2026 Google Ads Account Health Checklist

The comprehensive audit framework we use on 100+ accounts.

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Why This Checklist Exists

We've audited over 100 Google Ads accounts in the past 2 years.

73% waste 20-40% of their budget on preventable issues.

Not because they're bad at marketing. Because Google Ads has hundreds of settings, and missing even a few can cost you thousands.

This checklist is what we run through on every new account we touch. It's the same framework our team uses at Tegra - whether we're auditing a $10k/month account or a $500k/month account.

Use it to:

• Audit your own account systematically
• Onboard new clients efficiently (if you're an agency)
• Identify opportunities you didn't know existed
• Stop bleeding budget on overlooked settings

Every item here is something we've seen cause real problems in real accounts.

Updated for 2026: Includes AI Max for Search, Demand Gen, PMax negative keywords, Consent Mode V2, and all major 2025 platform changes.

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How to Use This Checklist

For a full audit: Work through every section. Takes 2-4 hours depending on account size.

For a quick health check: Focus on the sections marked with a priority indicator.

Scoring: Check off items as you verify them. Anything unchecked is a potential optimization opportunity.

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Performance Metrics

Priority: Check monthly

Before looking at settings, understand where you stand. Compare last month vs. previous period at every level.

Account Level

• Impressions trend (up/down/stable?)
• Cost trend
• Clicks and CTR
• CPC trend
• Conversions and CPA
• ROAS (if e-commerce)

Campaign Level

• Same metrics broken down by campaign
• Identify top 3 performers
• Identify bottom 3 performers
• Any campaigns with zero conversions?

Ad Group Level

• Same metrics at ad group level
• Which ad groups drive most volume?
• Any ad groups cannibalizing each other?

Keyword Level (Search)

• Top performing keywords by conversions
• Keywords with high spend, low conversions
• Keywords with high impressions, low CTR

Product Level (Shopping/PMax)

• Top performing products by ROAS
• Products with high spend, no conversions
• Products with zero impressions

Why this matters: You can't optimize what you don't measure. 15 minutes reviewing these metrics will tell you where to focus your audit.

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Account Settings

Priority: Check quarterly

These are account-level defaults that affect everything.

Tracking Setup

• Final URL suffix configured (for third-party tracking)
• Tracking template working correctly
• Auto-tagging enabled (required for GA4 integration)

Where to check: Google Ads > Admin > Account settings > Tracking

Content Suitability

• Inventory type set appropriately (Expanded/Standard/Limited)
• Sensitive content exclusions configured (Tragedy, Profanity, Sexually suggestive, Sensational)

Why this matters: Wrong inventory type = your ads showing on content you don't want. We've seen brands accidentally run on explicit content because this wasn't configured.

Auto-Apply Settings

• Review which recommendations are auto-applying
• Turn off recommendations you don't want automated
• Check for unwanted auto-applied changes in Change History

Where to check: Google Ads > Admin > Account settings > Auto-apply

2026 Note: Google is pushing more automation. Review auto-apply settings monthly - new recommendations get added regularly.

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Data Connections

Priority: Check on setup, verify quarterly

Missing connections = missing data = worse performance.

Required Connections

• Google Merchant Center connected (for Shopping/PMax)
• Google Analytics 4 connected and verified
• Conversion tracking verified in both platforms
• Audiences importing from GA4 correctly

Recommended Connections

• Google Business Profile connected (for local)
• YouTube channel connected (for video remarketing and Demand Gen)
• Search Console connected (for organic insights)

Where to check: Google Ads > Tools > Data manager

Why this matters: A disconnected Merchant Center means your Shopping campaigns can't run. A disconnected GA4 means you're missing audience data. We see this issue in roughly 1 in 5 accounts we audit.

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Negative Keywords & Placements

Priority: Check weekly/monthly

This is where most budget waste hides.

Account-Level Negatives

• Account-level negative keyword list exists (up to 1,000 keywords)
• Brand terms added as negatives to non-brand campaigns
• Competitor terms handled appropriately
• Common irrelevant terms excluded (jobs, careers, free, DIY, reviews, etc.)

2026 Update: Account-level negatives now apply to Search, Shopping, AND Performance Max campaigns automatically.

Shared Negative Keyword Lists

• Negative keyword lists created and organized (up to 20 lists, 5,000 keywords each)
• Lists applied to appropriate campaigns
• Lists updated regularly based on search term reports

Match Type Usage

• Broad match negatives used for maximum exclusion coverage
• Exact match negatives used for precise exclusions
• Phrase match negatives used appropriately

Placement Exclusions (Display/YouTube/PMax/Demand Gen)

• Mobile app placements excluded (if not relevant)
• Kids content excluded (if B2B)
• Irrelevant YouTube channels excluded
• Low-quality websites excluded
• Placement exclusion lists created and maintained

Where to check: Google Ads > Tools > Shared library > Exclusion lists

Why this matters: We've seen accounts waste 30%+ of budget on irrelevant search terms because negative keywords weren't maintained. This is the highest-ROI optimization in most accounts.

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Audiences & Remarketing

Priority: Check monthly

Your audience setup determines targeting quality.

Remarketing Lists

• Website visitor lists created
• All lists showing "Open" membership status
• List sizes sufficient (1,000+ for Search, 100+ for Display/YouTube)
• Lists segmented by behavior/intent (not just "all visitors")

Audience Segments

• Custom segments created based on intent signals
• Combined segments built logically
• Customer match lists uploaded (if applicable)
• Lookalike/similar audiences configured where available

Dynamic Remarketing (E-commerce)

• Remarketing parameters actively receiving data
• Parameter IDs matching Merchant Center product IDs
• Data source showing healthy hit counts

Privacy Compliance

• GDPR/privacy regulations followed
• Consent Mode V2 configured (mandatory for EEA/UK)
• User opt-out mechanisms in place
• Google-certified Consent Management Platform (CMP) implemented

2026 Critical: Consent Mode V2 is mandatory for EEA/UK advertisers. US advertisers should implement for state privacy laws (California, Colorado, Virginia, Connecticut, and new 2026 laws in Indiana, Kentucky, Rhode Island). Without proper consent mode, you lose conversion modeling and audience building.

Where to check: Google Ads > Tools > Shared library > Audience manager

Why this matters: A broken remarketing tag means you're not building audiences. We've audited accounts spending $50k/month with remarketing lists showing 0 users because the tag wasn't firing.

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Conversion Tracking

Priority: Check monthly, verify after any website changes

Bad conversion tracking = bad bidding decisions = wasted budget.

Conversion Actions

• All important conversion actions created
• Primary conversions set correctly (used for bidding)
• Secondary conversions set for observation only
• No duplicate conversion counting
• Google Ads tag used (not GA4 imported - Google Ads tag is more accurate)

Conversion Settings

• Values assigned (fixed or dynamic)
• Count setting correct (One for leads, All for purchases)
• Conversion windows appropriate for sales cycle
• Click-through and view-through windows make sense

Attribution

• Data-driven attribution selected (now the default and recommended)
• Understand how your model affects credit allocation
• Review attribution paths in reporting

Enhanced Conversions

• Enhanced conversions for web enabled
• Configured correctly (first-party data matching: email, phone, address)
• Enhanced conversions for leads set up (if B2B/lead gen)

Offline Conversions (if applicable)

• Store visits/store sales tracking configured
• Offline conversion imports set up
• Data flowing correctly
• New customer variable configured (for customer acquisition reporting)

Where to check: Google Ads > Goals > Conversions > Summary

Why this matters: We've seen accounts optimizing toward the wrong conversion (newsletter signups instead of purchases) for months. One settings change doubled their ROAS overnight.

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Budget Settings

Priority: Check weekly

Budget Allocation

• Monthly budget documented for each campaign
• Budget aligned with campaign priority/potential
• No critical campaigns limited by budget

Budget Health

• High-performing campaigns have room to scale
• Low-performing campaigns not over-funded
• Seasonal budget adjustments planned

Budget vs. Market Size

• Budget sufficient for target keywords/audiences
• Competitive landscape considered
• Growth headroom identified

Why this matters: We regularly see $100k/month accounts with their best campaign capped at $50/day while underperforming campaigns get $500/day. Budget allocation is strategy.

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Bidding Strategies

Priority: Check monthly

Strategy Selection

• Bidding strategy matches campaign goals
• Sufficient conversion data for smart bidding (30+ conversions/month ideal, 15 minimum)
• Manual bidding only where smart bidding isn't viable

Target Settings

• tROAS/tCPA targets realistic and aligned with goals
• Targets adjusted by product category/service if needed
• Max CPC caps set appropriately (if using portfolio bidding)

Branded Campaigns

• Target Impression Share considered for brand terms
• Brand bidding strategy intentional

Bid Adjustments

• Device adjustments reviewed (if using manual/maximize clicks)
• Location adjustments based on performance data
• Ad schedule configured and current
• Seasonality adjustments used for known fluctuations

Where to check: Campaign settings > Bidding

2026 Note: Enhanced CPC was deprecated in early 2025. If you had eCPC campaigns, verify they migrated to Manual CPC or were upgraded to a smart bidding strategy.

Why this matters: Wrong bidding strategy is the #1 cause of poor performance. We've fixed accounts by simply switching from manual CPC to tROAS - 40% improvement in 30 days.

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Search Campaigns

Campaign Structure

• Branded search campaign exists (separate from non-brand)
• Brand terms negative'd from non-brand campaigns
• BoFu (bottom of funnel) campaigns for high-intent terms
• Logical naming convention used
• No empty campaigns or ad groups

Campaign Settings

• Correct conversion goals selected per campaign
• Geographic targeting set to "Presence" (not "Presence or interest")
• Language settings correct
• Network settings intentional (Search partners on/off)

AI Max for Search (NEW 2025)

• AI Max enabled/disabled intentionally (rolled out Q3 2025)
• If enabled: Search term matching reviewed regularly
• If enabled: Text customization quality checked
• If enabled: Final URL expansion URLs reviewed
• Brand guidelines configured (if using AI Max)

What is AI Max?: Not a new campaign type - it's a suite of AI features for existing Search campaigns. Includes broader search term matching, AI-generated ad copy, and dynamic landing page selection. Google claims 14% more conversions at similar CPA. Test carefully and monitor search terms report closely.

Keywords

• Mix of match types used strategically
• Broad match paired with smart bidding (required for broad to work well)
• Keywords grouped by theme/landing page
• Regular search term reviews happening
• Low performers paused or negative'd

Dynamic Search Ads

• DSA targeting relevant pages only
• Irrelevant pages excluded (blog, policy, shipping, etc.)
• Negative keywords applied to DSA campaigns
• Search terms reviewed regularly
• Branded keywords excluded from DSA

2026 Note: DSA may be deprecated in favor of AI Max for Search. If you rely heavily on DSA, start testing AI Max and PMax alternatives.

Quality Score

• Average quality score tracked (weighted by impressions)
• Expected CTR analyzed
• Ad relevance evaluated
• Landing page experience checked

Benchmark: Quality score 7+ is healthy. Below 5 needs attention.

Ad Copy

• RSAs in every ad group (ETAs deprecated since June 2022)
• Headlines cover USPs, CTAs, keywords
• Descriptions compelling and specific
• Pin usage minimal (or tested deliberately)
• Ad strength "Good" or "Excellent"
• A/B testing ongoing

2026 Note: Call-only ads are being deprecated. Can't create new ones after February 2026, stop serving February 2027. Transition to RSAs with call assets instead.

Ad Assets (formerly Extensions)

• 4+ sitelinks with descriptions and unique URLs
• 4+ callout assets
• Structured snippets added
• Call assets configured (replacing call-only ads)
• Price assets (if applicable)
• Image assets (if relevant)
• Promotion assets (during sales)
• Location assets (if local)
• Assets aligned with campaign themes

Where to check: Google Ads > Campaigns > Assets

Why this matters: Missing assets = smaller ad real estate = lower CTR = higher CPC. Full assets can improve CTR by 10-15%.

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Performance Max Campaigns

Campaign Structure

• Logical campaign segmentation (if multiple PMax)
• Segmentation based on budget/target needs
• All required elements present (assets, signals, products)

Asset Groups

• Asset groups segmented by theme/product category
• Listing groups aligned with asset groups
• Each asset group has coherent messaging

Campaign Settings

• Correct conversion goals selected
• Customer acquisition settings configured (New Customer Only mode available)
• Value rules applied (if applicable)
• Correct Merchant Center feed connected
• Geographic and language targeting correct

Brand Guidelines (NEW 2025)

• Business name defined at campaign level (required since Jan 2025)
• Logo assets linked at campaign level
• Landscape logo uploaded
• Brand colors configured (if using brand guidelines)
• Font preferences set (if using brand guidelines)

2026 Update: Brand guidelines are now required for new PMax campaigns. Existing campaigns were auto-migrated by October 2025. Check that your brand assets migrated correctly.

URL Settings

• Final URL expansion setting intentional
• Irrelevant URLs excluded from expansion

Negative Keywords (UPDATED 2025)

• Negative keywords added directly in campaign settings (no longer need Google Support)
• Up to 10,000 negative keywords per campaign
• Search Terms Report reviewed regularly
• Brand terms excluded if running separate brand campaigns
• Account-level negatives applying to PMax

Where to check: PMax Campaign > Keywords > Negative Keywords

Major 2025 Update: You can now add negative keywords directly in the Google Ads UI. No more requesting through Google Support. The limit is 10,000 per campaign. Search Terms Report is also now available for PMax.

Assets (Updated Requirements)

• 3-15 headlines used (at least one under 15 characters)
• 1-5 long headlines used (90 characters max)
• 2-5 descriptions used (at least one under 60 characters)
• Up to 20 images uploaded (landscape, square, portrait)
• 1-5 logos uploaded
• 1-5 videos uploaded (minimum 10 seconds)

Recommended: 11+ headlines, 4+ descriptions, 15+ images, 5 videos. Google's AI needs variety to optimize effectively.

Asset Quality

• Headlines include USPs and CTAs
• Images high quality and diverse (lifestyle, product, etc.)
• Videos professionally produced (or auto-generated ones reviewed and approved)

Reporting (NEW 2025)

• Channel-level reporting reviewed (Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube, etc.)
• Search Terms Report analyzed
• Asset performance reviewed by asset group
• Placement report checked for low-quality sites

2025 Update: PMax now shows channel-level spend and performance breakdown. No longer a complete black box.

Product Performance

• Top products getting appropriate traffic
• Underperforming products identified
• Zero-impression products investigated
• Product-level ROAS analyzed

Feed-only consideration: For some e-commerce accounts, feed-only PMax (no creative assets) outperforms full PMax. Test if you haven't.

Why this matters: PMax with incomplete assets will auto-generate low-quality creative. We've seen brands running AI-generated videos that hurt their brand perception.

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Demand Gen Campaigns (NEW - Replaced Video Action Campaigns)

Priority: Check if running YouTube/Discovery/Gmail ads

Background: Video Action Campaigns were automatically upgraded to Demand Gen in July 2025. If you had VAC campaigns, verify the migration went smoothly.

Campaign Setup

• Campaign goals aligned with funnel stage (awareness vs. consideration vs. conversion)
• Correct conversion actions selected
• Bidding strategy appropriate (Maximize conversions, Target CPA, or Target CPC)
• New customer acquisition goals configured (if applicable)

Channel Controls

• Channels selected intentionally (YouTube, Discover, Gmail, Display Network)
• YouTube Shorts enabled/disabled based on creative fit
• Placements reviewed and exclusions added

Creative Assets

• Video assets uploaded (horizontal, vertical, square)
• 9:16 vertical images for Shorts (if targeting Shorts)
• Image assets diverse and high-quality
• Auto-generated videos reviewed (if using)

Audiences

• Audience signals configured
• Optimized targeting enabled/disabled intentionally
• Audience exclusions set (existing customers if focusing on acquisition)

Reporting

• View-through conversions tracked separately
• Channel performance compared to paid social benchmarks
• Frequency capping appropriate

Why this matters: Demand Gen is Google's answer to Meta ads - visual, discovery-focused campaigns across YouTube, Discover, and Gmail. It's where video and image campaigns live now.

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Quick Reference: Audit Priority

Weekly

• Search term reports + negative keywords
• Budget pacing
• Top-level performance metrics
• PMax Search Terms Report (new)

Monthly

• Full performance review
• Audience list health
• Conversion tracking verification
• Bidding strategy review
• Asset performance review
• Channel-level PMax reporting

Quarterly

• Account settings audit
• Data connections check
• Consent Mode verification
• Full checklist review
• Brand guidelines review (PMax)

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2026 Key Changes Summary

What's New:

• AI Max for Search (optional AI features for Search campaigns)
• PMax negative keywords in UI (up to 10,000, no more Google Support requests)
• PMax channel-level reporting
• PMax Search Terms Report
• Demand Gen (replaced Video Action Campaigns)
• Brand Guidelines for PMax (required for new campaigns)
• Consent Mode V2 (mandatory for EEA/UK)

What's Deprecated:

• Call-only ads (can't create new Feb 2026, stop serving Feb 2027)
• Enhanced CPC bidding (migrated to Manual CPC)
• Video Action Campaigns (migrated to Demand Gen)
• Expanded Text Ads (deprecated since 2022, RSAs only)

What's Coming:

• DSA likely to be deprecated (start testing AI Max/PMax alternatives)
• More AI automation across all campaign types
• Stricter privacy requirements (more US state laws in 2026)

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Next Steps

Found issues in your audit?

If you want to fix them yourself: Prioritize by impact. Negative keywords and conversion tracking usually deliver the fastest ROI improvements.

If you want help: We audit accounts like this daily. If you want a second set of eyes on your account, reach out.

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This checklist is maintained by Tegra based on 100+ account audits. Last updated January 2026.