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The "Money Wasters": Settings that Drain Budget

Default settings you must change immediately.

Google’s default settings are built to give your ads as much reach as possible, not necessarily to save your budget. Check these first:

1. Network Selection (The #1 Mistake)

By default, Google checks "Include Google Search Partners" and "Include Google Display Network."

Consider unchecking both. For a new Search campaign, it is usually safer to start on Google Search only and test the partners later. The Display Network can spend your budget on lower-intent placements.

2. Location Options (The Hidden Toggle)

You select "United States," but the default setting is "People in, or showing interest in, your targeted locations." This means someone in another country can see your ad just by searching "New York."

Go to Settings > Locations > Location Options and switch it to "Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations."

3. Ad Schedule (Dayparting)

Are your ads running 24/7?

If you are a B2B business, consider turning off ads on Weekends and Midnight - 5 AM. There is no point paying for clicks when no one is there to answer the phone.

Bidding & Budget Controls

Ensuring you don't overspend on Day 1.

4. Bidding Strategy

Are you using "Maximize Conversions"?

For a brand new account with zero data, "Maximize Conversions" often fails because Google doesn't know what a conversion looks like yet. Consider starting with Maximize Clicks (with a bid cap) or Manual CPC to control costs during the learning phase.

5. Daily Budget Amount

Did you type 500 instead of 50?

Double-check your decimal points. Remember, Google can spend up to 2× your daily budget on high-traffic days (but it won’t charge more than your monthly limit).

6. Keyword Match Types

Are all your keywords "Broad Match" (no punctuation)?

Broad match can be risky for new campaigns. Ensure you are using "Phrase Match" ( "keyword" ) or [Exact Match] to keep traffic relevant.

Technical & Tracking Verification

The plumbing must work before you turn on the water.

7. Conversion Tracking Status

Go to Goals > Conversions.

Does the status say "Recording Conversions" or "Unverified"? If it is unverified, fix it before you launch. Otherwise you will be flying blind.

8. Ad Rotation

Ensure this is set to "Optimize: Prefer best performing ads."

This allows Google to automatically show your winner ad more often.

9. Landing Page URLs

Click your own ads in the preview tool. Do they actually load?

Ensure you haven't made a typo in the URL (e.g., www.yoursite.com/product vs www.yoursite.com/products). A 404 error is the fastest way to waste money.

The ClickSambo Safety Check

10. Tracking template & auto-tagging

Have you connected your Google Ads account to ClickSambo?

• Make sure auto-tagging is enabled (Admin > Account settings > Auto-tagging).

• ClickSambo’s Google Ads connection updates your account-level tracking template automatically, so it applies to all campaigns. If you set a campaign- or ad group-level template, it overrides the account-level one, so make sure it also uses the ClickSambo tracking code.

• If you need UTM parameters, add them to the Final URL suffix field instead.

Without this, ClickSambo can’t see your ad clicks, so it can’t detect and block invalid traffic.

🚀 Ready to launch? If you checked all 10 boxes, your campaign is targeted, measured and ready for clean traffic.