why I absolutely LOVE account audits, or, get paid to learn new skills

Some people collect stamps. I collect hidden insights from audits.

Audits aren’t work. They are advanced PPC classes that make you money.

At least, that’s how I approach them. 

Every two months, I like to perform one (paid!) in-depth account audit to sharpen my PPC skills.

Paid-for account audits allow you to spend time on the nitty-gritty details inside Google Ads that you’d otherwise ignore because of a lack of time.

You basically get paid to learn new skills.

Over the years, I’ve collected hundreds of learnings from over fifty in-depth audits in an audit checklist that currently holds over 650 (!) checkpoints.

Yes, that’s a lot. Also, a lot of work is required to perform an audit like that.

Unless, of course, you automate parts of the work with scripts 🙂

But most importantly: you create a ton of value, both for you and the client!

Here are some examples of lesser-known things I’ve recently added to my Google Ads Account Audit Checklist:

1. For advertisers in the EEA, is price transparency enabled? 
See https://ppcnewsfeed.com/ppc-news/2024-03/price-transparency-in-account-settings/

2. Is the account using a tracking template or a final URL suffix? If so, is it set up correctly and not wrongly overwritten by settings at the level of individual campaigns?
See https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7197008

3. Are you using Ad customizer attributes? If so, are they configured correctly for RSAs? 
See https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/11559470

4. Are you using Brand lists? If so, have the brand(s) been recognized by Google?
https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/13721847

5. E-commerce remarketing tag: do the remarketing parameter IDs match the product IDs in Google Merchant Center?
See https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7305793

– Nils

PS: Want to see more checks like these and how I use scripts to audit Google Ads accounts?

Join me for my talk at AdworldExperience (Bologna, Oct 2) titled ‘Little-known tactics to audit your Google Ads account’

Register via https://www.adworldexperience.it/en/?affiliates=143 and use promo code ‘cooler10’ to get a 10% discount.

Author: Nils Rooijmans

Google Ads Performance Architect with a passion for PPC Automation & AI, in particular via Google Ads Scripts.