An independent paid media audit that shows where budget is being wasted
I review your ad accounts as an independent specialist, with no incentive to sell you a bigger media budget. The starting point is a free initial review: I look at the account and share what I find and what I would prioritise. If you need more depth, I run a full audit across structure, tracking, attribution and reconciliation with your CRM or store.
What I review
- Account structure, campaign settings and budget allocation
- Budget waste: irrelevant search terms, poor placements and overlapping audiences
- Targeting, audiences and exclusions on each platform
- Creative: formats, volume, fatigue and spend concentration
- Conversion tracking, tag setup and consent mode implementation
- Attribution settings and how they affect reported results
- Reconciliation of platform conversions against CRM or store data
- Landing pages: relevance, speed and conversion path
What the in-depth audit covers
- Search terms and negative keyword coverage across Google and Microsoft Ads
- Conversion actions, event deduplication, enhanced conversions and Conversions API setup
- Consent mode configuration and its effect on measured conversions
- Attribution windows and models compared across platforms
- Platform-reported conversions matched against HubSpot, Salesforce or store orders
- Bidding strategies and targets against available conversion volume
- Creative and audience performance by segment, with fatigue and overlap checks
- Landing page journeys from ad click through to conversion
What you get
- Free initial review: I look at the account and share what I find and would prioritise
- In-depth audit: findings across every area in scope, ranked by likely impact
- A prioritised list of fixes, with what to do first
- A walkthrough call to go through the findings and answer questions
Not included
- Implementing the fixes, unless agreed separately as ongoing management
- Building custom dashboards or data integrations, which are handled by Ad Ops Autopilot
- Creative production or website development
Pricing
The initial review is free. In-depth audits are priced to scope, depending on the platforms and the depth of tracking and CRM reconciliation involved.
How pricing worksPaid Media Audits: common questions
More in the FAQs.
What is the difference between the free review and an in-depth audit?
The free review is a look at your account, after which I share what I find and what I would prioritise. An in-depth audit goes further across tracking, attribution, CRM or store reconciliation and every platform in scope. It is priced to scope once I understand what needs covering.
What access do you need?
Read-only access to the ad accounts is usually enough for the initial review. For an in-depth audit I may also need access to analytics, your tag manager and CRM or store reporting. I only ask for what the scope requires.
Will the audit criticise our agency?
It focuses on the account, not on people. Some findings may be decisions your agency made for reasons worth hearing, so I note where context is needed. The aim is a clear list of what to fix and what to keep.
Can you implement the recommendations?
Yes, if you want ongoing management, on a flat monthly fee with a 30-day rolling agreement. Equally, many teams take the findings to their in-house team or existing agency. There is no obligation either way.
Related services
- Fractional Head of Paid Media Senior ownership of your paid media strategy, budget and channel mix, without a full-time hire. I set the plan, run the accounts and report against the numbers your finance team trusts.
- Google Ads Management Search, Shopping, Performance Max and Demand Gen, run by hand and measured against CRM pipeline or store revenue. Microsoft Ads included where it is worth running.
Related insights
- Google Ads Audit Checklist: 10 Things to Review Before Increasing Your Budget Ten areas to examine before pushing more budget into an account, with an emphasis on genuine business results.
- Why Increasing Your Google Ads Budget Doesn't Always Increase Sales Why additional ad spend can produce diminishing returns, and how to determine whether scaling is justified.
- Why Ad Platforms All Claim the Same Sale Why Google, Meta, TikTok and LinkedIn report more conversions than you made, and how to reconcile platform numbers against your CRM or Shopify revenue.
See what I'd change in your accounts
Request a free audit. I'll send a short written review of where money is being wasted and what I'd fix first. It's yours to keep either way.