Rising costs, flat leads and vague monthly reports are common reasons businesses start looking for a new agency. But switching without checking the account first can make things worse. You may lose data you didn’t know the old agency controlled, or hand a new agency the same underlying problems. A Google Ads account audit shows what’s actually wrong and what you’ll need to take with you.
This guide is for US business owners and marketing managers who work with an outside PPC company and are weighing a change. It covers what Google requires agencies to share with you, 25 checks across ownership, tracking, structure, ads and bidding, how to tell an agency problem from an account problem, and how to switch without losing history.
Quick Answer: What Should a Google Ads Account Audit Check?
A Google Ads account audit before switching agencies should check who owns and pays for the account, whether conversion tracking reflects real leads or sales, how campaigns are structured and targeted, what search terms and ads are running, and whether bidding and automation settings suit your goals. It should also confirm the agency’s reports match the account.
Key takeaways
- Confirm you own the account, billing and tracking before anything else.
- Every performance judgment depends on conversion tracking, so check it early.
- Google’s policies require agencies to report your real ad costs, separate from their fees.
- Keep your existing account when you switch, so history and data stay with you.
What Is a Google Ads Account Audit?
A Google Ads account audit is a structured review of an advertising account’s ownership, tracking, campaign setup, targeting, ads, bidding and spend, measured against the business’s goals. Before an agency switch, it answers two questions: what’s holding performance back, and what data and access you need to secure before the current agency steps away.
What Does Google Require Agencies to Share With You?
Under Google’s transparency requirements for third parties, agencies managing Google Ads must give clients monthly cost, click and impression data for their account, report the exact amount Google charged separately from agency fees, disclose any management fee in writing before the first purchase and on invoices, and share the account’s customer ID when asked.
If your current agency can’t or won’t provide these, that’s worth noting before you decide anything else. It also sets the standard to hold any new pay-per-click agency to.
The 25-Point Google Ads Account Audit
Work through these in order. The first two groups decide what you can safely take with you. The rest show where performance is being lost.
Ownership and Access
- Admin access: you, not only the agency, have Admin access. Google’s access level guidance notes that relying on a single admin can cost you access to tags if that person becomes unavailable, so keep at least two admins at your business.
- Billing: the account is paid through your own payment profile, not the agency’s card or invoice account.
- Customer ID and manager links: you know your 10-digit customer ID and which manager accounts are linked to it.
- Linked products: Google Analytics 4, Merchant Center and YouTube links are owned by your business.
- Tag ownership: your Google Tag Manager container and conversion tags sit in accounts you control.
Conversion Tracking
- Primary conversions: actions used for bidding are real outcomes, such as leads, calls or purchases, not page views or button clicks.
- No double counting: the same action isn’t counted twice, for example through both a Google Ads tag and a GA4 import set as primary.
- Conversion values: revenue or lead values are passed where they matter, so bidding can favor higher-value results.
- Enhanced conversions: considered and set up where suitable, to improve measurement accuracy.
- Lead quality: qualified leads or sales from your CRM are imported back, so the account learns from outcomes, not just form fills.
Campaign Structure and Targeting
- Structure: campaigns are split by goal, service or product line and location where performance differs.
- Location settings: the targeting option chosen (people in your area, or people showing interest in it) matches where you can actually serve customers.
- Network settings: Search Partners and Display expansion on search campaigns are deliberate choices, reviewed against results.
- Brand vs non-brand: branded searches run separately, so they don’t make the whole account look better than it is.
- Performance Max visibility: channel, search term and placement reports have been reviewed, with brand and audience exclusions set where needed.
Keywords, Search Terms and Ads
- Search terms: the search terms report is reviewed regularly, with negative keyword lists kept up to date.
- Match types and AI Max: you know which campaigns use broad match or AI Max features. Google began upgrading eligible campaigns to AI Max in September 2026, with Dynamic Search Ads scheduled to retire in February 2027.
- Responsive search ads: each ad group has relevant ads with varied headlines, without so much pinning that testing stops.
- Assets: sitelinks, callouts, call and location assets are in place, accurate and current.
- Landing pages: each ad sends people to a page that matches the search and loads quickly on mobile. Weak pages often need better landing page copy, not more budget.
Bidding, Budget and Automation
- Bid strategy fit: the strategy matches your goal and conversion volume, and any targets are realistic.
- Lost impression share: you can see whether campaigns lose visibility to budget or to ad rank, and where budget is going to waste.
- Auto-applied recommendations: check which auto-apply recommendations are turned on, since they can change the account without anyone reviewing each change.
- Change history: the account shows regular, meaningful changes by the agency that match what their reports claim.
- Reporting accuracy: costs, clicks and conversions in the agency’s reports match what the Google Ads account shows for the same dates.
Is It the Agency or the Account?
Not every problem the audit finds means the agency is failing. Some trace back to tracking, budget or the website. Use the findings to decide whether to switch, fix or both.
| Finding | What it usually points to | Likely response |
| No admin access or agency-owned billing | A control and transparency problem | Secure access and billing before any other decision |
| Conversions counting page views or duplicates | A measurement problem that distorts every result | Fix tracking first, then reassess performance |
| No search term reviews or change history for months | An account management problem | Strong case for switching |
| Good ads and clicks, few leads | Often a landing page, offer or follow-up problem | Fix the site and lead handling alongside the ads |
| Spend capped by budget with strong results | A budget constraint, not poor management | Discuss budget before changing agencies |
How Do You Switch PPC Agencies Without Losing Data?
Switch PPC agencies by keeping your existing Google Ads account, confirming you have Admin access and own billing, exporting reports and change history, and securing your tags and linked accounts before the old agency is removed. Then give the new agency access and plan a short overlap so campaigns aren’t paused or rebuilt without reason.
Before the handover, make sure you have:
- Admin access for at least two people at your business.
- Billing moved to your own payment profile, if it isn’t already.
- Exports of performance reports covering at least the last 12 months.
- Ownership of your Google Tag Manager container, GA4 property and conversion actions.
- A list of active experiments, scripts, rules and third-party tools connected to the account.
- A written handover of what the old agency changed recently and why.
If the old agency created the account under its own billing or refuses to transfer it, ask for the customer ID and cost data Google requires them to share, and keep a record of your requests. For contract disputes, get advice from a business attorney.
A Common Pattern in PPC Agency Handovers
A common pattern plays out at the end of an agency relationship. The business asks for access and finds the Google Ads account was set up under the agency’s billing, the conversion tags live in the agency’s Tag Manager account, and the only admin is an agency employee.
The ads may have been managed well, but the business can’t take its history with it. The new agency starts a fresh account, bidding has no conversion data to learn from, and costs rise for weeks while it rebuilds. Checking ownership at the start of any agency relationship, not the end, avoids the problem entirely.
How Savit Interactive Approaches Google Ads Audits
Savit Interactive works as a Google Ads agency for businesses that want clear, accountable paid search. If you’re weighing a switch, the team can review your account against this checklist and show you what to fix before any decision.
As a PPC advertising agency, Savit also offers defined PPC management packages for businesses that want the scope agreed in writing from the start.
Run Your Google Ads Account Audit Before You Decide
A Google Ads account audit shows whether you need a new agency, better tracking or both, and protects your data either way. To get a second opinion on your account before you switch, ask the Savit Interactive team for a Google Ads review.
