click, or which device it came from. Its click report has 19 fields and none of them is an IP address. Device only comes through as a type, such as mobile or desktop. So no audit that only reads your Google Ads account can show the bots and repeat clickers Google missed. If Google missed them, you paid for them.

Our 7-day trial shows what got through. It works differently from the audit. You add our tag to your site and a card at sign-up. You're not charged during the 7 days, and if you cancel before the trial ends you pay nothing. Once protection is on, it adds the IP addresses it blocks to your Google Ads exclusions.

Start the 7-day trial

Your report

What your report looks like

Every check gets one of three ratings: fine, worth a look, or fix this. Where Google's own cost data measures a problem, you get a figure. We call it spend to review, not wasted spend, because some of it converts. The total at the top adds up those measured figures. No projections and no annualising. Clicks Google didn't charge for are never added to it. Each check ends with one fix you can make yourself and a link to the guide that explains it.

Fine

Worth a look

Fix this

Three steps

How it works

01
Request your audit.

Your email, your website and a rough monthly spend.
02
Give us read-only access.

We email you the steps. In Google Ads you add audit@clickguardian.ai as a user with Read only access.
03
Get your report.

Within 3 working days of access. Then remove our access from the same screen.

Rather do it yourself? Use our 10-step Google Ads audit checklist.

Data sources

Every check, and where the data comes from

The audit only reads data Google already holds about your account. Here's what each check looks at.

Check	What it finds	Google Ads data used	Guide
The checks you'd expect
Conversion tracking	Primary conversion actions that aren't leads, calls or sales; two actions counting one event; actions with no conversions in 30 days; auto-tagging off	`conversion_action` (status, type, category, origin, primary for goal, included in conversions, counting type); `campaign` segmented by `segments.conversion_action`; `customer.auto_tagging_enabled`	Audit checklist, step 1
Search terms that cost money and never convert	Terms with no conversions in 90 days, costing more than 3 times the account's cost per conversion (or the top 20 by cost where the account has no conversions), including Performance Max	`search_term_view` over 90 days; `campaign_search_term_view` for Performance Max, which carries cost	Negative keywords guide
Budgets	Campaigns Google marks as limited by budget, Search impression share lost to budget, shared budgets	`campaign.primary_status_reasons` containing `BUDGET_CONSTRAINED`; `metrics.search_budget_lost_impression_share` (Google reports it from 0 to 90%, and anything higher shows as 90.01%); `campaign_budget` (amount, shared, recommended budget)	Limited by budget guide
Bidding setup	The bid strategy on each campaign; strategies Google reports as learning, limited or misconfigured; targets far from what the campaign achieves	`campaign.bidding_strategy_type`; `campaign.bidding_strategy_system_status` (for example `LEARNING_NEW`, `LIMITED_BY_DATA`, `MISCONFIGURED_CONVERSION_SETTINGS`); target CPA and target ROAS fields on the campaign, or on `bidding_strategy` for portfolio strategies	Budget running out guide
Quality Score	Spend-weighted Quality Score on Search keywords; share of Search spend on keywords scoring 1 to 4; the weakest of expected CTR, ad relevance and landing page experience. Google leaves Quality Score blank where it lacks data, and the report says how much spend that covers	`keyword_view` with `ad_group_criterion.quality_info` (quality score, predicted CTR, creative quality, post-click quality) and cost	Audit checklist
Ad strength	Responsive search ads and Performance Max asset groups rated Poor or Average, with the spend behind them. Ad strength is Google's rating of how varied the ad's text assets are. Treat it as guidance, not a result	`ad_group_ad.ad_strength` with cost; `asset_group.ad_strength`	Audit checklist
Changes Google applied for you	Recommendation types set to auto-apply, and the changes they made in 30 days	`recommendation_subscription` (type, status); `change_event` where the client type is `GOOGLE_ADS_RECOMMENDATIONS_SUBSCRIPTION`	Audit checklist, step 8
The ones most audits skip
Clicks from outside your area	Cost and conversions from people outside your targeted locations; campaigns on "Presence or interest", the default that lets them in	`user_location_view` where `targeting_location` is false; `campaign.geo_target_type_setting.positive_geo_target_type`	Location targeting guide
Search Partners and Display expansion	Search campaigns on Search Partners, with partner cost and conversion rate against Google Search; Search campaigns with Display expansion on	`campaign.network_settings.target_search_network` and `.target_content_network`; `campaign` segmented by `segments.ad_network_type`	Search Partners guide
App placements	Display and Video spend on mobile apps, with cost; share of Performance Max impressions on apps, with no money figure	`group_placement_view` filtered to mobile apps (has cost; Google may group low-traffic placements); `performance_max_placement_view` (impressions only)	Mobile app exclusions guide
Overnight spend	Spend from midnight to 6am in the account's time zone, against daytime conversion rate	`campaign` segmented by `segments.hour`; `customer.time_zone`	Audit checklist, step 4
Invalid clicks Google caught	Clicks Google counted as invalid and didn't charge for, as a rate, by campaign and by network	`metrics.invalid_clicks` and `metrics.invalid_click_rate`, which Google only reports at account and campaign level, not ad group; segmentable by `segments.ad_network_type`. Credits Google issues later for invalid activity show on billing, not in this metric, and the audit doesn't read them	Invalid clicks columns guide
The one no audit can do
Bots and repeat clickers Google missed	Not an audit check. It needs detection on your own site	`click_view` has 19 fields and no IP address; `segments.device` gives device type only; one day per query, 90 days back	How ClickGuardian works

Comparison

How it compares with WordStream's grader and Google's optimisation score

Compared on	ClickGuardian free audit	WordStream Google Ads Performance Grader	Google optimisation score
Price	Free	Free	Free, inside Google Ads
How it reads your account	You add us as a Read only user	Google sign-in, which WordStream describes as one-time read-only access	Already in your account
What the result means	Spend to review, measured from Google's cost data, check by check	A grade against WordStream's benchmarks, covering areas including Quality Score, wasted spend, impression share and account activity	Google's estimate of how well the account is set to perform, from 0 to 100%, based on its recommendations
Invalid clicks Google caught	Yes, by campaign and network	Not mentioned on its page	Not part of the score

Optimisation score is worth a look, but it measures how much of Google's advice you've acted on, not whether your spend works. Google says applying or dismissing a recommendation changes the score, and some recommendations raise budgets or widen targeting. WordStream's grader is a fair first pass on account structure and Quality Score. This audit starts from your spend and asks where it isn't working.

WordStream's and Google's pages checked 21 October 2026.

Your data

Access and privacy

What Read only access means. It's Google's own access level. A Read only user can view campaigns and run reports. They can't edit campaigns, change billing details or change anyone's access level. Google also lets Read only users see billing information and invite email-only users, who get reports by email. We don't use either.

What we keep. Your request, and the report we send you. We delete the account data we pulled for the audit once your report is sent, and keep the report for 60 days.

How to remove us. In Google Ads, go to Admin, then Access and security, and remove audit@clickguardian.ai. We remind you when the report goes out.

Our privacy policy covers the rest.

For agencies. Run it on a prospect's or client's account before the pitch. Check the account owner is happy for you to share it with us first. If you'd like to offer ClickGuardian to your clients, see the partner programme.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is a Google Ads audit?

A Google Ads audit is a check of a Google Ads account for spend that isn't producing results and for the settings that let it happen. A useful one covers conversion tracking, search terms, budgets and bidding, Quality Score and ad strength, where and when the ads show, and the invalid clicks Google caught. ClickGuardian's free audit runs those checks on your account and puts a figure on each problem where Google's own cost data measures it.

Is the audit really free?

Yes. There's no card and no plan to choose. ClickGuardian makes its money from click fraud protection, which is a separate paid product with a 7-day free trial. The trial needs a card at sign-up.

How long does it take?

We send your report within 3 working days of you giving us read-only access. Giving access is one short form in Google Ads, and we email you the steps.

Will it change anything in my Google Ads account?

No. You add us as a Read only user, which is Google's own access level for people who can view campaigns and run reports but can't edit campaigns, change billing or change other users' access. You can remove us whenever you like from Admin, then Access and security.

Is this a Google Ads grader?

It does the job people use a grader for, without boiling it down to one grade. A single grade hides which problems cost money. Instead, each check is rated fine, worth a look or fix this, with a spend figure wherever Google's cost data measures one.

How is it different from Google's optimisation score?

Optimisation score is Google's estimate of how well your account is set to perform, from 0 to 100%. It's based on the recommendations Google has for your account, and applying or dismissing a recommendation changes it. So it shows how much of Google's advice you've acted on, not whether your spend is working, and some of those recommendations raise budgets or widen targeting. This audit starts from your spend and asks where it isn't working.

How is it different from WordStream's Google Ads Performance Grader?

WordStream's grader is free and grades your account against its own benchmarks, covering areas including Quality Score, wasted spend, impression share and account activity. Its page doesn't mention invalid clicks. This audit covers the basics too, then adds the checks most audits skip: clicks from outside your area, Search Partners and Display expansion, app placements, overnight spend and the invalid clicks Google caught. We checked WordStream's page on 21 October 2026.

Can a Google Ads audit find click fraud?

Partly. An audit can show the invalid clicks Google caught and didn't charge you for, and the settings that expose an account to junk traffic, such as Search Partners, app placements and loose location targeting. It can't show the clicks Google missed. Google doesn't report the IP address behind a click, and it only gives the device type. Finding those clicks takes detection on your own website, which is what ClickGuardian's 7-day trial does. The trial needs a card at sign-up, and you aren't charged during it.

Can I audit a client's account?

Yes. Agencies and freelancers can request an audit on a client's or prospect's account, as long as the account owner is happy for you to share it with us. Someone with admin access to the account adds us as a Read only user. If you'd like to offer ClickGuardian to clients, see our partner programme.

Is it a full PPC audit, including Microsoft Advertising?

No. It reads Google Ads only. If you also run Microsoft Advertising, our Google Ads audit checklist explains how the same checks carry across. ClickGuardian's click fraud protection covers Microsoft Advertising on the Professional plan and above.

Find out where the budget goes

Free, read-only, and nothing in your account changes.

Request my free audit