Almost every Google Ads account is leaking money somewhere. The spend isn't obviously wrong, it's buried in reports nobody opens often enough. Here are the five places waste hides, in the order they usually cost the most, and how to stop each one.
1. Search terms with clicks and no conversions
Your keywords are what you bid on; your search terms are what people actually typed. Broad and phrase match mean those two lists are never identical, and the gap is where budget disappears. Open the search terms report, sort by cost, and look for terms with real spend and zero conversions over a meaningful window (say 60 to 90 days).
These are rarely random. You'll see the wrong intent ("free", "jobs", "diy", "how to"), the wrong product, or the wrong location. Each one is a candidate for a negative keyword.
2. Broad match running without guardrails
Broad match paired with Smart Bidding can work well, but only when your conversion tracking is solid and your negative keyword lists are doing their job. Without both, broad match quietly widens your reach into searches you'd never choose to pay for. If you've turned broad match on, treat your negative lists as a living document, not a one off.
3. Brand and non brand sharing the same budget
Brand searches convert cheaply and make blended numbers look great, which hides expensive, underperforming non brand spend sitting in the same campaign. Separate them so you can see (and fund) each on its own merits.
4. Budget capped campaigns that actually work
The opposite of waste, but just as costly: a profitable campaign hitting its daily budget and dropping impressions. Check "search impression share lost to budget." If a campaign that's converting well is losing 15%+ to budget, you're leaving cheap conversions on the table, a small lift usually pays for itself.
5. Performance Max spending on brand
Performance Max will happily serve to people already searching your brand, traffic you'd win anyway, now bought twice. Watch how much PMax spends on branded queries and add brand exclusions where it makes sense.
A simple monthly rhythm
- Sort the search terms report by cost; add negatives for zero conversion spend.
- Check impression share lost to budget on your best campaigns.
- Compare brand vs non brand performance separately.
- Review what Performance Max is spending on branded searches.
None of this is complicated. The hard part is doing it consistently, which is exactly the part that's easy to automate.