The Most Common Sources of Wasted Spend
Most advertisers waste 30-50% of their ad budget on ineffective tactics. Here's where the waste happens:
Irrelevant Search Terms (Google Ads)
Typical waste: 20-40% of search budget
Your keywords trigger for more queries than you think. Broad and phrase match expand to irrelevant searches that cost money but never convert.
How to fix:
- Check Search Terms Report daily (if spend > $500/day)
- Add negative keywords for any irrelevant query with 3+ clicks
- Build campaign-level negative keyword lists (shared across campaigns)
- Common negatives: "free", "cheap", "job", "career", "DIY", "tutorial"
Expected savings: $200-$2,000/month depending on budget
Poor Quality Placements (Display/Meta)
Typical waste: 15-30% of display/social budget
Automatic placements include low-quality sites, apps, and audience network placements that get clicks but no conversions.
How to fix:
- Google Display: Exclude placements with CTR > 5% but CVR < 0.5% (click bots)
- Meta: Check placement breakdown - pause Audience Network if CPA is 2x higher
- Use placement reports weekly to find and block bad performers
- Consider manual placement selection for high-budget campaigns
Expected savings: $150-$1,500/month depending on budget
Underperforming Devices/Locations
Typical waste: 10-25% of total budget
Mobile often converts 30-50% worse than desktop. Certain geos may have high traffic but low conversion intent.
How to fix:
- Check device performance: reduce mobile bids by 20-50% if CPA is significantly higher
- Analyze location reports: exclude or reduce bids for geos with CPA > 2x average
- Consider mobile-specific landing pages to improve mobile conversion rate
- Test desktop-only campaigns for high-consideration purchases (B2B, enterprise)
Expected savings: $100-$1,000/month depending on budget
Broad Audience Targeting Without Data
Typical waste: 25-40% of cold audience budget
Using broad targeting or AI-driven targeting without enough conversion data means the algorithm doesn't know who to target.
How to fix:
- Don't use broad match or Advantage+ Audience unless you have 50+ conversions/week
- Start narrow with lookalikes or interest targeting, expand gradually
- Use our Audience Helper to find relevant interests
- Test one new audience at a time with 10-20% of budget
Expected savings: $200-$2,000/month depending on budget
Letting Campaigns Run Without Monitoring
Typical waste: 15-30% of total budget over time
"Set and forget" campaigns slowly decay. Performance drops, CPCs increase, creative fatigues, but spend continues.
How to fix:
- Weekly performance reviews (minimum)
- Daily checks if spending $500+/day
- Set up automated rules to pause campaigns when CPA exceeds threshold (e.g., pause if CPA > $100)
- Use budget pacing alerts to catch overspend early
Expected savings: $150-$1,500/month depending on budget
30-Day Waste Elimination Plan
Follow this checklist to systematically identify and eliminate wasted spend:
Week 1: Audit & Identify
Export last 30 days of performance data for all campaigns
Calculate CPA by device, location, placement, audience - identify anything 2x above average
Review search terms report - make list of all irrelevant queries
Use the KPI Analyzer to benchmark your metrics
Week 2: Quick Wins
Add 50-100 negative keywords from search terms audit
Pause worst 20% of placements (display/audience network)
Reduce mobile bids by 30% if mobile CPA is 50%+ higher
Pause or reduce budget for bottom 3 performing campaigns
Week 3: Structural Changes
Separate high-performers into their own campaigns with higher budgets
Create device-specific campaigns if performance gap is significant
Implement tighter geo-targeting (exclude low-performing states/cities)
Use Scenario Calculator to model budget reallocation
Week 4: Measure & Refine
Compare week 4 metrics to week 1 baseline
Calculate total savings (reduced spend + improved efficiency)
Reinvest savings into top-performing campaigns
Document what worked - make it part of weekly routine
Track Your Savings and Optimize Performance
Use our free tools to monitor metrics, identify waste, and forecast the impact of optimizations.