---
type: "Article"
title: "PPC Audit | PPC and paid search"
description: "PPC audit and strategy: surface wasted spend and structural issues, then build a budget model, campaign structure, audience plan and 90-day roadmap."
resource: "https://www.laurelinlabs.com/services/ppc-audit-strategy"
tags: ["ppc-audit", "ppc-and-paid-search", "google-ads-audit"]
generated: { by: "laurelin-site-build/2026-08-25", at: "2026-08-25T12:00:00+00:00" }
status: "stable"
stale_after: "2027-02-25T00:00:00+00:00"
sources:
  - id: "stat-1"
    resource: "https://www.wordstream.com/blog/2024-google-ads-benchmarks"
    title: "WordStream"
  - id: "stat-2"
    resource: "https://blog.google/products/search/ai-overview-expansion-may-2025-update/"
    title: "Google"
  - id: "stat-3"
    resource: "https://sparktoro.com/blog/in-2026-less-than-one-third-of-google-searches-still-send-a-click/"
    title: "SparkToro"
---
# PPC Audit & Strategy

A paid-search audit that surfaces wasted spend, negative-keyword gaps, quality-score and structural issues, paired with a strategy that sets budget allocation, campaign structure, audience targeting and a 90-day launch plan. The audit works from your own Google Ads account data rather than industry averages, so every recommendation carries the spend it recovers or the conversions it adds, and the strategy sets the measurement model before the first campaign changes.

## What does a PPC audit check?

Paid accounts accumulate efficiency leaks over time. The audit covers wasted spend, negative-keyword gaps, quality-score issues, campaign and ad-group structure, match-type discipline and audience targeting gaps, delivered as a prioritised fix list.

## What does the paid search strategy set out?

For a structured paid blueprint: a budget allocation model, campaign structure, audience targeting plan, bidding-strategy recommendation and a 90-day launch plan. Integrated with organic where it helps, paid and AEO reinforcing one entity story rather than running as separate campaigns.

## Key figures

| Metric | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Average Google Ads click-through rate, all industries (2024) | 6.42% | WordStream[^stat-1] |
| Monthly users of Google AI Overviews | 2 billion | Google[^stat-2] |
| Google searches that end without a click (2026) | 68% | SparkToro[^stat-3] |


## FAQ

### What does a PPC audit cover?

Account structure, search term waste and negative keywords, match types, Quality Score, bidding strategy and the conversion data it learns from, ad copy and extensions, landing page relevance and speed, and conversion tracking accuracy. The output is a prioritised list of fixes with the spend each one recovers.

### How much wasted spend does a Google Ads audit typically find?

It varies by account maturity, but search term waste and broad-match leakage are the two most common findings and are usually the fastest to fix. The audit quantifies both from your own account data rather than quoting an industry average.


Hub: [Paid Media & Integration](/topics/paid-media.md)

[^stat-1]: WordStream
[^stat-2]: Google
[^stat-3]: SparkToro