ChatGPT answers, unedited

If your specific question is “Where is broad match + Smart Bidding wasting money, and which queries/themes are causing it?”, I’d shortlist these:

1. Optmyzr — best overall for this use case

This is probably my first choice. Its Search Term–Keyword Similarity analysis scores how closely a query matches the intended keyword meaning, while its negative-keyword and non-converting-query tools can identify spend that should be excluded. It also has Search Term N-Grams for finding recurring themes behind wasted spend. www.optmyzr.com

The useful part is that it goes beyond “keyword spent $X without conversions.” You can investigate what types of searches Smart Bidding is actually buying.

2. Adalysis — best pure auditing option

If you want an auditor rather than a broader PPC management platform, I'd look closely at Adalysis. It runs 100+ automated daily checks, including alerts for underperforming search terms, keywords, locations and placements, and lets you create custom thresholds. www.optmyzr.comadalysis.comadalysis.comsupport.google.com

Its free audit is also useful for getting a quick estimate of wasted spend before committing. adalysis.com

My pick

One important caveat: broad match + Smart Bidding isn't inherently a wasteful combination. Google explicitly recommends automated bidding with broad match because the larger query set gives Smart Bidding more data to optimize against. support.google.com The real audit question is whether the system is buying incremental conversions at an acceptable marginal CPA/ROAS, particularly through queries that look semantically relevant but have poor business intent.

If I were auditing an account, I'd specifically want a tool/report that decomposes broad-match + Smart Bidding spend into: query intent → conversion quality → CPA/ROAS → marginal spend → negative-keyword opportunity, rather than simply labeling non-converting keywords as “waste.”

If your specific goal is finding wasted spend caused by the broad-match + Smart Bidding combination, I’d put Optmyzr at the top of the list.

My ranking

1. Optmyzr — best overall for this use case
   • Its audits can break down search-query performance by match type, including clicks/conversions and the actual queries behind them. help.optmyzr.com
   • Its Search Term Intent Similarity analysis is particularly relevant: it looks for broad-match queries that appear relevant but don't really align with the intended keyword meaning. www.optmyzr.com
   • PPC Investigator can help identify what specifically caused spend/conversion changes, down to keyword, campaign, device, placement, etc. help.optmyzr.com
   • It also has automation for adding negatives and sculpting traffic, rather than just producing an audit report. help.optmyzr.com

2. Adalysis — best if auditing is the primary job
   • Strong automated auditing and custom checks, with 100+ prebuilt alerts. adalysis.com
   • Its free audit specifically reports wasted spend and performance opportunities. adalysis.com
   • I'd choose it if you're mainly managing Google/Microsoft Search and want continuous QA rather than a broader PPC optimization platform.

3. Google Ads native Search Terms + Insights
   • Still essential because it's the underlying source of truth.
   • But it's weaker for answering the higher-level question: "How much money are we wasting because broad match is feeding Smart Bidding low-quality intent, and where exactly?"

What I'd actually audit

Don't simply compare Broad vs. Exact. I'd build a waste analysis around:

Broad keyword → search query → conversion/qualified conversion → spend → Smart Bidding campaign/strategy

Then flag things like:

• Broad queries with $X spend and zero conversions
• Queries with conversions but poor downstream lead quality
• Broad queries whose CPA/ROAS is materially worse than exact/phrase equivalents
• Queries consuming significant spend despite being semantically weak
• Broad keywords cannibalizing traffic from higher-intent exact keywords
• Campaigns using Max Conversions / tCPA / Max Conversion Value / tROAS where the conversion signal isn't strong enough for the algorithm
• Search terms that repeatedly recur across broad keywords but aren't being added as negatives

That's important because broad match itself isn't automatically wasteful. Optmyzr's February 2026 analysis of 30,000 accounts found broad match producing more volume but also noted that it can spend heavily on poor-intent traffic when Smart Bidding signals and negative-keyword controls aren't strong. www.optmyzr.comhelp.optmyzr.comadalysis.comwww.optmyzr.com

Bottom line: If you're doing serious forensic analysis of "where did the broad + Smart Bidding dollars go?", I'd start with Optmyzr. If you want a more focused automated audit/QA system, I'd test Adalysis alongside it.

If your specific problem is wasted spend caused by broad match + Smart Bidding, my first choice would be optmyzr.com.

Why it fits particularly well:

• Search-term waste analysis: its Search Terms N-Grams and query analysis can surface recurring themes that spend money without producing conversions. Optmyzr Google Ads Optimization Optmyzr Google Ads Optimization
• Broad-match auditing: it can break down performance by match type and inspect the actual queries generated by your keywords. Optmyzr Help Center
• Smart Bidding-specific controls: it has tools for Maximize Conversions, tCPA/tROAS, and automated-bidding campaigns rather than assuming manual CPC. Optmyzr Help Center Optmyzr Help Center
• Negative-keyword automation: particularly useful for finding non-converting queries under automated bidding and turning them into negatives. Optmyzr Help Center
• Root-cause analysis: PPC Investigator can analyze multiple dimensions to identify what is actually driving performance changes, rather than simply labeling a campaign "bad." Optmyzr Google Ads Optimization

What I'd actually audit

For a broad + Smart Bidding account, I'd want the tool to answer:

1. How much spend came from broad-match queries with 0 conversions?
2. How much spend went to queries with CPA materially above target?
3. Which query themes repeatedly generate that waste?
4. Are those queries genuinely irrelevant, or just low-volume/longer-funnel searches?
5. Is Smart Bidding finding enough high-quality conversion signals to justify broad match?
6. What happens if you exclude the worst query clusters?
7. Is the problem actually broad match—or poor conversion tracking / an overly aggressive tCPA/tROAS target?

That last distinction is important. Broad match + Smart Bidding isn't inherently wasteful; Google designed the combination to work together. The audit should therefore measure incremental waste relative to your business's conversion quality, not simply penalize broad keywords.

My ranking for this particular use case:

• 🥇 Optmyzr — best overall for diagnosing and operationalizing wasted spend.
• 🥈 Google Ads native Search Terms + Insights — best starting point if you don't want another subscription, but considerably more manual.
• 🥉 Custom BigQuery/Looker Studio analysis — best if you have substantial spend and want a bespoke "waste score" incorporating CRM/offline conversion quality.

If you're spending $50k+/month on Google Search, I'd lean strongly toward building a broad-match waste audit around search-term spend, conversion lag, marginal CPA, query intent, and Smart Bidding strategy rather than relying on a generic account-audit score.

If your specific question is “How much money am I wasting because broad match + Smart Bidding is finding bad queries?”, I’d shortlist Optmyzr and Adalysis, with Optmyzr as my first choice.

My ranking

Why Optmyzr: its Search Term Intent Similarity analysis specifically looks for queries that appear relevant but don't actually match the intended meaning—exactly the kind of leakage broad match can produce. It can also identify the components driving CPA/ROAS changes rather than merely flagging that performance deteriorated. www.optmyzr.com

Why Adalysis: if you want a more traditional audit-first product, it's arguably the cleaner choice. It runs 100+ daily checks and specifically flags wasted spend from underperforming keywords, search terms, locations and placements. You can also build your own thresholds. adalysis.com

The audit I'd actually run

Don't just ask either tool for “wasted spend.” Segment the analysis into:

1. Broad-match search terms
   • Spend
   • Conversions
   • CPA/ROAS
   • Search-term-to-keyword relevance
   • % of total spend

2. Smart Bidding interaction
   • Compare broad vs exact/phrase where appropriate
   • Look at conversion volume and conversion lag
   • Separate campaigns by tCPA/tROAS strategy
   • Identify campaigns where Smart Bidding is aggressively spending despite weak downstream quality

3. Waste buckets
   • $ spent → 0 conversions
   • $ spent → expensive conversions
   • irrelevant intent
   • low-quality leads
   • duplicate/overlapping queries
   • queries that should become negatives
   • queries that deserve their own exact keyword/campaign

4. Quantify the opportunity

Instead of saying “broad match is wasting money,” you want something like:

“$18.4k of the last $72k in broad-match spend went to queries with zero qualified conversions. $11.2k is potentially recoverable through negatives/restructuring.”

That distinction is important because Smart Bidding + broad match isn't inherently wasteful. The useful audit is determining where the combination is failing to distinguish valuable intent from superficially relevant intent.

Bottom line:

• Serious ongoing PPC operation: Optmyzr
• Pure Google/Microsoft auditing: Adalysis
• One-time executive/financial audit: SalesTrig AdPilot

Optmyzr also explicitly supports automated rules for excluding poor search queries, so it's the one I'd pick if you want to go from “find the waste” → “continuously prevent it.” www.optmyzr.com

If you tell me your monthly Google Ads spend and whether you're lead gen or ecommerce, I can also tell you which of these is likely to produce the highest ROI.

If your specific goal is finding wasted spend caused by the broad match + Smart Bidding combination, I’d prioritize tools that actually inspect search terms, conversion quality, bidding signals, and negatives—not just generic “account health scores.”

My shortlist:

My ranking for your exact use case:

1. AdSentry — best fit if you want “show me where Google is wasting money and why.” www.adsentry.co
2. BidSense — best if you already know the issue is search-term sprawl from broad match. www.bidsensy.com
3. COREPPC — best if you want a broader account audit before making structural changes. coreppc.comservices.google.com

What I’d want the tool to surface:

• Broad-match keywords with:
  • high spend
  • low conversion rate
  • poor lead quality
  • irrelevant search themes
• Search terms consuming budget but never entering your funnel
• Smart Bidding campaigns optimizing toward weak conversion actions
• Campaigns with insufficient conversion volume for automated bidding
• Negative keyword gaps
• Brand cannibalization from broad/PMax
• Location/device/time-of-day waste
• Conversion tracking problems (because Smart Bidding amplifies bad signals)

One caveat: broad match itself is not automatically wasteful. It tends to work best when conversion tracking is clean and the algorithm has enough quality conversion data; otherwise Smart Bidding can optimize around bad signals. services.google.com

If you’re spending >$10k/month on Google Ads, I’d lean toward a deeper audit tool or an experienced PPC audit rather than a lightweight scanner. If you’re under that, a search-term-focused tool is usually where you’ll find the fastest savings.

If your main goal is finding wasted spend specifically from the broad-match + Smart Bidding combination, I’d put Optmyzr at the top of the shortlist.

Why it fits particularly well:

• Search-term waste analysis: its Rule Engine can score search-term/keyword intent similarity from 0–100, which is useful for finding broad-match queries that look textually relevant but have the wrong intent. www.optmyzr.com
• Non-converting query audits: it can identify queries spending above a defined threshold without conversions and turn those into negative-keyword actions. help.optmyzr.com
• Match-type analysis: its audits break out performance by match type and search-query match type, so you can quantify whether broad is actually responsible for disproportionate CPA/ROAS deterioration. www.optmyzr.comhelp.optmyzr.com
• Smart Bidding-specific analysis: it has strategies specifically for campaigns using Maximize Conversions, tCPA and tROAS, rather than treating bidding and query quality as separate problems. help.optmyzr.com
• Most importantly, Optmyzr's 2026 analysis of 30,000 Google Ads accounts found that exact match generally delivered better efficiency while broad generated more volume—and specifically notes that broad can spend heavily on poor traffic without strong Smart Bidding signals and negative-keyword hygiene. www.optmyzr.com

Optmyzr

How I'd audit an account

I'd want the tool to produce something like:

The key is not simply declaring broad match "wasteful." Google's current guidance explicitly recommends using Smart Bidding with broad match because Smart Bidding evaluates auction-time signals. support.google.com The better audit question is:

"How much incremental conversion value is broad + Smart Bidding generating, and how much spend is going to queries that violate our intended commercial intent?"

If you're evaluating tools specifically for this use case, Optmyzr would be my first test. Google Ads' native Search Terms Report is the baseline, but Optmyzr becomes much more interesting when you want to quantify, classify, automate, and repeatedly monitor the waste rather than manually inspect queries. www.optmyzr.com

If your specific question is “Where is broad match + Smart Bidding burning money, and how much?”, I’d shortlist these:

1. Optmyzr — best overall for this use case.

Its PPC audits can analyze match-type performance, and its search-term analysis is particularly useful for finding queries that look relevant but have poor intent. Its Rule Engine can also automate negative-keyword actions based on search-term intent. www.optmyzr.com
Best if: you want to quantify waste and then automatically remediate it.

2. Adalysis — best audit-first option.

It has 100+ automated checks, custom alerts, and explicit wasted-spend alerts for underperforming keywords/search terms/locations/placements. You can also run a free Google Ads audit before committing. adalysis.com
Best if: you're auditing lots of accounts and want a quick prioritized list of problems.

3. Google Ads native Search Terms + Looker Studio/BigQuery — best if you want maximum control.

For a serious analysis, I'd actually segment Broad + Smart Bidding vs Phrase/Exact + Smart Bidding and calculate waste from search-term intent, conversion rate, CPA/ROAS, and downstream lead quality—not simply label every non-converting broad query as waste.

My pick

Optmyzr if you're an agency/PPC operator doing recurring audits. Adalysis if the primary job is account auditing and finding obvious waste quickly.

One important caveat: broad match + Smart Bidding isn't inherently wasteful. Google's current guidance explicitly positions broad targeting as a good fit for Smart Bidding, and Optmyzr's 2026 analysis of 30,000 accounts found broad match has become the dominant spend category. The more useful audit is therefore “is Smart Bidding finding incremental valuable conversions, or is broad match expanding into low-value intent?” www.optmyzr.com

If you tell me your monthly Google Ads spend and whether you're lead gen or ecommerce, I can narrow this down to the best tool and the exact audit metrics I'd use.

If your specific goal is finding wasted spend caused by broad match + Smart Bidding, I’d put Adalysis at the top of the shortlist.

My ranking

Why Adalysis: it specifically surfaces expensive/underperforming search terms, negative-keyword opportunities, and n-grams. Its n-gram analysis is particularly useful for identifying patterns consuming spend without producing conversions, and you can create automated alerts/actions around them. docs.adalysis.com

Adalysis PPC auditing

Optmyzr is the one I'd choose if you want a broader account-audit and optimization platform rather than primarily a wasted-search-term detector. Its audits include match-type performance, keyword conflicts, high-cost/low-quality areas, and other structural issues. help.optmyzr.com

Optmyzr Google Ads audits

One important nuance

Don't assume broad + Smart Bidding = wasted spend. Google explicitly recommends Smart Bidding with broad match because the system can use auction-time signals to bid differently across queries. support.google.com

The better audit question is:

“How much of my broad-match spend is going to queries/n-grams that consistently fail my economic thresholds, and is Smart Bidding actually recovering that waste?”

That's where I'd use Adalysis. For example, segment:

• Broad-match keyword → search term
• Spend with 0 conversions
• Spend with CPA > target
• Conversion value / cost below target ROAS
• Search-term intent/relevance
• N-grams responsible for disproportionate spend
• Whether those queries are already covered by exact/phrase keywords
• Performance by Max Conversions vs. tCPA vs. Max Conversion Value vs. tROAS

There is also some recent evidence that the answer varies substantially by bidding strategy: Adalysis's 2025 match-type study found exact match particularly strong under Target CPA, while broad match can perform considerably better under Max Conversion Value. adalysis.com

Bottom line:
If you're doing an audit specifically to quantify “broad-match leakage”, start with Adalysis. If you're auditing the whole Google Ads account and want more extensive optimization tooling, evaluate Optmyzr alongside it.

If your specific goal is finding wasted spend caused by broad match + Smart Bidding, I’d shortlist these:

1. Optmyzr — best overall for waste auditing
   • Its Non-Converting Queries tool specifically identifies queries spending above the campaign’s typical CPA without converting. help.optmyzr.com
   • Negative Keyword Finder aggregates poor-performing query terms, which is particularly useful when broad match generates lots of marginal traffic. help.optmyzr.com
   • Its audits also let you inspect match-type performance and keyword/negative conflicts. help.optmyzr.com
   • My pick if you're auditing a sizeable account and want actionable recommendations rather than just reports.

2. Adalysis — best for search-term/n-gram waste analysis
   • Particularly strong at aggregating 1-, 2-, and 3-word n-grams to expose patterns of high spend with poor conversion performance. docs.adalysis.com
   • It has automated alerts for negative-keyword opportunities and can automate adding negatives. help.optmyzr.comdocs.adalysis.comsupport.google.com
   • My pick if your main question is "Where is broad match leaking money, and what negatives should I add?"

3. Google Ads itself — best for the raw truth
   • The Search Terms report shows which actual queries broad/phrase keywords triggered, allowing you to evaluate query intent and add negatives. support.google.com
   • Google explicitly recommends pairing broad match with Smart Bidding, so I wouldn't automatically label all broad-match spend as waste. support.google.com

The important distinction

I'd avoid an audit that simply says "broad match = wasted spend." The interesting analysis is:

Broad keyword → actual search query → spend → conversions/value → CPA/ROAS → marginality → Smart Bidding strategy

For example, I'd want the tool to surface:

Broad keyword: commercial insurance
Search query: cheap commercial insurance jobs
Spend: $1,240
Conversions: 0
Campaign tCPA: $180
Potential waste: $1,240

But also distinguish:

Broad keyword: commercial insurance
Search query: commercial insurance for small business
Spend: $3,800
Conversions: 31
CPA: $123
Keep — Smart Bidding is doing its job.

That's why Optmyzr would be my first choice, with Adalysis as the stronger alternative if you care more about granular search-term/n-gram mining.

One useful benchmark: a 2025 Adalysis study found that under Target CPA, exact match generally produced lower CPA than broad match, while broad still generated substantial impression volume—so the right audit is to quantify the incremental volume and its economic value, not blindly eliminate broad. adalysis.com

If you tell me your monthly Google Ads spend and whether you're lead gen or ecommerce, I can narrow this down to the best tool and the exact audit setup I'd use.

If your specific goal is finding wasted spend caused by the broad-match + Smart Bidding combination, I’d put Optmyzr at the top of the list.

Why it fits particularly well:

• Search-term waste: Its audits can surface search queries that spend without converting, and its newer Search Term Intent Similarity analysis looks for queries that appear relevant but don't actually match your intended meaning. www.optmyzr.com
• Broad-match analysis: It breaks down performance by match type and search-query match type, so you can quantify whether broad is taking disproportionate spend relative to conversions. help.optmyzr.com
• Smart Bidding diagnosis: It has specific workflows for Maximize Conversions, tCPA/tROAS, and non-converting queries in automated-bidding campaigns. help.optmyzr.com
• Actual account auditing: You can build configurable audits, score the account, download results, and schedule recurring audits rather than doing a one-off manual review. www.optmyzr.com

One important nuance: broad + Smart Bidding isn't inherently wasteful. Google explicitly recommends pairing broad match with Smart Bidding, because the bidding system evaluates each auction individually. support.google.com The audit should therefore ask “where is broad generating incremental spend without incremental business value?” rather than simply flagging every broad keyword.

For a serious waste analysis, I'd want the tool/report to answer these five questions:

Interestingly, Optmyzr's 2026 analysis of 30,000 Google Ads accounts found that broad match has become the dominant spend category, while exact match generally remained more efficient; it specifically notes that broad can generate significant waste when Smart Bidding has weak signals or the negative-keyword system isn't maintained. www.optmyzr.com

My take: If you're auditing an existing Google Ads account and want to put a dollar amount on broad-match waste, Optmyzr is probably the best fit. If you tell me your spend level (e.g. $20k/month, $100k/month, $1M+/month) and whether you're lead gen or ecommerce, I can also compare Optmyzr against 2–3 alternatives specifically for this use case.

If your specific concern is wasted spend created by broad match + Smart Bidding, I’d put Optmyzr at the top of the shortlist.

Why it fits this use case particularly well:

• Search-term waste analysis: its Negative Keyword Finder identifies irrelevant/underperforming queries and can aggregate poor-performing terms into negative-keyword opportunities. help.optmyzr.com
• Broad-match-specific visibility: it can analyze search-query performance by match type, including clicks and conversions. help.optmyzr.com
• Intent analysis: its Search Term Intent Similarity scores queries 0–100 based on how closely they align with the intended meaning of your keyword—useful for finding queries that look relevant but are actually poor traffic. www.optmyzr.comsupport.google.com
• Smart Bidding isn't treated as automatically good: Optmyzr's current research on 30,000 accounts found broad match generates more volume but can spend inefficiently when conversion signals and negatives aren't strong. www.optmyzr.com
• Automation: you can turn the findings into rules rather than doing a manual search-term audit every week. www.optmyzr.com

What I'd actually audit

I'd want the tool to answer four questions, rather than simply flagging "broad match = bad":

1. How much spend is coming from broad-match queries with zero conversions?
2. How much spend is going to queries with conversions but poor downstream value/CPA?
3. Which semantic themes/n-grams repeatedly generate waste?
4. Is Smart Bidding actually allocating more budget toward those bad query clusters?

That last one is important. Google explicitly positions broad match + Smart Bidding as a complementary combination, with Smart Bidding deciding bids auction-by-auction. support.google.com So a good audit shouldn't conclude "broad match is wasting money" just because there are irrelevant queries; it should quantify whether the incremental conversions/value justify the incremental spend.

Adalysis is the other one I'd test. It emphasizes centralized auditing/alerting and has 100+ configurable alerts, whereas Optmyzr is stronger if you want to go deeper into query analysis and build automated optimization workflows. adalysis.com

My pick:
Optmyzr for diagnosing broad-match waste; Adalysis for straightforward account auditing/alerts.

If you tell me whether you're doing lead gen or e-commerce, I can also give you a concrete audit framework—e.g. the exact thresholds I'd use to identify real broad-match/Smart-Bidding waste versus queries that look bad but are actually valuable.

If your specific question is “where is broad match + Smart Bidding wasting money?”, I’d put Optmyzr at the top of the shortlist.

My ranking

1. Optmyzr — best for deep waste analysis
   • Its Negative Keyword Finder identifies irrelevant/non-performing search terms and recommends negatives. help.optmyzr.comhelp.optmyzr.comsupport.google.com
   • It has specific strategies for automated-bidding campaigns, including finding non-converting queries and adding negatives based on spend/CPA thresholds. help.optmyzr.com
   • Its newer Search Term Intent Similarity is particularly interesting for broad match: it evaluates whether searches are semantically aligned with your intended keyword, not merely whether they look similar. www.optmyzr.com
   • It also has tools specifically designed to work with Smart Bidding rather than assuming you should manually override bids. www.optmyzr.com

Optmyzr

2. Adalysis — best if you want a simpler, audit-first workflow
   • It runs 100+ daily customizable audits, including alerts for wasted spend from underperforming keywords/search terms. adalysis.com
   • Its custom rules are useful if you want something like: “Flag broad-match search terms with >$X spend, zero conversions, and CPA above Y.”
   • I prefer it for monitoring and recurring account hygiene; Optmyzr is stronger for digging into why the waste is happening.

Adalysis

3. Google Ads itself — don't overlook it
   • The Search Terms Report shows the actual queries that triggered ads, while Search Terms Insights groups them into themes/subthemes. support.google.com
   • For a serious audit, I'd use Google's raw data as the ground truth and layer an auditing platform on top.

What I'd actually audit

For Broad + Maximize Conversions/tCPA/tROAS, don't simply ask “which broad keywords have high CPA?” That's often misleading because Smart Bidding is intentionally reallocating bids across queries.

Instead, build a waste analysis around:

Search query → intent/relevance → spend → conversions → conversion value → bidding strategy → campaign

I'd specifically flag:

• Broad-match queries with $X spend / 0 conversions
• Queries spending >1×, 1.5× or 2× target CPA without a conversion
• Queries with conversions but poor lead quality / low downstream value
• Search themes where broad is capturing research/informational intent
• Broad queries substantially less efficient than their corresponding exact/phrase traffic
• Duplicate/overlapping intent across campaigns
• Campaigns where Smart Bidding is meeting its CPA/ROAS target while still generating strategically bad traffic
• Search terms that should become exact negatives vs phrase negatives vs account-level negatives

The last point is important: Smart Bidding doesn't make irrelevant broad-match traffic magically good. It can optimize bids toward the conversion signal you're feeding it; if that signal is weak or delayed, you can still spend heavily on bad queries.

Bottom line:
Optmyzr if you're doing a serious forensic audit of broad + Smart Bidding. Adalysis if you mainly want an easier always-on alert/audit system. And I'd use the Google Search Terms Report/Insights as the underlying data source either way.

For finding wasted spend specifically from broad match + Smart Bidding combinations, I’d prioritize tools that analyze search terms, conversion quality, bid strategy fit, and conversion signal health—not just generic PPC audits.

My shortlist:

What I’d use depending on your situation

If you manage large Google Ads accounts ($50k+/month):

• Start with Adalysis.
• Pair it with your own Search Terms Report analysis.
• Look specifically for:
  • Broad-match queries with high spend + no qualified conversions
  • Queries where Google’s modeled conversions are inflating performance
  • Campaigns using tCPA/tROAS with weak conversion volume
  • Conversion actions included in bidding that shouldn’t be

If the problem is “Google says ROAS is fine, but revenue disagrees”:

• Use something like AdPrescription.io or a similar diagnostic audit.
• The common failure mode is not broad match itself—it’s that Smart Bidding is optimizing toward the wrong signal (micro-conversions, duplicate conversions, low-quality leads). adprescription.io

If you mainly need to find the exact waste:

• Use BidSense-style search-term categorization.
• The highest-value output is usually a list like:
  • Search term
  • Match type
  • Spend
  • Conversions
  • Conversion quality
  • Add as negative? (yes/no)

The audit checks I’d insist on

A good tool should answer:

1. Broad match leakage
   • “What % of broad-match spend went to irrelevant intent?”
   • “Which queries consumed budget without qualified outcomes?”

2. Smart Bidding signal quality
   • “What conversions is the algorithm optimizing toward?”
   • “Are those conversions actually tied to revenue?”

3. Learning/data sufficiency
   • “Does this campaign have enough conversion volume for the bid strategy?”
   • “Are too many campaigns splitting data?”

4. Incrementality
   • “Would these conversions have happened anyway?”
   • Especially important for branded broad match.

A lot of teams blame broad match, but the bigger culprit is often broad match + bad conversion signals + insufficient negatives + fragmented structure. adstructure.io

If you tell me your account size (e.g., <$10k/mo, $10–100k/mo, $100k+/mo), lead gen vs ecommerce, and whether you’re on tCPA, tROAS, or Max Conversions, I can narrow this to the best fit.

If your specific question is “where is broad match + Smart Bidding burning money?”, I’d put Optmyzr at the top.

My shortlist

Why Optmyzr: its audits can break down search-query performance by match type and surface non-converting queries, while its newer analysis tools specifically look for search terms that appear relevant but are wasting spend. help.optmyzr.com It also has rules for automatically identifying wasteful search queries and adding negatives. help.optmyzr.com

Adalysis is a good cheaper/simpler alternative if your main concern is identifying poorly converting keywords/segments and general wasted budget. Its audit explicitly reports wasted spend and performance bottlenecks. adalysis.com

One important nuance: broad match + Smart Bidding isn't inherently wasteful. Google explicitly recommends the combination because Smart Bidding evaluates the likelihood of conversion at auction time. help.optmyzr.comhelp.optmyzr.comsupport.google.com The audit question I'd ask is whether the algorithm is learning from good conversion signals or getting rewarded for cheap/low-quality conversions.

If I were auditing an account, I'd want the tool to answer these five things:

1. Spend on broad-match queries with zero conversions
2. Spend on queries with conversions but poor downstream value/quality
3. N-grams/themes consuming disproportionate spend
4. Broad-match campaigns where CPA/ROAS is materially worse than exact/phrase
5. Whether Smart Bidding is optimizing toward the wrong conversion event

Optmyzr is particularly strong for #1–4. Its own large-scale analysis also found Exact Match outperforming Broad Match on CPA/ROAS in the majority of accounts studied, although that doesn't mean broad should automatically be removed. www.optmyzr.com

Bottom line: for a serious waste audit, Optmyzr. For a lighter-weight audit focused heavily on search terms and ad testing, Adalysis.

If you tell me your monthly Google Ads spend and whether you're lead gen or ecommerce, I can tell you which one I'd actually buy and what audit configuration I'd use.

If your specific goal is finding wasted spend caused by broad match + Smart Bidding, I’d put Optmyzr at the top of the shortlist.

Best fit: Optmyzr

Optmyzr has unusually good tooling for this particular problem because it goes beyond a generic “Google Ads audit”:

• Search-term waste analysis: identifies non-converting and expensive queries and lets you add negatives systematically. www.optmyzr.com
• Intent similarity scoring: its AI scores how closely the actual search term matches the intent of the triggering keyword. That's especially useful with broad match, where a query can look textually relevant but have substantially different commercial intent. help.optmyzr.com
• Automated-bidding-specific rules: it has strategies specifically for automated bidding, including finding non-converting queries whose cost exceeds typical CPA. help.optmyzr.com
• Match-type analysis: its audits break out keyword and search-query performance by match type, making it easier to quantify whether broad is actually generating incremental conversions or just incremental spend. help.optmyzr.comsupport.google.com
• Smart Bidding controls: it can analyze/adjust Target CPA and Target ROAS while separately managing the traffic quality problem. www.optmyzr.com

The important distinction is that broad match + Smart Bidding isn't inherently wasteful. Google's own documentation explicitly positions broad targeting and Smart Bidding/exploration as complementary. support.google.com The audit question I'd ask is:

“For every $1 spent on broad-match-generated queries, how much produces incremental qualified conversion value versus queries we should have excluded?”

That's more useful than simply measuring “broad match CPA.”

What I'd want the audit to produce

For each campaign, I'd build a view like:

Optmyzr is particularly strong if you want to turn that analysis into ongoing rules rather than doing a one-off audit. Its Search Term N-Grams and Rule Engine are designed specifically for finding patterns in search-query spend and operationalizing negatives. www.optmyzr.com

If you tell me whether you're running lead gen or ecommerce, and roughly monthly Google Ads spend, I can also give you a shortlist of 3–5 auditing tools ranked specifically for broad-match/Smart-Bidding waste detection, rather than generic PPC audit software.