Last updated: August 2026 Optimizing a Google Ads account does not simply mean lowering cost per click, adding a few negative keywords or applying every recommendation suggested automatically by the platform. It means [...]

Last updated: August 2026

Optimizing a Google Ads account does not simply mean lowering cost per click, adding a few negative keywords or applying every recommendation suggested automatically by the platform.

It means making sure that Google Ads is using your budget to reach the right people, measuring the right conversions and contributing to business results that are actually worth generating.

Google Ads has changed significantly over the years. Automation now plays a central role: Smart Bidding, Performance Max, responsive ads, automatically combined or generated assets and features such as AI Max allow Google’s algorithms to make far more decisions than they did in the past.

This does not make human optimization less important.

It makes it different.

In the past, much of the work involved manually adjusting bids, keywords and ads. Today, the challenge is increasingly to give the system the right objectives, data and signals, and then verify whether the automation is producing results that make business sense.

In this guide, we will look at the 10 checks I consider most important when optimizing a Google Ads account.

In short: what should you check in a Google Ads account?

• business objectives and KPIs;
• conversion tracking;
• campaign and account structure;
• search terms and negative keywords;
• bidding strategies;
• ads and assets;
• landing pages and conversion rate;
• budget and spend allocation;
• Performance Max, AI Max and automation;
• recommendations and Optimization Score.

If you want a broader overview of the platform, you can also read my guide on how to maximize Google Ads performance.

1. Start with business objectives, not Google Ads metrics

The first mistake is starting the optimization process by immediately looking at CTR, CPC, impressions and Optimization Score.

First, answer a much more important question:

What business result is this campaign supposed to generate?

The objectives can be very different:

• generate quote requests;
• book sales appointments;
• sell products online;
• increase average order value;
• bring customers into a physical location;
• generate phone calls;
• acquire sign-ups or free trials;
• increase revenue while maintaining a specific margin.

Your KPIs should follow from the business objective.

An ecommerce business may focus primarily on ROAS, conversion value, margin and customer acquisition cost.

A B2B company may instead need to connect:

click → lead → qualified lead → opportunity → customer → revenue.

The cost per conversion shown in Google Ads is not necessarily the cost of acquiring a customer.

An example

Imagine two campaigns.

• Campaign A: 100 leads at €30 each.
• Campaign B: 50 leads at €50 each.

If we only look at cost per lead, Campaign A appears to be the clear winner.

But suppose that:

• only 2% of Campaign A leads become customers;
• 15% of Campaign B leads become customers.

The second campaign, despite its higher CPL, could be dramatically more profitable.

This is the principle to start from: do not optimize the metric that is easiest to see. Optimize the result that actually matters to the business.

2. Check conversion tracking before changing the campaigns

One of the most important steps in any Google Ads audit is verifying conversion tracking.

If the underlying data is wrong, the algorithm can make the wrong decisions too.

Google Ads distinguishes between primary conversion actions and secondary conversion actions.

In practical terms:

• primary conversions can be used by bidding strategies to optimize campaigns;
• secondary conversions can be monitored without necessarily becoming the objective Google is asked to optimize toward.

This distinction can have a huge impact.

If an account treats every micro-action as a primary conversion — for example, a page visit, a low-value click or another interaction with little commercial relevance — Smart Bidding may learn to generate more of those actions.

Check at least these elements

• which conversion actions are primary;
• which are secondary;
• whether duplicate conversions exist;
• whether form submissions are tracked correctly;
• whether phone calls are measured when relevant;
• whether purchases report the correct value;
• whether low-value actions are being counted as meaningful conversions;
• whether GA4, Google Ads and your internal systems report reasonably consistent data.

For ecommerce businesses, sending realistic conversion values is particularly important.

For lead generation, a major improvement comes when you can send Google information about what happens after the form submission: qualified lead, appointment, sales opportunity or completed sale.

This is where advertising optimization starts to connect with the broader lead generation strategy.

3. Do not make the account structure unnecessarily complicated

In the past, it was common to create extremely fragmented Google Ads structures:

• separate campaigns for different match types;
• ad groups containing only a handful of keywords;
• campaigns duplicated by device;
• dozens of highly granular segments.

With the evolution of Smart Bidding, this approach is not always the most effective.

An excessively fragmented structure can spread data and conversions across too many campaigns, making it harder to provide enough useful information to automated bidding systems.

This does not mean putting everything into a single campaign.

The structure should reflect differences that have a real strategic meaning, such as:

• business objective;
• product or service;
• profit margin;
• geographic area;
• budget;
• language;
• market;
• type of conversion.

When should you separate two campaigns?

A useful question is:

Do I need separate control over budget, objective, targeting or bidding strategy?

If the answer is no, the separation may simply be adding operational complexity.

A good account structure should make it easy to understand performance and control spend without unnecessarily fragmenting the signals available to the algorithms.

4. Analyze search terms, not only keywords

In Search campaigns, there is an important distinction between a keyword and a search term.

The keyword is what you configure in the account.

The search term is what the user actually typed into Google.

The Search Terms report therefore helps you understand what type of demand you are actually paying for.

Review it regularly to identify:

• highly relevant searches;
• new opportunities;
• search intents you had not anticipated;
• informational queries that do not convert;
• searches for products or services you do not offer;
• terms related to jobs, support, free products, used products or other irrelevant intents;
• potential negative keywords.

Negative keywords still matter

More automation does not eliminate the need to control relevance.

Negative keywords can prevent certain terms from triggering your ads and help reduce irrelevant traffic.

But be careful not to overdo it.

An overly aggressive negative keyword list can exclude valuable searches and restrict the system unnecessarily.

The right question is not:

“How many negative keywords can I add?”

It is:

“Which search intents am I unwilling to pay for?”

5. Choose the bidding strategy based on the objective

Google Ads increasingly relies on Smart Bidding: bidding systems that use Google’s AI to optimize for conversions or conversion value at auction time.

Common strategies include:

• Maximize Conversions;
• Target CPA;
• Maximize Conversion Value;
• Target ROAS.

The right choice depends on the objective.

Lead generation

If conversions have broadly similar value and your objective is to generate more acquisitions, a conversion-focused or CPA-based strategy may make sense.

Ecommerce and conversions with different values

If one conversion can be worth €30, another €300 and another €3,000, optimizing only for the number of conversions can be misleading.

In these cases, it can be more useful to optimize around conversion value and, when appropriate, ROAS.

Do not impose unrealistic targets

A common mistake is setting extremely aggressive targets because you want to force Google to produce better results.

An excessively low Target CPA or an excessively high Target ROAS can restrict available opportunities and reduce volume.

Your target should be based on data, margins and the company’s economic objectives.

Not on what you would simply like the platform to achieve.

6. Optimize ads and assets without losing control of the message

What Google Ads once called “ad extensions” are now part of a broader system of assets.

Responsive Search Ads also allow Google to combine different headlines and descriptions in an attempt to show relevant messages for different searches.

Creative optimization therefore no longer consists only of testing “Ad A versus Ad B”.

You need to provide the system with assets that are genuinely different and useful.

Review:

• headlines communicating different benefits;
• descriptions that add information rather than repeat the headline;
• sitelinks;
• callouts;
• structured snippets;
• images where available and relevant;
• location or call assets where appropriate;
• consistency between the ad and the landing page.

Avoid creating ten headlines that all say essentially the same thing.

Ad Strength is not the campaign’s business result

Indicators provided by the platform can help diagnose the variety and completeness of an ad, but they are not a substitute for economic KPIs.

An ad can receive a positive technical assessment and still generate poor-quality leads.

Similarly, you should not automatically change a message that is generating excellent commercial results simply to improve an internal platform indicator.

7. Optimize the landing page: Google Ads does not end with the click

You can have:

• excellent keywords;
• strong ads;
• a high CTR;
• an effective bidding strategy;
• highly relevant traffic.

But if the landing page fails to persuade the visitor, your budget will still be wasted.

The landing page should be consistent with:

• the user’s search;
• the promise made in the ad;
• the product or service being promoted;
• the user’s level of awareness;
• the action you want the visitor to take.

Check in particular:

• headline clarity;
• consistency between keyword, ad and page;
• page speed;
• mobile experience;
• calls to action;
• forms;
• trust signals;
• objection handling;
• conversion rate;
• quality of generated leads.

I cover these elements in more detail in my guide on how to create a successful landing page.

Improving the conversion rate can have a major impact on campaign economics without increasing traffic spend by a single euro.

8. Review geographic targeting and budget allocation

Geographic targeting deserves far more attention than it usually receives.

Depending on campaign settings, Google Ads can use both a user’s physical presence and demonstrated interest in a particular location.

This means that simply selecting “Milan” or “Lombardy” is not enough.

You should review:

• which locations are included;
• which are excluded;
• advanced presence and interest settings;
• where clicks and conversions actually come from;
• whether CPA or conversion value differs significantly by location.

For some companies, reaching people interested in a location makes perfect sense.

For others — for example, a local business that operates only within a defined service area — restricting campaigns more closely to physical presence may be more appropriate.

There is no universally correct setting. It depends on the business model.

Budget should also be reallocated over time

Review whether:

• your strongest campaigns are limited by budget;
• poorly performing campaigns are absorbing too much spend;
• products, markets or locations show significant differences in profitability;
• budget allocation reflects actual commercial priorities.

Optimization does not necessarily mean spending less.

Sometimes it means moving budget away from what produces little value and toward what has greater growth potential.

9. Performance Max and AI Max: AI needs good inputs

Artificial intelligence is now a structural part of Google Ads.

Performance Max uses Google AI across several aspects of campaign management, including bidding, targeting, creative assets and attribution, while accessing inventory across Google’s advertising channels.

AI Max, on the other hand, is an optimization layer for Search campaigns that can further expand the way Google interprets queries, landing pages and assets.

This leads to an important principle:

the more automation increases, the more important input quality becomes.

You should therefore review:

• conversion objectives;
• conversion values;
• feeds and product data;
• landing pages;
• text and visual assets;
• signals supplied to the platform;
• exclusions and constraints that are genuinely necessary;
• the quality of the results being generated.

The worst way to use AI is to activate every available automation and stop paying attention to what happens.

A better approach is to use automation to increase operational capacity while retaining control over objectives, data and outcomes.

I also explore this topic in my guide on how to use ChatGPT to create and optimize Google Ads campaigns, including where AI can accelerate the work and where strategic judgement is still required.

10. Do not confuse Optimization Score with success

Google Ads assigns campaigns and accounts an Optimization Score between 0% and 100% and provides a series of recommendations.

It can be a useful diagnostic tool.

But it should not become the main KPI for the account.

Google allows advertisers to apply or dismiss recommendations.

That distinction matters: a recommendation should be evaluated, not automatically implemented.

Before applying a recommendation, ask:

• Is it consistent with the business objective?
• Will it simply increase spend, or increase value as well?
• Do I have enough data?
• Could it broaden traffic too much?
• Is it consistent with our margins?
• Can I measure the impact of the change?

The same principle applies to Quality Score.

Quality Score is useful as a diagnostic tool for identifying potential issues with ad relevance, expected CTR or landing page experience.

But it should not be treated as a business KPI that must always be pushed to 10/10.

Optimizing Google Ads does not mean doing everything Google recommends

This may be the most important principle in this entire guide.

Google has access to enormous amounts of data and highly sophisticated machine-learning systems.

But Google Ads does not automatically know everything that happens inside your company.

It may not know:

• the real margin on a particular product;
• which leads are rejected by your sales team;
• which customers have the highest lifetime value;
• which enquiries create operational problems;
• which products you are planning to stop selling;
• which markets have available production capacity;
• how much a particular sales opportunity is really worth.

This is why the objective should not be:

“How can I make Google Ads happy?”

It should be:

“How can I use Google Ads to better achieve the goals of my business?”

How often should you optimize Google Ads?

There is no single frequency that works for every account.

Obsessively checking the account several times a day and constantly changing campaigns or bidding strategies can be counterproductive, particularly when algorithms need enough data and time to evaluate the effect of a change.

At the same time, leaving an account unchecked for months can result in significant wasted spend.

A good optimization routine can operate at different levels.

Frequent checks

• unusual changes in spend;
• conversion tracking;
• campaigns that have stopped serving;
• technical problems;
• unexpected changes in conversion volume.

Periodic checks

• search terms;
• budget;
• assets;
• campaign performance;
• CPA and ROAS;
• locations;
• lead quality.

Strategic reviews

• profitability;
• overall budget allocation;
• conversion value;
• new markets;
• new campaign opportunities;
• the relationship between advertising, CRM and sales.

The goal is not to make more changes.

It is to make better changes based on sufficient data and a clear hypothesis.

Google Ads optimization checklist

If you want to perform a quick review of your account, start with this checklist.

1. Objective: Do I know exactly what business result Google Ads is supposed to generate?
2. Tracking: Are conversions being recorded correctly?
3. Conversions: Are primary and secondary conversions configured correctly?
4. Value: Am I communicating the real value of conversions to Google where possible?
5. Structure: Are campaigns and ad groups organized clearly without unnecessary fragmentation?
6. Queries: Am I reviewing actual search terms?
7. Negatives: Am I excluding genuinely irrelevant intents?
8. Bidding: Is the bidding strategy consistent with the campaign objective?
9. Targets: Are CPA and ROAS targets realistic?
10. Ads: Are my assets and messages genuinely different and useful?
11. Landing page: Does the page deliver on the promise made by the ad?
12. Locations: Am I paying for traffic from the right geographic areas?
13. Budget: Am I investing more where there is greater business value?
14. Automation: Are Performance Max and AI Max receiving good-quality data and inputs?
15. Recommendations: Do I evaluate recommendations before applying them?
16. Business: Do I know the actual quality of the leads, sales and customers being generated?

Frequently asked questions about Google Ads optimization

What does Google Ads optimization mean?

Google Ads optimization means analyzing and improving campaigns, tracking, targeting, bidding, search queries, ads, landing pages and budget allocation in order to increase the value generated by advertising spend.

What is the most important Google Ads metric?

There is no single metric that applies to every business. For lead generation, important metrics may include cost per lead, lead quality, customer acquisition cost and commercial value generated. For ecommerce businesses, conversion value, ROAS, CAC and margin may be more relevant.

Does a 100% Optimization Score mean the account is perfectly optimized?

No. Optimization Score reflects Google’s assessment of potential improvements and the recommendations available within the platform. It can be useful for identifying opportunities, but it does not prove that the account is producing the best possible economic result.

Are negative keywords still useful with AI-powered Google Ads?

Yes. Negative keywords can still help exclude irrelevant searches and unwanted intents. They should, however, be used carefully so that overly restrictive lists do not exclude valuable demand.

Does Performance Max replace Search campaigns?

Not necessarily. Performance Max and Search campaigns operate differently and can coexist within the same account. The right setup depends on your objectives, data, business model, inventory and overall advertising strategy.

Should you always use Smart Bidding?

Smart Bidding is central to modern Google Ads and can provide significant benefits, but it needs correctly configured conversions and realistic objectives. An automated strategy fed with poor-quality data can become very efficient at optimizing toward the wrong result.

How often should you change a Google Ads campaign?

There is no ideal number of changes. Adjustments should be made when there is a clear reason and enough data to support the decision. Constant, uncoordinated changes make it harder to understand what actually caused performance to improve or decline.

Conclusion: Google Ads is becoming more automated, but optimization is becoming more strategic

Google Ads has become dramatically more sophisticated since the first version of this article was published in 2018.

Today, artificial intelligence can adjust bids, combine creative assets, interpret signals, identify opportunities and allocate spend at a speed that would be impossible to replicate manually.

But there is one thing the algorithm cannot decide on its own:

what truly represents value for your business.

This is why modern Google Ads optimization is not about fighting automation.

It is about governing it.

You need to provide better data, define better objectives, monitor what is actually being generated and connect advertising with landing pages, CRM and sales.

Ultimately, a well-optimized Google Ads account is not the one with the highest CTR, the largest number of recommendations applied or the Optimization Score closest to 100%.

It is the one that uses the available budget in a way that is consistent with the company’s economic objectives and produces results that are worth continuing to invest in.