G05criticalGoogle Ads~10 min to fix
Brand vs Non-Brand separation
- Pass
- Brand and non-brand in separate campaigns
- Fail
- Mixed in same campaign
All controls
Account Structure
30 controls, 2 of them critical.
M13criticalMeta Ads
Learning phase status
- Pass
- <30% of ad sets in "Learning Limited"
- Warning
- 30-50% Learning Limited
- Fail
- >50% ad sets "Learning Limited"
G03highGoogle Ads
Single theme ad groups
- Pass
- Each ad group targets 1 keyword theme (≤10 keywords with impressions)
- Warning
- 11-20 keywords with consistent theme
- Fail
- 20+ unrelated keywords (theme drift)
G04highGoogle Ads
Campaign count per objective
- Pass
- ≤5 campaigns per funnel stage/objective (strip geos before counting)
- Warning
- 6-8
- Fail
- >8 (fragmented)
G07highGoogle Ads
Search + PMax overlap
- Pass
- Brand exclusions configured in PMax when Search brand campaign exists
- Warning
- Partial brand exclusions
- Fail
- No brand exclusions
G08highGoogle Ads
Budget allocation matches priority
- Pass
- Top performers not budget-limited
- Warning
- Minor budget constraints
- Fail
- Severely budget-limited
G11highGoogle Ads~2 min to fix
Geographic targeting accuracy
- Pass
- "People in" (not "Presence or Interest") for local
- Fail
- "Presence or Interest" for local business
G12highGoogle Ads~2 min to fix
Network settings
- Pass
- Search Partners ON; Display Network OFF for Search
- Warning
- Search Partners OFF
- Fail
- Display Network ON for Search
M-ST1highMeta Ads
Budget adequacy
- Pass
- Daily budget ≥5× target CPA per ad set
- Warning
- Budget 2-5× CPA
- Fail
- Budget <2× target CPA
M11highMeta Ads
Campaign count
- Pass
- 1-3 campaigns total recommended. Jon Loomer: "One campaign per goal. Rarely need multiple ad sets for targeting"
- Warning
- 4-5 campaigns
- Fail
- >5 campaigns (over-fragmented)
M12highMeta Ads
CBO vs ABO appropriateness
- Pass
- CBO for >$500/day; ABO for testing <$100/day
- Warning
- Mismatched but functional
- Fail
- CBO on <$100/day OR ABO on >$500/day
M14highMeta Ads
Learning phase resets
- Pass
- No unnecessary edits during learning phase
- Warning
- 1-2 minor resets
- Fail
- Frequent resets from edits during learning
M16highMeta Ads
Ad set consolidation
- Pass
- No overlapping ad sets targeting same audience
- Warning
- Minor overlap (<20%)
- Fail
- Significant audience overlap (>30%)
M17highMeta Ads
Budget distribution
- Pass
- All ad sets getting ≥$10/day
- Warning
- Some ad sets $5-$10/day
- Fail
- Ad sets getting <$5/day
M18highMeta Ads
Campaign objective alignment
- Pass
- Objective matches actual business goal
- Fail
- Objective mismatched (e.g., Traffic for Sales)
M35highMeta Ads~2 min to fix
Attribution setting
- Pass
- Attribution windows verified post-Jan 2026 changes (7-day and 28-day view-through windows REMOVED January 2026). 7-day click / 1-day view configured where available
- Warning
- 1-day click only
- Fail
- Attribution not configured or still expecting removed view-through windows
M36highMeta Ads
Bid strategy appropriateness
- Pass
- Cost Cap for margin protection; Lowest Cost for volume
- Fail
- Bid Cap set below historical CPA
M37highMeta Ads
Frequency cap monitoring (campaign)
- Pass
- Campaign-level prospecting frequency <4.0 (7-day)
- Warning
- Frequency 4.0-6.0
- Fail
- Frequency >6.0
G01mediumGoogle Ads
Campaign naming convention
- Pass
- Consistent pattern (e.g., [Brand]_[Type]_[Geo]_[Target])
- Warning
- Partially consistent
- Fail
- No naming convention
G02mediumGoogle Ads
Ad group naming convention
- Pass
- Matches campaign naming pattern
- Warning
- Partially consistent
- Fail
- No naming convention
G06mediumGoogle Ads
PMax present for eligible accounts
- Pass
- PMax active for accounts with conversion history
- Warning
- PMax tested but paused
- Fail
- No PMax tested despite eligibility
G09mediumGoogle Ads
Campaign daily budget vs spend
- Pass
- No campaigns hitting budget cap before 6PM
- Warning
- 1-2 capped early
- Fail
- Multiple capped before noon
M-ST2mediumMeta Ads
Budget utilization
- Pass
- >80% of daily budget being utilized
- Warning
- 60-80% utilization
- Fail
- <60% utilization
M15mediumMeta Ads
Advantage+ Sales campaign
- Pass
- Advantage+ Sales (renamed from ASC early 2025) active for e-commerce with catalog. Existing customer budget cap eliminated Feb 2025. Research: 22% higher ROAS, 11.7% CPA improvement
- Warning
- Advantage+ Sales tested but paused
- Fail
- Not tested despite eligible catalog
M33mediumMeta Ads
Advantage+ Placements
- Pass
- Advantage+ Placements enabled (unless exclusion needed)
- Warning
- Manual placements (justified)
- Fail
- Manual placements limiting delivery without reason
M34mediumMeta Ads
Placement performance review
- Pass
- Breakdown reviewed monthly; underperformers excluded
- Warning
- Reviewed quarterly
- Fail
- Never reviewed
M38mediumMeta Ads
Breakdown reporting
- Pass
- Age, gender, placement, platform reviewed monthly
- Warning
- Reviewed quarterly
- Fail
- Never reviewed
M39mediumMeta Ads~5 min to fix
UTM parameters
- Pass
- UTM parameters on all ad URLs for GA4 attribution
- Warning
- UTMs on some ads
- Fail
- No UTM parameters
M40mediumMeta Ads
A/B testing active
- Pass
- At least 1 active A/B test (Experiments)
- Warning
- Test planned
- Fail
- No testing infrastructure
G10lowGoogle Ads
Ad schedule configured
- Pass
- Schedule set if business has operating hours
- Fail
- No schedule despite clear hours