FIELD NOTES · PAID MEDIA

What should a paid media audit actually examine?

Advertising platforms can report clicks, conversions and improving performance while the underlying evidence tells a different story. A real audit verifies the evidence chain before it optimizes the spend.

what a paid media audit examines

An independent examination of how advertising is measured, targeted, delivered and turned into results.

A conventional PPC audit focuses on campaign structure, keywords, bids, budgets, creative and wasted spend. Those elements matter — but they mislead when conversion tracking is incomplete, attribution is inconsistent, placements are poor quality, or platform results can't be reconciled with analytics and lead outcomes.

The audit may include Google Ads, Meta Ads, Microsoft Ads, GA4, Google Tag Manager, landing pages, CRM data, call tracking and other available records. When evidence is missing, we identify the limitation. We don't replace it with an assumption.

The full evidence chain
01Ad platform
02Click or interaction
03Website behavior
04Conversion signal
05Lead or business outcome
Each link is a place the story can break — and where analytics alone won't show you.
the order of analysis matters

We verify the evidence before we optimize the spend.

Most paid media reviews begin by asking how to improve performance. We begin by determining whether the reported performance can be trusted — a five-stage audit, run in order.

01 stage

Measurement Correctness

Are the systems recording what the organization believes they are recording?

What we examine — 8 checks+
Conversion actions and event definitions
GA4 and advertising-platform connections
Google Ads auto-tagging and campaign parameters
Meta Pixel and Conversions API implementation
Google Tag Manager triggers and duplicate firing
UTMs and source attribution
Calls, forms, purchases and offline outcomes
Differences between platform, analytics and CRM totals
02 stage

Targeting Correctness

Is the media actually aimed at the intended people, searches, locations and contexts?

What we examine — 8 checks+
Search terms and keyword intent
Audience settings and exclusions
Geographic targeting
Brand and non-brand separation
Prospecting and retargeting logic
Network and placement settings
Device, schedule and location patterns
Campaign objectives and optimization events
03 stage

Delivery and Traffic Quality

Where did the media run, and what happened after the interaction?

What we examine — 8 checks+
Placement and publisher patterns
Referral sources
Landing-page behavior
Engagement and session duration
Device and technology profiles
Geographic and hourly patterns
Repeated or unusual event signatures
Differences among campaigns, vendors, channels and objectives
Note An unusual pattern is a reason to look closer — not automatic proof of invalid traffic or misconduct. Where the evidence requires vendor logs or click-level records, the finding is framed accordingly.
04 stage

Performance Efficiency

Once the evidence is sufficiently trustworthy, where is budget being wasted or underused?

What we examine — 10 checks+
Spend concentration
Cost per qualified action
Search-term waste
Negative-keyword coverage
Budget allocation
Bidding strategy
Creative and offer alignment
Landing-page relevance
Campaign and ad-group structure
Opportunities to consolidate, separate, pause or test
05 stage

Business Alignment

Do advertising claims agree with the outcomes that matter to the organization?

Where the data is available, we compare media results with lead quality, sales stages, revenue, membership, appointments, calls, store visits or other defined outcomes.

A platform conversion is not automatically a business result.

questions the audit can answer

The questions worth answering before you spend more.

Are our conversions configured and classified correctly?
Can we reconcile Google Ads or Meta results with GA4?
Are campaigns reaching the intended markets and audiences?
Where is spend being lost to irrelevant searches or placements?
Does observed website behavior support the reported performance?
Are unusual traffic patterns isolated or repeated?
Are agencies or vendors applying agreed exclusions and controls?
Which conclusions are supported by current evidence?
What additional data is required before a conclusion can be reached?
What should be corrected first?

The goal is not the longest possible checklist. It's to identify the issues that materially affect trust, performance and decision-making.

evidence across the paid media system

No single platform provides the complete answer.

Depending on scope and access, we reconcile evidence from across the system — and when sources disagree, the discrepancy is the finding.

Evidence source
What it can help establish
Advertising platforms
Spend, delivery, targeting, placements, clicks and reported conversions
GA4
Acquisition, landing-page behavior, engagement, events, devices, geography and referrers
Tag management
Which actions trigger measurement and how events are transmitted
CRM or lead records
Lead status, quality, sales progression and attributable outcomes
Call and form systems
Whether reported actions correspond to real inquiries
Vendor records
Click logs, placement details, invalid-traffic controls and reconciliation evidence
example finding

How a governed finding is structured.

Governed template pending approved evidence
Finding
[ Insert verified paid media finding ]
What we examine
[ Insert the decision or reported performance claim being examined ]
Evidence reviewed
[ Insert the advertising, analytics, placement, measurement and outcome records used ]
Observed pattern
[ Describe the documented pattern without overstating what caused it ]
Why it matters
[ Explain the implication for measurement, budget, lead quality or decision-making ]
Required action or validation
[ Insert the corrective step, vendor evidence request or remeasurement requirement ]
Evidence record
[ Insert the date range, source records, captures and methodology link ]
Replaced with an approved, dated finding before publication. View a sample paid media finding →
frequently asked questions

Questions we're asked before an audit.

Is this the same as a Google Ads audit?+

Google Ads may be part of the scope, but the audit is broader. A Google Ads audit examines the account itself. A paid media audit also determines whether tracking, analytics, website behavior, lead records and business outcomes support what the account reports.

Can you audit Meta Ads and paid social?+

Yes. Scope can include Meta campaign setup, audiences, placements, creative, conversion events, Pixel or Conversions API measurement, GA4 behavior and available lead outcomes.

Do you need access to our advertising accounts?+

Read-only account access provides the strongest view, but an initial audit can also use exports, screenshots, analytics reports, tagging documentation and CRM data. Any limitation created by missing access is documented.

Can you determine whether traffic is fraudulent?+

Not from one signal. The audit can identify patterns consistent with low-quality or potentially invalid delivery and specify the evidence needed for validation. A definitive conclusion may require click logs, invalid-traffic records, vendor documentation or other evidence not available in standard platform reports.

Will the audit include recommendations?+

Yes. Recommendations are tied to findings and ordered by evidence strength, business relevance and corrective priority. We don't recommend optimization based on data that hasn't first been evaluated for trustworthiness.

The engagement

This is the work behind a Paid Media Audit.

When you want it run on your own account — measurement, targeting, delivery and outcomes examined against the evidence.

See the service →
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