The 8 things I check in every Shopify D2C Google Ads audit.
No templates, no auto-generated PDF. I'm in your account, manually, looking at your data — then we talk through it on a call.
Brand vs non-brand revenue split
I pull search-terms reports and isolate branded queries. If 30%+ of your "Google Ads revenue" comes from people typing your brand name, your dashboard isn't measuring acquisition — it's measuring demand you already earned.
PMax cannibalization check
I check whether brand exclusions are on, then look at PMax search insights for branded query overlap. Without exclusions, PMax bids on your brand and reports those wins as PMax conversions — making itself look 2–3× more effective than it is.
Campaign architecture audit
Every campaign should answer: what's my job? I map every campaign to one of four roles (Capture / Scale / Demand / Retarget) and flag overlap, waste, and missing roles.
Search-terms + negative-keyword review
I go through your search-terms report line by line and find the irrelevant queries burning budget. In most accounts, 15–30% of non-brand spend goes to search terms that will never convert.
Bid strategy + budget allocation
Are bid strategies appropriate for each campaign's role? Is budget distributed by performance or just spread evenly? I identify misallocations and recommend specific changes — including whether your tROAS targets are realistic against your CM2.
Merchant Center + feed health
How many products are approved and showing? Are titles and descriptions optimized for Shopping and PMax? Feed issues are invisible profit killers — you can't sell what Google won't show.
Conversion tracking accuracy
Pixel + GA4 + Enhanced Conversions audit. Is tracking firing correctly? Double-counting? Missing checkout events? Bad data means bad optimization decisions — and most accounts have at least one tracking issue.
Shopify-side reconciliation
The audit's most important number. I cross-reference Google Ads platform-reported revenue against Shopify-attributed revenue — the gap between the two is where most D2C profit goes to die.
5 business days, end to end. No surprises.
From "grant access" to "here's your action plan" — exactly what happens, when.
Grant read-only access
- Google Ads (read-only)
- Google Analytics + Merchant Center
- Shopify (Reports access)
- 15-min onboarding form
I dig in, manually
- All 8 audit pillars run
- Search-terms report read line by line
- PMax insights cross-checked
- Shopify revenue reconciled
Live screen-share walkthrough
- I show what I found, in your account
- Every leak quantified in dollars
- You ask questions in real time
- Recording goes to you and team
Written action plan delivered
- 17-point ranked action list
- Negative-keyword copy-paste list
- Restructure spec (if needed)
- Tracking-fix checklist
The 4 leak patterns in 9 out of 10 D2C Google Ads accounts.
Different brands, same four problems. Each one is invisible on the dashboard — and shows up the moment you reconcile against Shopify.
Branded-search inflation
30–40% of "Google Ads revenue" is people typing your brand name. They were going to buy anyway — your dashboard is taking credit for demand you earned through Meta, organic, email, and word-of-mouth.
PMax cannibalizing Search
Without brand exclusions, PMax bids on your brand name, wins those clicks at low CPCs, and reports them as PMax conversions. It looks like the hero campaign — it's just stealing credit from Search and organic.
Search-terms waste
Match types drift. Phrase becomes broad in practice. Without aggressive negative-keyword maintenance, 15–30% of non-brand spend goes to queries that will never convert for a Shopify D2C brand.
Tracking + Shopify mismatch
Pixel double-fires, GA4 misses checkouts, Enhanced Conversions isn't wired up. Meanwhile Shopify says one thing and the platform says another. Spend decisions get made on the wrong number.
You walk away with a written 17-point action plan — not a 30-page deck.
Every action ranked by expected impact, ownable by your team or your current agency. The recording covers the why — the document covers the what.
Three deliverables, all yours to keep.
Whether you sign on for managed services or take the plan to your existing team, you own the output. The audit pays for itself either way.
- Recorded live walkthrough (private link)
- Written 17-point action plan, ranked by impact
- Restructure spec (if a rebuild is recommended)
- Negative-keyword list, formatted for Google Ads Editor
- Conversion-tracking fix checklist
- Real non-brand ROAS + Shopify-reconciled ROAS
The audit pays for itself, either way.
If you sign on as a managed-services client within 14 days, the $499 is fully credited to your month-1 fee. If you don't, you keep the plan and implement with whoever you choose.
$499 flat — no surprise upsell
One price. No "starter package" that turns into a $5K rebuild quote. The audit is the deliverable.
Credited to month-1 if you sign within 14 days
Effectively free if you decide to work together. Credited at full $499 face value against the Combined plan base.
Plan is yours regardless
Take it to your in-house team, your current agency, or a different consultant. You paid for the work — you keep the output.
The honest fit filter — saves us both a call.
A sharp audit on a wrong-fit brand is wasted on both sides. Here's the cutoff.
This is for you if
- You're a Shopify D2C brand at $75K–$150K/mo revenue
- Spending $15K+/month on Google Ads (Search + PMax + Shopping)
- Beauty, skincare, supplements, or close adjacent vertical
- ROAS dashboards look great but margin keeps shrinking
- You suspect PMax is "too good to be true" but can't prove it
- About to scale spend and want the foundation checked first
- Prior agency experience — you know what bad looks like
This is NOT for you if
- Spending under $15K/mo on Google Ads (math doesn't pay back)
- B2B, lead-gen, SaaS, or local services
- Looking for a cheap "automated" PPC report
- Not on Shopify (other platforms — talk first, case-by-case)
- You want a 30-page deck — I deliver 17 actions and a recording
- You expect a guaranteed-ROAS pitch (those are sales scripts)
Pre-emptive FAQ.
If a real question isn't here, use the contact form — I reply same-day.
How is this different from free audits other agencies run?
Free audits are sales calls. The agency spends 15 min skimming and 45 min pitching. This is a 5-day, manual deep-dive that delivers a written plan you own — independent of whether you ever work with me. The $499 ensures both sides take it seriously.
What if I already have an agency managing my Google Ads?
Common — and welcome. Many founders use the audit to get an agency-independent view of what's actually happening. If your current agency is doing solid work, I'll tell you. If they're not, you'll have specific, defensible questions to ask them — backed by Shopify-side numbers.
Do you need full account access?
No. Read-only is enough across Google Ads, Google Analytics, Merchant Center, and Shopify (Reports access). You can revoke access the day after the audit. I never make changes during the audit phase.
How fast can I book?
Typically within 1 week of payment. The full audit + walkthrough + deliverables land within 5 business days of access being granted.
Is this just an upsell for management services?
No. The 17-point plan is written so your team or your current agency can implement it line-by-line. If you do want me to implement it, the $499 credits to month-1 of managed services — but there is zero obligation. About 35–40% of audits convert. The other 60% take the plan and implement elsewhere.
What does the $499 cover, exactly?
5 business days of manual work, the live screen-share, the recorded walkthrough, the written 17-point action plan, the copy-paste negative-keyword list, the restructure spec (if recommended), and the tracking-fix checklist. No platform fees, no setup fees, no hidden line items.
Can the audit cover Meta Ads too?
This page is the Google Ads audit. For Meta-side audits we run a separate $499 engagement covering creative testing pipeline, purchaser-exclusion gaps, retargeting overcount, and Pixel + CAPI accuracy. If you want both Google + Meta audited at once, email me — combined audit is $799.
Do you guarantee the audit will find waste?
I don't guarantee outcomes — but in 9 out of 10 Shopify D2C audits I run, total recoverable run-rate leak is between 15–35% of monthly Google Ads spend. The 1 in 10 where I find nothing material — I tell you straight, refund $250 of the $499, and you walk away with a clean bill of health (which is also useful).
Book the $499 Profit Audit.
5 business days from access to deliverables. live walkthrough. 17-point action plan you keep. Fully credited to month-1 if you sign within 14 days.