Google Ads deep analysis covering Search, Performance Max, AI Max, Display, YouTube, and Demand Gen campaigns. Evaluates 80 checks across conversion tracking, wasted spend, account structure, keywords, ads, and settings. Includes AI Max (search-term-matching, AI Brief, text customization, FUE, brand exclusions) and Smart Bidding signals. Use when user says Google Ads, Google PPC, search ads, PMax, Performance Max, AI Max, AI Brief, broad match audit, Quality Score check, search terms audit, Smart Bidding, or Google campaign.
Google Ads deep analysis covering Search, Performance Max, AI Max, Display, YouTube, and Demand Gen campaigns. Evaluates 80 checks across conversion tracking, wasted spend, account structure, keywords, ads, and settings. Includes AI Max (search-term-matching, AI Brief, text customization, FUE, brand exclusions) and Smart Bidding signals. Use when user says Google Ads, Google PPC, search ads, PMax, Performance Max, AI Max, AI Brief, broad match audit, Quality Score check, search terms audit, Smart Bidding, or Google campaign.
user-invokable
false
tested_date
"2026-05-17T00:00:00.000Z"
tested_with
claude-code v2.x
Google Ads Deep Analysis
Process
Collect Google Ads account data (export, Change History, Search Terms Report)
Validate: confirm data covers ≥30 days and includes Search Terms Report before proceeding
Read ads/references/google-audit.md for full 80-check audit
Read ads/references/benchmarks.md for Google-specific benchmarks
Read ads/references/scoring-system.md for weighted scoring
Evaluate all applicable checks as PASS, WARNING, or FAIL
Validate: confirm all 80 checks evaluated before calculating score
Calculate Google Ads Health Score (0-100)
Generate findings report with action plan
What to Analyze
Conversion Tracking (25% weight)
Google tag (gtag.js) installed and firing on all pages
Enhanced Conversions active (hashed first-party data)
Consent Mode v2 implemented (required for EU/EEA)
Conversion actions mapped correctly (primary vs secondary)
Offline conversion import configured (for lead gen)
Server-side tagging via GTM (recommended for accuracy)
Attribution model: data-driven preferred (last-click as fallback only)
Conversion lag analysis (are conversions still trickling in?)
Wasted Spend (20% weight)
Search Terms Report reviewed (last 30 days minimum)
Keyword cannibalization check (same keywords in multiple campaigns)
Impression share tracked for top keywords
Keyword bid adjustments set for devices/locations/audiences
Ads (15% weight)
RSA: ≥8 unique headlines, ≥3 descriptions per ad group
RSA: ad strength "Good" or "Excellent" (not "Poor" or "Average")
Pin usage minimal and strategic (over-pinning reduces RSA flexibility)
Ad extensions: sitelinks (≥4), callouts (≥4), structured snippets, image
Dynamic keyword insertion used appropriately
Ad copy includes CTA, value proposition, differentiators
Settings (10% weight)
ECPC (Enhanced CPC) flagged as deprecated. Migrate to full Smart Bidding (tCPA/tROAS/Maximize)
Bid strategy appropriate for campaign maturity and goals
Budget pacing: no campaigns limited by budget (unless intentional)
Ad schedule aligned with business hours/conversion patterns
Device bid adjustments set based on performance data
Location targeting: "Presence" not "Presence or Interest"
Network settings: Search Partners reviewed, Display opt-out for Search
GAQL & Data Accuracy
Before analyzing data, read ads/references/gaql-notes.md for known GAQL field incompatibilities,
deduplication patterns, and filter scope best practices. Key rules:
Deduplicate keywords by (ad_group_id + keyword_text + match_type) before any analysis
Only analyze ENABLED campaigns and ad groups (exclude paused/removed)
Filter to keywords with impressions > 0 for theme coherence checks (G03)
Setup: Configure in .mcp.json or Claude Code MCP settings
Customer ID: Extract from CLAUDE.md under Accounts > Google Ads, or ask the user
Fallback: If MCP is not configured, fall back to manual data export (the default workflow)
When MCP is available, use it to pull Search Terms Reports, keyword data, conversion actions,
and campaign structure automatically instead of requiring manual exports.
PMax Deep Dive
If Performance Max campaigns exist, additionally evaluate:
Asset group diversity (text, images, video, feeds)
AI Max layers broad match + keywordless targeting on existing Search campaigns.
14% avg conversion lift for non-retail brands at similar CPA/ROAS (Google Ads blog, May 2025).
DSA, ACA, and campaign-level broad match auto-migrate into AI Max by end of
September 2026; new DSA campaign creation via the Google Ads API ends Sept
2026. Strong negative keyword lists are a hard prerequisite. Independent data
across 250+ campaigns shows more conservative real-world results (+13% median
revenue, +16% median CPA) — set expectations accordingly.
Detection & API field
AI Max is enabled per-campaign via ai_max_setting.enable_ai_max (Google Ads
API v21+). Check the campaign's ai_max_setting resource for current state.
Audit checklist
If AI Max for Search is available or active:
Field check: campaign.ai_max_setting.enable_ai_max = true for eligible
Search campaigns (or documented opt-out reason)
Broad Match + Smart Bidding combo verified — AI Max effectively forces broad
match expansion; without Smart Bidding (tCPA/tROAS/Maximize Conv) it bleeds spend
Search Term Matching — review the search_term_matching_type distribution
in the Search Terms Report (close variants vs broader matches); FAIL if the
broader-match share exceeds 60% on a non-Smart-Bidding campaign
AI Brief configured — Google's new structured brand context input. Audit
for: business name, value prop (≤200 chars), target audience descriptor,
forbidden topics / off-brand language list, regional / legal disclaimers
Text customization rules — AI Max generates headline + description variants
from the brief. Audit for: locked legal phrases, banned competitor names,
approved disclaimer text, pin discipline on must-include claims
Final URL Expansion (FUE) controls — confirm URL include/exclude lists
prevent AI Max routing traffic to checkout-skip pages, password-gated pages,
or 404s. Audit url_expansion_opt_out if you've explicitly disabled FUE
Brand exclusions applied — campaign-level brand exclusion list to prevent
cannibalizing brand search; same mechanism as PMax brand exclusions
Text disclaimers (rolling out May 2026+) — if your vertical requires
disclaimers (health, finance, legal, crypto), confirm Google's new structured
text disclaimer field is populated
Budget impact — AI Max can shift spend ±30% in the first 7 days. Confirm
budget pacing rules and shared budgets won't starve adjacent campaigns
Negative keyword coverage — AI Max broadens reach 3-5x; existing negative
lists must scale. Reuse the negative keyword rules from the Wasted Spend section
but apply at 3x the historical volume
DSA Migration Pre-Flight Checklist
The Sept 2026 auto-migration moves Dynamic Search Ads, Automatically Created
Assets (ACA), and campaign-level broad-match Search campaigns into AI Max
whether or not the advertiser is ready. Run this pre-flight before the
migration deadline:
Inventory DSA campaigns — query campaign.advertising_channel_sub_type IN (SEARCH_DYNAMIC, ...). List campaign IDs, monthly spend, conversion
volume so the migration can be staged by risk
Inventory ACA-enabled campaigns — campaign.ad_strength_settings
with auto-generated headlines enabled
Inventory campaign-level broad-match Search campaigns without AI Max
yet enabled — these will migrate by default
Tracking template audit — DSAs often use {lpurl} ValueTrack
parameters. Confirm tracking templates resolve correctly when AI Max
generates a different final URL via FUE. Re-test parameter substitution
with a synthetic AI Max landing URL
Negative keyword pre-staging — pull the last 90 days of DSA search
terms; pre-stage the irrelevant ones as Exact/Phrase negatives on a
Shared Negative List before migration
AI Brief drafted — write a draft Brief for each migrating campaign
so Google has structured brand context at migration time, not generic
crawled content
URL controls staged — Final URL Expansion include/exclude lists
prepared per campaign (especially for /careers, /admin, /thank-you,
/404 paths that DSAs typically excluded by URL pattern rules)
Brand exclusion lists prepared — campaign-level brand exclusion
file (same format as PMax)
Bidding strategy migration — Manual CPC and ECPC DSA campaigns
MUST move to Smart Bidding before AI Max migration. Pre-stage tCPA or
tROAS targets per migrating campaign
Conversion tracking pre-flight — AI Max attribution relies heavily
on Enhanced Conversions + Consent Mode V2; confirm both are active and
verified per the Conversion Tracking section before migration
Reporting baseline — capture 28-day pre-migration metrics (CTR,
CVR, CPA, ROAS, Search Lost IS by rank/budget) so post-migration impact
can be measured cleanly
Document the migration risk per campaign as LOW (Smart Bidding + strong
negatives + good AI Brief), MEDIUM (Smart Bidding but weak negatives or
no Brief), or HIGH (Manual CPC, weak negatives, generic Brief). Stage
migrations starting LOW → HIGH and pause MEDIUM/HIGH if conversion volume
drops >25% in the first 7 days.
Demand Gen Campaigns
Replaced Video Action Campaigns (auto-upgrade began July 2025). Adding image
assets to a video-only campaign drives 20% more conversions at the same CPA
(Google Ads blog).
Frequency capping NOT supported.
If Demand Gen campaigns exist, evaluate:
Video + image asset mix present (combined format drives 20% more conversions vs video-only at same CPA)
