Google Ads

Google Ads

Expert-level guidance for Google Ads — auditing, building, and optimizing search, shopping, display, video, Performance Max, and demand gen campaigns.

Install

git clone https://github.com/thatrebeccarae/claude-marketing.git && cp -r claude-marketing/skills/google-ads ~/.claude/skills/

Core Capabilities

Campaign Auditing & Optimization

• Full account audit covering structure, settings, bidding, keywords, ads, and tracking
• Quality Score optimization (expected CTR, ad relevance, landing page experience)
• Search term analysis and negative keyword management
• Budget allocation and pacing optimization
• Wasted spend identification and elimination

Campaign Types

• Search — Text ads on Google Search and Search Partners
• Shopping — Product Listing Ads from Google Merchant Center
• Performance Max — AI-driven cross-channel (Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube, Discover, Gmail, Maps)
• Display — Banner/responsive ads across Google Display Network (3M+ sites)
• Video — YouTube ads (in-stream, bumper, discovery, shorts)
• Demand Gen — Visual-first ads on YouTube, Discover, Gmail
• App — App install and engagement campaigns

Bidding Strategies

• Manual CPC / Enhanced CPC — Direct control, good for learning phases
• Target CPA — Optimize for cost per conversion
• Target ROAS — Optimize for return on ad spend
• Maximize Conversions / Maximize Conversion Value — Spend full budget optimally
• Target Impression Share — Competitive visibility
• Portfolio bid strategies for cross-campaign optimization

Audience Strategy

• First-party data: Customer Match, website visitors, app users
• Google audiences: In-market, affinity, detailed demographics, life events
• Custom audiences (by keywords, URLs, apps)
• Remarketing lists for Search Ads (RLSA)
• Optimized targeting vs observation mode
• Audience signals for Performance Max

Tracking & Measurement

• Google Tag (gtag.js) / Google Tag Manager implementation
• Conversion actions: website, phone calls, app, import, store visits
• Enhanced conversions (first-party data matching)
• Offline conversion import (GCLID / enhanced conversions for leads)
• Google Ads Data Hub and GA4 integration
• Attribution models: data-driven (default), last-click, cross-channel

Key Benchmarks

Account Structure Best Practices

Account
├── Brand Search (Exact + Phrase match)
│   ├── Pure Brand
│   └── Brand + Product/Service modifiers
├── Non-Brand Search (by theme/intent)
│   ├── High-Intent / Bottom-Funnel keywords
│   ├── Mid-Funnel / Consideration keywords
│   └── Category / Broad keywords
├── Competitor Search (optional)
│   └── Competitor brand terms
├── Shopping (Standard)
│   ├── Top Performers (high priority)
│   ├── Category groups (medium priority)
│   └── Catch-All (low priority)
├── Performance Max
│   ├── Asset Groups by product category or audience theme
│   └── Audience signals per group
├── Display (if separate from PMax)
│   ├── Remarketing
│   └── Prospecting (in-market / custom)
├── YouTube / Video
│   ├── Brand awareness (bumper, in-stream)
│   └── Action / conversions (in-feed, in-stream)
└── Demand Gen
    └── Visual-first prospecting

Workflow: Full Account Audit

When asked to audit a Google Ads account:

1. Conversion Tracking — Verify Google Tag, conversion actions, enhanced conversions, attribution model 2. Account Structure — Campaign organization, naming conventions, settings consistency 3. Budget & Bidding — Allocation across campaigns, bid strategy alignment with goals, target efficiency 4. Keyword Strategy — Match types, Quality Scores, search term relevance, negative keyword lists 5. Ad Copy — RSA asset quality (headlines, descriptions), pin usage, ad strength, extensions 6. Shopping / Merchant Center — Feed quality, disapprovals, competitive metrics, listing groups 7. Performance Max — Asset group quality, audience signals, URL expansion settings, cannibalizing Search 8. Audiences — First-party lists, remarketing, Customer Match, observation vs targeting 9. Landing Pages — Load speed, message match, conversion rate by landing page 10. Competitive Landscape — Auction insights, impression share losses (budget vs rank) 11. Recommendations — Prioritized by expected revenue impact with effort estimate

Performance Max Guidance

PMax-specific audit checklist:

• Asset group organization (themes, not catch-all)
• All asset types provided (text, image, video, logo)
• Audience signals configured (not left empty)
• URL expansion settings reviewed (exclude irrelevant pages)
• Search themes added for intent signals
• Brand exclusions applied
• Not cannibalizing high-performing standard Shopping/Search campaigns
• Conversion goals aligned (avoid mixing lead gen and ecommerce)

How to Use This Skill

Ask me questions like:

• "Audit my Google Ads account and find wasted spend"
• "My Quality Scores are low — help me diagnose and fix"
• "Design a Performance Max campaign structure for my ecommerce store"
• "Should I use Target CPA or Target ROAS?"
• "Help me build a negative keyword strategy"
• "My CPA is increasing — what should I investigate?"
• "Plan a YouTube advertising strategy for brand awareness"
• "Review my Google Merchant Center feed for issues"

For detailed Google Ads API reference, script templates, and advanced configurations, see REFERENCE.md.

Hard Rules

These constraints must never be violated in recommendations:

1. Never recommend Broad Match without Smart Bidding. Broad Match + Manual CPC = uncontrolled spend. 2. 3x Kill Rule: Flag any campaign/ad group with CPA >3x target for immediate pause or restructuring. 3. Enhanced Conversions must be recommended if not already active. Foundation for data quality. 4. Consent Mode v2 required for any account serving EU/EEA traffic. 5. Negative keyword lists required — minimum 3 themed lists (Competitor, Jobs, Free, Irrelevant). 6. Never recommend edits during active learning phase — wait for learning to complete or reset intentionally. 7. Brand and non-brand must be separated into distinct campaigns with independent budgets and bidding. 8. PMax must have brand exclusions when a brand Search campaign exists.

Scored Audit

When performing an account audit, load skills/shared/scoring-system.md for the weighted scoring algorithm and CHECKS.md for the 74-check Google Ads audit checklist. Produce a health score (0-100, grade A-F) with Quick Wins and a prioritized action plan.

Google Ads Audit Checklist

<!-- Total Checks: 74 | Categories: 6 | See skills/shared/scoring-system.md for weights and algorithm -->

Quick Reference

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Conversion Tracking (Weight: 25%)

G-CT1: Primary Conversion Action Exists [Critical, 5.0]

• Check: At least 1 Primary Conversion Action configured and receiving data
• Pass: Primary action exists and received conversions in last 30 days
• Warning: Primary action exists but 0 conversions in last 30 days
• Fail: No Primary Conversion Action configured
• Quick Win: Yes (5 min)

G-CT2: Enhanced Conversions Active [Critical, 5.0]

• Check: Enhanced conversions enabled for primary conversion actions
• Pass: Enhanced conversions active and verified
• Warning: Enabled but not verified (data quality unknown)
• Fail: Not enabled
• Quick Win: Yes (5 min)

G-CT3: Server-Side Tracking [High, 2.5]

• Check: Server-side GTM or Google Ads API conversion import is active
• Pass: Server-side tracking deployed and verified
• Warning: Planned but not yet deployed
• Fail: No server-side tracking (browser-only)
• Quick Win: No

G-CT4: Consent Mode v2 (EU/EEA) [Critical, 5.0]

• Check: Consent Mode v2 implemented for accounts serving EU/EEA traffic
• Pass: Advanced Consent Mode active with proper CMP integration
• Warning: Basic Consent Mode only
• Fail: Not implemented despite EU/EEA targeting
• N/A: Account does not target EU/EEA
• Quick Win: No

G-CT5: Conversion Window Matches Sales Cycle [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Conversion window is appropriate for the business model
• Pass: Window matches sales cycle (7d ecommerce, 30-90d B2B, 30d lead gen)
• Warning: Default 30d without validation against actual sales cycle
• Fail: Window clearly mismatched (e.g., 7d window on 90d B2B sales cycle)
• Quick Win: Yes (2 min)

G-CT6: Macro vs Micro Conversion Separation [High, 2.5]

• Check: Only macro conversions (Purchase, Lead, Signup) set as Primary for bidding
• Pass: Primary actions are macro conversions only; micro events are Secondary
• Warning: Some micro events (AddToCart, PageView) set as Primary
• Fail: All events including micro conversions set as Primary (pollutes bidding)
• Quick Win: Yes (5 min)

G-CT7: Attribution Model [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Data-driven attribution (DDA) is selected
• Pass: DDA active
• Warning: Last Click selected intentionally (documented reason)
• Fail: Legacy rule-based model still active (deprecated Sep 2025)
• Quick Win: Yes (2 min)

G-CT8: Conversion Value Assignment [High, 2.5]

• Check: Conversion values are assigned for bid optimization
• Pass: Dynamic values for ecommerce; value rules configured for lead gen
• Warning: Static values assigned (better than nothing)
• Fail: No conversion values assigned
• Quick Win: No

G-CT9: No Duplicate Conversion Counting [Critical, 5.0]

• Check: GA4 import and native Google Ads tag are not counting the same conversion
• Pass: No duplicate counting between GA4 and Google Ads
• Warning: —
• Fail: Both GA4 import and native tag counting same conversion action
• Quick Win: Yes (10 min)

G-CT10: GA4 Linked and Flowing [High, 2.5]

• Check: GA4 property linked to Google Ads with data flowing correctly
• Pass: Linked, audiences shared, data consistent
• Warning: Linked but data discrepancies present
• Fail: Not linked
• Quick Win: Yes (5 min)

G-CT11: Google Tag Firing Correctly [Critical, 5.0]

• Check: gtag.js or GTM container firing on all relevant pages
• Pass: Tag firing correctly on all pages
• Warning: Firing on most pages (>90%) but missing some
• Fail: Tag missing or broken on key conversion pages
• Quick Win: No

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Wasted Spend / Negatives (Weight: 20%)

G-WS1: Search Term Review Recency [Critical, 5.0]

• Check: Search terms have been reviewed recently
• Pass: Reviewed within last 14 days
• Warning: Reviewed within last 30 days
• Fail: Not reviewed in >30 days
• Quick Win: Yes (15 min)

G-WS2: Negative Keyword Lists Exist [Critical, 5.0]

• Check: Themed negative keyword lists are configured
• Pass: ≥3 themed lists (e.g., Competitor, Jobs/Careers, Free/Cheap, Irrelevant)
• Warning: 1-2 lists exist
• Fail: No negative keyword lists
• Quick Win: Yes (10 min)

G-WS3: Account-Level Negatives Applied [High, 2.5]

• Check: Negative keyword lists are applied broadly
• Pass: Lists applied at account level or to all relevant campaigns
• Warning: Applied to some campaigns only
• Fail: Lists exist but not applied
• Quick Win: Yes (5 min)

G-WS4: Irrelevant Search Term Spend [Critical, 5.0]

• Check: Percentage of spend going to irrelevant search terms
• Pass: <5% of spend on irrelevant terms (last 30 days)
• Warning: 5-15% on irrelevant terms
• Fail: >15% on irrelevant terms
• Quick Win: No (requires ongoing management)

G-WS5: Broad Match + Smart Bidding Pairing [Critical, 5.0]

• Check: No Broad Match keywords running on Manual CPC
• Pass: All Broad Match keywords use Smart Bidding (Target CPA, Target ROAS, Max Conversions)
• Warning: —
• Fail: Broad Match + Manual CPC active (uncontrolled spend)
• Quick Win: Yes (5 min — switch to Smart Bidding or Exact Match)

G-WS6: Close Variant Pollution [High, 2.5]

• Check: Exact/Phrase match keywords not triggering irrelevant close variants
• Pass: Close variant matches are relevant (>90% relevant)
• Warning: Minor close variant issues (10-20% irrelevant)
• Fail: Significant irrelevant close variant spend (>20%)
• Quick Win: No

G-WS7: Search Term Visibility [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Percentage of search term spend that is visible (not hidden by Google)
• Pass: >60% of search term spend is visible
• Warning: 40-60% visible
• Fail: <40% visible (limited optimization ability)
• Quick Win: No

G-WS8: Zero-Conversion Keywords [High, 2.5]

• Check: Keywords with high click volume but zero conversions
• Pass: No keywords with >100 clicks and 0 conversions
• Warning: 1-3 such keywords
• Fail: >3 keywords with >100 clicks and 0 conversions
• Quick Win: Yes (pause or restructure — 10 min)

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Account Structure (Weight: 15%)

G-ST1: Campaign Naming Convention [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Consistent naming pattern across campaigns
• Pass: Consistent pattern (e.g., [Brand]_[Type]_[Geo]_[Target])
• Warning: Partially consistent
• Fail: No naming convention
• Quick Win: No

G-ST2: Ad Group Naming Convention [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Ad group names follow campaign naming pattern
• Pass: Consistent with campaign naming
• Warning: Partially consistent
• Fail: No naming convention
• Quick Win: No

G-ST3: Single Theme Ad Groups [High, 2.5]

• Check: Each ad group targets one keyword theme
• Pass: ≤10 keywords per ad group, all same theme
• Warning: 11-20 keywords with consistent theme
• Fail: 20+ unrelated keywords (theme drift)
• Quick Win: No

G-ST4: Campaign Count Per Objective [High, 2.5]

• Check: Campaign proliferation is controlled
• Pass: ≤5 campaigns per funnel stage/objective
• Warning: 6-8 campaigns per objective
• Fail: >8 campaigns per objective (fragmented data, slow learning)
• Quick Win: No

G-ST5: Brand vs Non-Brand Separation [Critical, 5.0]

• Check: Brand and non-brand keywords in separate campaigns
• Pass: Fully separated with independent budgets and bidding
• Warning: —
• Fail: Brand and non-brand mixed in same campaign
• Quick Win: Yes (10 min to create new campaign and move keywords)

G-ST6: PMax Present for Eligible Accounts [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Performance Max tested for accounts with conversion history
• Pass: PMax active with proper asset groups
• Warning: PMax tested but paused
• Fail: No PMax tested despite eligibility (ecom with feed, or 50+ conversions/month)
• Quick Win: No

G-ST7: Search + PMax Brand Overlap [High, 2.5]

• Check: Brand exclusions configured in PMax when brand Search campaign exists
• Pass: Brand exclusions active in PMax
• Warning: Partial brand exclusions
• Fail: No brand exclusions in PMax alongside brand Search (cannibalization)
• Quick Win: Yes (5 min)

G-ST8: Budget Allocation Matches Priority [High, 2.5]

• Check: Top-performing campaigns are not budget-constrained
• Pass: Top performers not limited by budget
• Warning: Minor budget constraints on top performers
• Fail: Top performers severely budget-limited while low performers have excess budget
• Quick Win: Yes (5 min — reallocate)

G-ST9: Campaign Daily Budget Pacing [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Campaigns not exhausting budget too early in the day
• Pass: No campaigns hitting cap before 6 PM
• Warning: 1-2 campaigns hitting cap early
• Fail: Multiple campaigns capped before noon
• Quick Win: Yes (5 min)

G-ST10: Ad Schedule Configured [Low, 0.5]

• Check: Ad scheduling set for businesses with operating hours
• Pass: Schedule configured matching business hours
• Warning: —
• Fail: No schedule despite clear business hours (e.g., local service)
• N/A: 24/7 businesses
• Quick Win: Yes (5 min)

G-ST11: Geographic Targeting Method [High, 2.5]

• Check: Location targeting uses "People in" not "People in or interested in"
• Pass: "People in" selected for local/regional businesses
• Warning: —
• Fail: "People in or interested in" for local business (wasted spend on out-of-area)
• Quick Win: Yes (2 min)

G-ST12: Network Settings [High, 2.5]

• Check: Search Partner and Display Network settings are intentional
• Pass: Search Partners and Display Network disabled for Search campaigns (unless intentional)
• Warning: Search Partners ON but monitored
• Fail: Display Network ON for Search campaign (unintentional)
• Quick Win: Yes (2 min)

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Keywords & Quality Score (Weight: 15%)

G-KW1: Account-Wide Average Quality Score [High, 2.5]

• Check: Impression-weighted average Quality Score across account
• Pass: Average QS ≥7
• Warning: QS 5-6
• Fail: QS ≤4
• Quick Win: No

G-KW2: Critical Low QS Keywords [Critical, 5.0]

• Check: Percentage of keywords with QS ≤3
• Pass: <10% of keywords with QS ≤3
• Warning: 10-25% with QS ≤3
• Fail: >25% with QS ≤3
• Quick Win: No

G-KW3: Expected CTR Component [High, 2.5]

• Check: Expected CTR Quality Score sub-component
• Pass: <20% of keywords with "Below Average" expected CTR
• Warning: 20-35% Below Average
• Fail: >35% Below Average
• Quick Win: No

G-KW4: Ad Relevance Component [High, 2.5]

• Check: Ad relevance Quality Score sub-component
• Pass: <20% of keywords with "Below Average" ad relevance
• Warning: 20-35% Below Average
• Fail: >35% Below Average
• Quick Win: No

G-KW5: Landing Page Experience Component [High, 2.5]

• Check: Landing page experience Quality Score sub-component
• Pass: <15% of keywords with "Below Average" landing page experience
• Warning: 15-30% Below Average
• Fail: >30% Below Average
• Quick Win: No

G-KW6: Top Keyword Quality Scores [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Quality Scores for highest-spend keywords
• Pass: Top 20 spend keywords all have QS ≥7
• Warning: Some top keywords at QS 5-6
• Fail: Top keywords with QS ≤4
• Quick Win: No

G-KW7: Zero-Impression Keywords [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Keywords with no impressions in last 30 days
• Pass: No keywords with 0 impressions (30 days)
• Warning: <10% zero-impression keywords
• Fail: >10% of keywords with 0 impressions (dead weight)
• Quick Win: Yes (5 min — pause or remove)

G-KW8: Keyword-to-Ad Relevance [High, 2.5]

• Check: Ad headlines contain primary keyword variants from ad group
• Pass: Headlines contain primary keyword variants
• Warning: Partial keyword inclusion
• Fail: No keyword variants in ad headlines (poor relevance signal)
• Quick Win: No

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Ads & Assets (Weight: 15%)

G-AD1: RSA Per Ad Group [High, 2.5]

• Check: Responsive Search Ads present in each ad group
• Pass: ≥1 RSA per ad group (≥2 recommended)
• Warning: 1 RSA per ad group
• Fail: Ad groups without any RSA
• Quick Win: No

G-AD2: RSA Headline Count [High, 2.5]

• Check: Number of unique headlines per RSA
• Pass: ≥8 unique headlines (ideal: 12-15)
• Warning: 3-7 headlines
• Fail: <3 headlines
• Quick Win: No

G-AD3: RSA Description Count [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Number of descriptions per RSA
• Pass: ≥3 descriptions (ideal: 4)
• Warning: 2 descriptions
• Fail: <2 descriptions
• Quick Win: No

G-AD4: RSA Ad Strength [High, 2.5]

• Check: Google's Ad Strength rating for RSAs
• Pass: All RSAs rated "Good" or "Excellent"
• Warning: Some RSAs rated "Average"
• Fail: Any RSA with "Poor" Ad Strength
• Quick Win: No

G-AD5: RSA Pinning Strategy [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Strategic use of headline/description pinning
• Pass: Strategic pinning (1-2 positions, 2-3 variants each)
• Warning: Over-pinned (all positions fixed)
• Fail: —
• Quick Win: No

G-AD6: PMax Asset Group Density [Critical, 5.0]

• Check: Asset completeness in Performance Max asset groups
• Pass: ≥20 images, ≥5 logos, ≥5 videos per asset group (maximum density)
• Warning: 5-19 images, 1-4 logos, or 1-4 videos
• Fail: <5 images OR 0 logos OR 0 videos
• Quick Win: No

G-AD7: PMax Video Assets [High, 2.5]

• Check: Native video present in PMax (not auto-generated)
• Pass: Native video in all formats (16:9, 1:1, 9:16)
• Warning: 1-2 video formats only
• Fail: No native video (auto-generated only)
• Quick Win: No

G-AD8: PMax Asset Group Count [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Number of asset groups per PMax campaign
• Pass: ≥2 asset groups per PMax (segmented by intent/theme)
• Warning: 1 asset group
• Fail: —
• Quick Win: No

G-AD9: PMax Final URL Expansion [High, 2.5]

• Check: Final URL expansion setting reviewed
• Pass: Configured intentionally (ON for discovery, OFF for control)
• Warning: —
• Fail: Default ON without review (may send traffic to irrelevant pages)
• Quick Win: Yes (2 min)

G-AD10: Ad Copy Keyword Relevance [High, 2.5]

• Check: Ad headlines contain primary keyword variants
• Pass: Headlines contain primary keyword variants from ad group
• Warning: Partial keyword inclusion
• Fail: No keyword relevance in headlines
• Quick Win: No

G-AD11: Ad Copy Freshness [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: New ad copy tested recently
• Pass: New ad copy tested within last 90 days
• Warning: —
• Fail: No new ads in >90 days
• Quick Win: No

G-AD12: CTR vs Industry Benchmark [High, 2.5]

• Check: Click-through rate compared to industry average
• Pass: CTR ≥ industry average
• Warning: CTR 50-100% of industry average
• Fail: CTR <50% of industry average
• Quick Win: No

G-AD13: PMax Audience Signals [High, 2.5]

• Check: Custom audience signals configured per PMax asset group
• Pass: Custom audience signals with first-party data
• Warning: Generic signals only
• Fail: No audience signals configured
• Quick Win: Yes (10 min)

G-AD14: PMax Ad Strength [High, 2.5]

• Check: PMax asset group Ad Strength rating
• Pass: "Good" or "Excellent"
• Warning: "Average"
• Fail: "Poor"
• Quick Win: No

G-AD15: PMax Brand Cannibalization [High, 2.5]

• Check: Percentage of PMax conversions from brand terms
• Pass: <15% of PMax conversions from brand terms
• Warning: 15-30% from brand terms
• Fail: >30% from brand terms (PMax inflating results via brand capture)
• Quick Win: No

G-AD16: PMax Search Themes [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Search themes configured for intent signals
• Pass: Search themes configured (up to 50 per asset group)
• Warning: <5 search themes
• Fail: No search themes configured
• Quick Win: Yes (10 min)

G-AD17: PMax Negative Keywords [High, 2.5]

• Check: Brand and irrelevant negative keywords applied to PMax
• Pass: Negatives applied (up to 10,000)
• Warning: Some negatives applied
• Fail: No negative keywords in PMax
• Quick Win: Yes (10 min)

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Settings & Targeting (Weight: 10%)

G-SE1: Sitelink Extensions [High, 2.5]

• Check: Sitelink assets configured
• Pass: ≥4 sitelinks per campaign
• Warning: 1-3 sitelinks
• Fail: No sitelinks
• Quick Win: Yes (10 min)

G-SE2: Callout Extensions [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Callout assets configured
• Pass: ≥4 callouts per campaign
• Warning: 1-3 callouts
• Fail: No callouts
• Quick Win: Yes (5 min)

G-SE3: Structured Snippets [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Structured snippet assets configured
• Pass: ≥1 structured snippet set
• Warning: —
• Fail: No structured snippets
• Quick Win: Yes (5 min)

G-SE4: Image Extensions [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Image assets active for Search campaigns
• Pass: Image extensions active
• Warning: —
• Fail: No image extensions
• Quick Win: Yes (10 min)

G-SE5: Call Extensions [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Call assets with tracking for phone-based businesses
• Pass: Call extensions with call tracking enabled
• Warning: Call extension without call tracking
• Fail: No call extension for phone-based business
• N/A: Business does not rely on phone calls
• Quick Win: Yes (5 min)

G-SE6: Lead Form Extensions [Low, 0.5]

• Check: Lead form assets tested for lead gen accounts
• Pass: Lead form active with CRM integration
• Warning: —
• Fail: Not tested for lead gen account
• N/A: Non-lead gen accounts
• Quick Win: No

G-SE7: Audience Segments in Observation [High, 2.5]

• Check: Remarketing and in-market audiences applied in Observation mode
• Pass: Multiple audience segments applied in Observation mode
• Warning: Some audiences applied
• Fail: No audience signals (missing bid adjustment data)
• Quick Win: Yes (10 min)

G-SE8: Customer Match Lists [High, 2.5]

• Check: Customer Match lists uploaded and maintained
• Pass: Customer Match list uploaded, refreshed within 30 days
• Warning: List >30 days old
• Fail: No Customer Match lists
• Quick Win: No

G-SE9: Placement Exclusions [High, 2.5]

• Check: Account-level placement exclusions for Display/PMax
• Pass: Account-level exclusions for games, apps, MFA sites
• Warning: Campaign-level exclusions only
• Fail: No placement exclusions
• Quick Win: Yes (10 min)

G-SE10: Landing Page Mobile Speed [High, 2.5]

• Check: Mobile landing page performance
• Pass: Mobile LCP <2.5s (ideal <2.0s)
• Warning: LCP 2.5-4.0s
• Fail: LCP >4.0s
• Quick Win: No

G-SE11: Landing Page Relevance [High, 2.5]

• Check: Landing page H1/title matches ad group keyword theme
• Pass: Clear message match between ad and landing page
• Warning: Partial relevance
• Fail: No relevance to ad group theme (generic homepage)
• Quick Win: No

G-SE12: Landing Page Schema Markup [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Structured data (schema.org) on landing pages
• Pass: Product/FAQ/Service schema present
• Warning: —
• Fail: No schema markup
• Quick Win: No

G-SE13: Smart Bidding Strategy Active [High, 2.5]

• Check: Automated bidding on campaigns with sufficient conversion data
• Pass: All campaigns with ≥15 conversions/30d use Smart Bidding
• Warning: Partially automated
• Fail: Manual CPC on campaigns with sufficient conversion data
• Quick Win: Yes (5 min)

G-SE14: Target CPA/ROAS Reasonableness [Critical, 5.0]

• Check: Bid targets are realistic based on historical performance
• Pass: Targets within 20% of historical performance
• Warning: Targets 20-50% off historical
• Fail: Target CPA <50% of actual CPA (will severely limit delivery)
• Quick Win: Yes (5 min — adjust targets)

G-SE15: Learning Phase Status [High, 2.5]

• Check: Percentage of campaigns in Learning or Learning Limited
• Pass: <25% of campaigns in Learning/Learning Limited
• Warning: 25-40% in learning
• Fail: >40% in learning
• Quick Win: No

G-SE16: Budget-Constrained Campaigns [High, 2.5]

• Check: Top performers showing "Eligible" vs "Limited by Budget"
• Pass: Top performers not budget-constrained
• Warning: Minor budget limitation
• Fail: Top performers severely budget-limited
• Quick Win: Yes (5 min — reallocate budget)

G-SE17: Manual CPC Justification [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Manual CPC only used where appropriate
• Pass: Manual CPC only on campaigns with <15 conversions/month
• Warning: Manual CPC with 15-30 conversions/month
• Fail: Manual CPC with >30 conversions/month (should use Smart Bidding)
• Quick Win: Yes (5 min)

G-SE18: Portfolio Bid Strategies [Medium, 1.5]

• Check: Low-volume campaigns grouped into portfolio strategies
• Pass: Low-volume campaigns (<15 conv/month) grouped into portfolios
• Warning: —
• Fail: Multiple <15 conversion campaigns running independently (insufficient data per strategy)
• Quick Win: Yes (10 min)

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Context Notes

• ECPC deprecation (March 2025): Enhanced CPC is no longer available for new campaigns. Existing ECPC campaigns should migrate to Target CPA, Target ROAS, or Maximize Conversions.
• Call Campaigns sunset (Feb 2026): Google stopped allowing new Call campaigns in February 2026; existing ones serve until February 2027. Migrate to Search campaigns with call assets.
• Power Pack framework: Google recommends PMax + Demand Gen + AI Max for Search as a unified campaign stack.
• AI Max for Search (2025): Extends broad match and automated creative to Search campaigns. Evaluate if account has sufficient conversion data.

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Quick Wins Summary

Google Ads Skill — Examples

Realistic examples showing how to use the Google Ads skill for audits, diagnostics, and optimization.

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1. Full Account Audit

User Request:

"Run a full audit on our Google Ads account. We're spending $45K/month across Search, Shopping, and Performance Max but CPA has been creeping up for the last 3 months."

Analysis Steps: 1. Pull campaign inventory with spend, conversions, CPA, and ROAS for last 90 days — compare month-over-month trend 2. Check conversion tracking setup: verify Google Tag firing, conversion actions, attribution model, and enhanced conversions status 3. Review account structure: campaign naming conventions, ad group themes, match type strategy, negative keyword lists 4. Analyze budget allocation vs performance: identify campaigns over/under-spending relative to efficiency 5. Compile findings into prioritized recommendations with estimated impact

Sample Output:

Account Overview (Last 90 Days)

Key Findings

1. Conversion tracking gap: Enhanced conversions not enabled. Estimated 15-20% of conversions unattributed, inflating reported CPA. 2. NB - Category campaign: CPA up 31% with only 54 conversions/month. Broad match keywords triggering irrelevant queries — 38% of search terms have zero conversions. 3. PMax cannibalizing brand: Insights report shows 22% of PMax conversions come from brand search terms. Brand campaign impression share dropped from 94% to 81%. 4. Shopping catch-all: 140 products with zero clicks in 60 days dragging down campaign Quality Score signals. 5. No audience layering: Zero remarketing lists applied to Search campaigns. No Customer Match uploaded.

Recommendations (Priority Order)

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2. Quality Score Diagnosis

User Request:

"Most of our non-brand keywords have Quality Scores of 4-5. CPCs are really high compared to competitors. What's going on and how do we fix it?"

Analysis Steps: 1. Pull Quality Score breakdown (expected CTR, ad relevance, landing page experience) for all enabled keywords 2. Segment by ad group to identify whether the issue is systemic or isolated 3. Cross-reference low-QS keywords with ad copy and landing page URLs to find mismatches 4. Identify the dominant QS sub-component dragging scores down 5. Prioritize fixes by spend-weighted impact

Sample Output:

Quality Score Distribution (Enabled Keywords)

Sub-Component Analysis

Root cause: Landing page experience is the primary drag, with 62% of keywords rated "Below Average." Ad relevance is the secondary issue.

Top 10 Keywords by Wasted QS Spend

Fix Priority

1. Landing pages (highest impact): Map each ad group to a dedicated landing page matching keyword intent. The homepage is the landing page for 73% of ad groups — this is the single biggest QS penalty. 2. Ad relevance: Restructure ad groups to 5-10 tightly themed keywords each. Write RSA headlines that include the exact keyword themes per group. 3. Expected CTR: After fixing LP and ad relevance, CTR will improve organically. Add sitelink and callout extensions to improve click-through.

Estimated impact: Improving QS from avg 5.2 to 7.0 would reduce CPCs by ~25% ($18K annual savings at current spend).

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3. Performance Max Audit

User Request:

"We launched Performance Max 6 weeks ago to replace our Display campaigns. Spend is $8K/month but we can't tell what's working. Can you audit it?"

Analysis Steps: 1. Review asset group structure, audience signals, and URL expansion settings 2. Pull Insights report data: top-performing asset combinations, search categories, audience segments 3. Check for Search/Shopping cannibalization by comparing pre/post PMax metrics on existing campaigns 4. Evaluate asset quality ratings and identify gaps 5. Assess whether PMax conversion data is incremental or shifted from other campaigns

Sample Output:

Asset Group Review

Critical issues found:

1. Single asset group for all products: No segmentation by category or audience theme. Google cannot optimize creative per segment. 2. No audience signals: PMax is running fully blind on prospecting. Without signals, it defaults to the broadest possible targeting — likely why efficiency is low. 3. No video assets: Google auto-generates low-quality videos from images. These perform poorly on YouTube inventory and waste budget. 4. URL expansion ON with no exclusions: PMax is sending traffic to blog posts, careers page, and support docs. 18% of landing page URLs are non-commercial.

Cannibalization Check

PMax is capturing brand queries. Brand Search lost 20% of volume since PMax launch.

Recommendations

---

4. Wasted Spend Analysis

User Request:

"We feel like we're wasting money on Google Ads but don't know where. Can you find where spend is being wasted and tell us what to cut?"

Analysis Steps: 1. Pull search term report for last 30 days — flag terms with spend but zero conversions 2. Identify keywords with high spend and CPA above 2x target 3. Review device, geo, day-of-week, and hour-of-day performance for bid adjustment opportunities 4. Check for audience overlap and competing campaigns bidding on the same queries

Sample Output:

Wasted Spend Summary (Last 30 Days)

Top Irrelevant Search Terms (by spend, zero conversions)

Recommended Negative Keyword List

Account-level negatives (apply to all Search campaigns):
- free
- download
- api
- documentation
- developer
- jobs
- hiring
- salary
- tutorial
- what is
- reddit
- quora

Budget Reallocation

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5. Shopping Campaign Optimization

User Request:

"Our Shopping campaigns are underperforming versus competitors. Products are showing but CTR and conversion rates are low. How do we improve?"

Analysis Steps: 1. Audit Merchant Center feed: title quality, image compliance, missing attributes, disapprovals 2. Review product group structure and bid segmentation 3. Pull competitive metrics: benchmark CTR, CPC, and impression share vs category averages 4. Identify top and bottom performing product segments 5. Check for supplemental feed opportunities

Sample Output:

Feed Health Check

Feed Quality Issues

Competitive Metrics (Auction Insights)

Recommendations

1. Title optimization (highest impact): Rewrite titles using formula: Brand + Product Type + Key Attributes. This alone can improve CTR by 15-25%. 2. Add custom labels: Segment products by margin tier (high/medium/low) and sales velocity (best seller/standard/slow). Bid aggressively on high-margin best sellers. 3. Fix 124 missing GTINs: Required for competitive auctions. Suppressed products are invisible spend blockers. 4. Restructure product groups: Current structure is "All Products" in one group. Split by category and margin tier for differentiated bidding. 5. Add supplemental feed with optimized titles, custom labels, and missing attributes without modifying the primary feed.

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6. Bidding Strategy Review

User Request:

"We're on Maximize Conversions across all campaigns. Should we switch to Target CPA or Target ROAS? Some campaigns are efficient and some aren't."

Analysis Steps: 1. Pull conversion volume and CPA/ROAS by campaign for the last 30 days 2. Assess which campaigns meet the threshold for Target CPA (30+ conversions) or Target ROAS (50+ conversions) 3. Check for learning phase issues and recent bid strategy changes 4. Recommend per-campaign strategy based on maturity and goals

Sample Output:

Current Performance (Last 30 Days)

Strategy Recommendations

Transition Plan

1. Week 1: Switch Brand Search and NB - High Intent to Target CPA. Do not touch other campaigns. 2. Week 2: Monitor learning phase. Do not change bids, budgets, or ads during learning (~7 days). 3. Week 3: If stable, switch Shopping - Top SKUs to Target ROAS. Switch PMax to Target CPA. 4. Week 4: Review all campaigns. Tighten targets by 5-10% if performance is stable.

Important: Never switch more than 2 campaigns at once. Stagger changes to isolate the impact of each switch.

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7. Competitor & Impression Share Analysis

User Request:

"We keep seeing competitors above us in search results. How much market share are we losing and what would it cost to recapture it?"

Analysis Steps: 1. Pull Auction Insights report for brand and non-brand campaigns 2. Calculate impression share losses broken down by budget vs rank 3. Estimate incremental cost to close impression share gaps 4. Assess competitive positioning: who is outranking, on which queries, how often

Sample Output:

Brand Search — Auction Insights (Last 30 Days)

Non-Brand Search — Auction Insights

Impression Share Loss Breakdown

Cost to Close the Gap

Recommendations

1. Brand Search is the highest-ROI recapture: Spend $900/month more to go from 81% to 95% IS. These are users searching your brand name — losing them to competitors is unacceptable at $13 CPA. 2. NB - High Intent has the most headroom: 62% impression share is lost. But fix Quality Scores and ad relevance first (rank losses) before adding budget. 3. Do not chase NB - Category IS: At $118 CPA and 1.4x ROAS, gaining more share here would be unprofitable. Fix efficiency before scaling. 4. Shopping IS gap is mostly rank: Improve feed titles and bids on top-margin products to win more auctions without pure budget increases.

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Common Analysis Patterns

Quick Health Check Template

When a user asks "how's my account doing?" — pull these 5 metrics first: 1. Conversion tracking: Are conversions actually firing? Check last 7 days for gaps. 2. Brand impression share: Below 90% means competitors are stealing branded traffic. 3. Search term relevance: What % of search terms converted in the last 30 days? 4. CPA trend: Is CPA rising, falling, or stable over 90 days? 5. Budget utilization: Any campaigns limited by budget that have strong ROAS?

Spend Efficiency Template

When asked "where am I wasting money?" — check these buckets: 1. Search terms with spend but zero conversions (last 30 days) 2. Keywords with CPA above 2x the account average 3. Geographic regions with below-average conversion rates 4. Device segments with high CPC but low conversion rates 5. Time-of-day and day-of-week patterns for scheduling gaps

PMax Diagnostic Template

When asked about Performance Max specifically: 1. Asset group count and theme clarity 2. Audience signals present or absent 3. URL expansion settings and non-commercial landing pages 4. Brand cannibalization: compare brand Search IS before vs after PMax launch 5. Insights tab: what search categories and audience segments is PMax actually targeting?

Conversion Tracking Verification Template

When conversion data looks off: 1. Google Tag Assistant: is the tag firing on all pages? 2. Conversion action settings: counting model (one vs every), include in conversions, attribution model 3. Enhanced conversions: enabled or disabled? 4. Tag firing location: is it on the right thank-you/confirmation page? 5. Cross-domain tracking: if the user journey spans multiple domains, is the linker configured?

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Pro Tips

Instead of: "Audit my Google Ads account" Ask: "Audit my Google Ads account. Our goal is $50 CPA for demo requests. We spend $30K/month across Search and PMax. CPA has increased 25% in the last 60 days."

Instead of: "Fix my Quality Scores" Ask: "These 15 keywords have QS of 3-4 and account for 40% of our non-brand spend. Landing page experience is 'Below Average' on all of them. What's the fix priority?"

Instead of: "Should I use Performance Max?" Ask: "We run standard Shopping and Search campaigns. Shopping ROAS is 4.2x. We're considering PMax to expand reach. What's the risk of cannibalization and how do we structure asset groups for our 4 product categories?"

Instead of: "My campaigns aren't working" Ask: "Non-brand Search CPA went from $45 to $72 over 8 weeks. Conversion volume is flat but spend increased. We didn't change bids or budgets. What could be driving this?"

Instead of: "Help with bidding" Ask: "We have 5 campaigns: 2 have 50+ conversions/month, 2 have 15-20, and 1 has under 10. All are on Maximize Conversions. Which should move to Target CPA and at what targets?"

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8. Scored Account Audit (Health Score)

User Request:

"Give me a scored audit of our Google Ads account with a health grade."

Analysis Steps: 1. Load skills/shared/scoring-system.md for scoring algorithm and CHECKS.md for the 74-check audit 2. Evaluate each applicable check as PASS, WARNING, or FAIL based on account data 3. Calculate category scores using severity multipliers and category weights 4. Identify Quick Wins (Critical/High severity, ≤15 min fix time) 5. Produce health score, grade, and prioritized action plan

Sample Output:

Account Health Score: 64/100 (Grade C — Needs Improvement)

Quick Wins (fix in ≤15 min, high impact)

1. [Critical] Enable Enhanced Conversions — G-CT2 (5 min) 2. [Critical] Add negative keyword lists — G-WS2 (10 min) 3. [Critical] Fix Broad Match + Manual CPC — G-WS5 (5 min) 4. [High] Switch location targeting to "People in" — G-ST11 (2 min) 5. [High] Disable Display Network on Search campaigns — G-ST12 (2 min) 6. [High] Add brand exclusions to PMax — G-ST7 (5 min)

Category Breakdown

Detailed Findings

Conversion Tracking (52/100 — Grade D)

[Additional categories follow same format...]

Prioritized Action Plan

Immediate (This Week) 1. Enable Enhanced Conversions for Purchase action 2. Remove AddToCart from Primary conversion actions (set to Secondary) 3. Create 3 themed negative keyword lists and apply account-wide 4. Fix Broad Match + Manual CPC on NB-Category campaign

This Month 5. Address Quality Score: rewrite headlines for top 20 keywords with QS ≤5 6. Add Customer Match list and remarketing audiences in Observation mode 7. Deploy server-side tracking (GTM server container)

Next Quarter 8. Restructure PMax asset groups with full video coverage 9. Test portfolio bid strategies for low-volume campaigns

Google Ads Reference

Account Hierarchy

MCC (Manager Account)
└── Account (Client)
    └── Campaign
        └── Ad Group
            ├── Keywords (Search)
            ├── Product Groups (Shopping)
            ├── Asset Groups (Performance Max)
            ├── Ads (RSA, Display, Video)
            └── Audiences (targeting/observation)

Campaign Types & Settings

Search Campaigns

• Networks: Google Search, Search Partners (opt-in/out)
• Ad Format: Responsive Search Ads (RSA) — up to 15 headlines (30 chars), 4 descriptions (90 chars)
• Match Types: Broad, Phrase, Exact
• Extensions/Assets: Sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, call, location, price, image, lead form, business name/logo

Shopping Campaigns (Standard)

• Feed Source: Google Merchant Center
• Product Groups: Category, brand, item ID, condition, product type, channel, custom labels (0-4)
• Priority: Low, Medium, High (for multi-campaign strategies)
• Showcase Shopping Ads: Collection-style ads (broad queries)

Performance Max

• Asset Groups: Group assets by product category or theme
• Assets: Headlines (max 5), long headlines (max 5), descriptions (max 5), images (max 20), logos (max 5), videos (max 5)
• Audience Signals: Custom segments, your data (remarketing), interests, demographics
• Search Themes: Keyword-like signals (max 25 per asset group)
• URL Expansion: On by default — excludes URLs via Page Feeds or final URL expansion settings
• Listing Groups: Product feed segmentation (like Shopping product groups)

Display Campaigns

• Targeting: Keywords, placements, topics, audiences, demographics
• Ad Formats: Responsive display ads (auto-generated from assets), uploaded image ads
• Optimized Targeting: Expands beyond your targeting to find converters

Video Campaigns (YouTube)

• Skippable in-stream: Plays before/during/after videos, skippable after 5s
• Non-skippable in-stream: 15-second forced view
• Bumper: 6-second non-skippable
• In-feed (Discovery): Thumbnail + text, clicks to watch
• Shorts: Vertical video ads in YouTube Shorts feed
• Bidding: CPV (views), CPM (impressions), Target CPA (conversions)

Demand Gen Campaigns

• Visual-first ads on YouTube (in-feed, Shorts), Discover, Gmail
• Product feeds supported for e-commerce
• Lookalike segments from first-party lists
• A/B creative experiments built-in

Keyword Reference

Match Type Behavior (Current)

Note: All match types now use intent matching. Broad match is significantly broader than legacy behavior and works best with Smart Bidding.

Negative Keywords

Quality Score (1-10)

• Expected CTR: Historical CTR of your ad for this keyword
• Ad Relevance: How well your ad matches keyword intent
• Landing Page Experience: Relevance, load speed, mobile-friendliness, trustworthiness
• Impact: Higher QS = lower CPC, better positions

Bidding Strategies

Portfolio & Standard Strategies

Smart Bidding Signals Used

• Device, location, time of day, day of week
• Remarketing list membership
• Browser, OS, language
• Ad characteristics
• Search query (broad match + Smart Bidding is powerful)
• Actual search query (not just keyword)

Learning Period

• ~7 days after bid strategy change
• Need 30+ conversions in last 30 days for Target CPA
• Need 50+ conversions for Target ROAS
• Avoid making changes during learning period

Audience Types

Your Data (First-Party)

Google Audiences

Targeting vs Observation

• Targeting: Only show ads to this audience (restricts reach)
• Observation: Show to everyone, add bid adjustments for audience (monitor performance)
• RLSA: Remarketing lists for Search Ads — bid higher for returning visitors in Search

Conversion Tracking

Google Tag (gtag.js)

<!-- Global site tag -->
<script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=AW-CONVERSION_ID"></script>
<script>
  window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
  function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);}
  gtag('js', new Date());
  gtag('config', 'AW-CONVERSION_ID');
</script>

<!-- Conversion event -->
<script>
  gtag('event', 'conversion', {
    'send_to': 'AW-CONVERSION_ID/CONVERSION_LABEL',
    'value': 99.99,
    'currency': 'USD',
    'transaction_id': 'TXN-12345'
  });
</script>

Enhanced Conversions

<!-- Enhanced conversion data (hashed automatically) -->
<script>
  gtag('set', 'user_data', {
    'email': 'customer@example.com',
    'phone_number': '+11234567890',
    'address': {
      'first_name': 'Jane',
      'last_name': 'Doe',
      'street': '123 Main St',
      'city': 'Austin',
      'region': 'TX',
      'postal_code': '78701',
      'country': 'US'
    }
  });
</script>

Offline Conversion Import

# GCLID-based import
Google Click ID,Conversion Name,Conversion Time,Conversion Value,Conversion Currency
CjwKCAjw...,Purchase,2024-01-15 10:30:00+0000,99.99,USD

• Import via Google Ads UI, API, or Google Sheets linked
• GCLID valid for 90 days
• Enhanced conversions for leads: use user-provided data instead of GCLID

Attribution Models

Google Merchant Center Reference

Required Feed Attributes

Feed Optimization Tips

• Title formula: Brand + Product Type + Key Attributes (color, size, material)
• Custom Labels (0-4): Use for campaign segmentation (margin tier, best seller, seasonal, new)
• Product Type: Your own categorization (more specific than google_product_category)
• Supplemental feeds: Add data without modifying primary feed

Common Disapproval Reasons

• Price mismatch between feed and landing page
• Missing GTIN (required for branded products)
• Image doesn't meet requirements (size, watermarks, promotional overlays)
• Policy violations (prohibited content, misleading claims)
• Shipping/tax information missing
• Automatic item updates can fix some mismatches

Scripts & Automation

Google Ads Scripts (JavaScript)

// Example: Pause keywords with Quality Score < 4
function main() {
  var keywordIterator = AdsApp.keywords()
    .withCondition("QualityScore < 4")
    .withCondition("Status = ENABLED")
    .get();

  while (keywordIterator.hasNext()) {
    var keyword = keywordIterator.next();
    Logger.log("Pausing: " + keyword.getText() + " (QS: " + keyword.getQualityScore() + ")");
    keyword.pause();
  }
}

Google Ads API (REST)

Base URL: https://googleads.googleapis.com/v16/

# Authentication: OAuth 2.0 + Developer Token
Headers:
  Authorization: Bearer {access_token}
  developer-token: {developer_token}
  login-customer-id: {mcc_id}

# GAQL (Google Ads Query Language)
POST /customers/{customer_id}/googleAds:searchStream
{
  "query": "SELECT campaign.name, metrics.impressions, metrics.clicks, metrics.cost_micros FROM campaign WHERE segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS ORDER BY metrics.impressions DESC"
}

Common GAQL Queries

-- Campaign performance
SELECT campaign.name, campaign.status, metrics.impressions, metrics.clicks,
       metrics.conversions, metrics.cost_micros, metrics.conversions_value
FROM campaign
WHERE segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS
  AND campaign.status = 'ENABLED'
ORDER BY metrics.cost_micros DESC

-- Search term report
SELECT search_term_view.search_term, search_term_view.status,
       metrics.impressions, metrics.clicks, metrics.conversions, metrics.cost_micros
FROM search_term_view
WHERE segments.date DURING LAST_7_DAYS
ORDER BY metrics.impressions DESC
LIMIT 100

-- Quality Score analysis
SELECT ad_group_criterion.keyword.text,
       ad_group_criterion.quality_info.quality_score,
       ad_group_criterion.quality_info.creative_quality_score,
       ad_group_criterion.quality_info.post_click_quality_score,
       ad_group_criterion.quality_info.search_predicted_ctr
FROM keyword_view
WHERE ad_group_criterion.status = 'ENABLED'
ORDER BY ad_group_criterion.quality_info.quality_score ASC

Key Metrics Glossary