How much time for a self-audit?

Orientir 90–120 minutes with the plan in this article. Deeper with exports, 90-day Search terms and CRM match — half a day. Write answers as ok / doubt / flag; don't just browse the account.

The vendor won't give owner rights — is that normal?

For long-term work — no. Guest access without export and team change creates lock-in. The business should own Google Ads / MCC; the vendor works with delegated access.

When is it too early to switch agencies?

If a 4–8 week test runs on a sane budget, conversions are set and matched to CRM, reports are clear (queries, negatives, CPL by service), and the vendor cleans search terms — often better to improve the account than burn learning history.

What to check first: CPL or access?

Access, billing and conversion definition (Primary) first. Pretty CPL with junk goals and guest access is a weak reason to "leave as is".

Do we need an independent auditor?

Useful if you have no in-house expert or a conflict with the current vendor. The job is checklist facts and a clear handover — not selling a yearly contract on the first call.

The new vendor wants to restart everything from scratch. Agree?

Not immediately. Audit the current account first: negatives, geo, clean conversions and structure often fix enough. A full restart is justified when the account is chaos, access is lost, or measurement is fundamentally broken — and that should be justified in writing.

What budget is "adequate" for a test in Tashkent?

For many local services, media around $300–800/month at a sane CPC is a common orientir. Exact numbers depend on niche. What matters: a 4–8 week test with clear Primary conversions — not "another $500 of guessing" without hypotheses and negatives.

Advertising18 minJuly 16, 2026

Google Ads audit: checklist before switching contractors

Robert MirovUpdated Sep 5, 2026

Changing a Google Ads agency (ads in Google Search and networks) costs time and money: part of campaign learning history is lost, access must be rebuilt, and a new vendor often proposes to "restart everything" and spend budget again collecting data. In Tashkent and across Uzbekistan, a typical local SMB (small and medium business) media budget is often around $300–800/month — at that spend, a blind contractor switch hurts especially hard. Before you stay or leave, a calm audit helps — yourself or with an independent party. Not a "gotcha" exercise, but facts: what is actually set up in the account, what counts as a conversion (a goal action: lead form, call, Telegram chat), who owns the account, and where the money goes. Below is a practical checklist for a business owner: what to check in 90–120 minutes, which red flags mean negligence, and which are a normal test phase. UZNEO is often brought in at this stage — audit and relaunch without blindly "let's burn another $500".

01Why audit before you switch — not after

Many switch agencies on emotion: "too few leads", "clicks are expensive", "it's been half a year". Without a review, the new vendor often repeats the same mistakes under another logo — or burns 4–6 weeks "from scratch" when the account could have been fixed in two. An audit answers three questions: • Is the problem in measurement (conversions, CRM) or in traffic buying? • Is the problem in access (you are not the owner) or in competence? • Should you fix the current account or rebuild — and with what risks? A typical "before / after" picture after a calm review:

Before (emotion-driven decision)	After (post-audit)
Switch agencies because of "expensive CPL"	Primary was "Contacts" page views; CRM CPL 3× higher
New vendor "starts from zero"	Negatives, geo and clean conversions were enough
Lost history and access	Export, MCC ownership, clear handover
Another 2 months "for learning"	2–4 weeks of targeted fixes + hypothesis tests

CPL (cost per lead) in a screenshot without CRM reconciliation is a weak reason to fire a team. Facts first.

0290–120 minute audit plan

You do not need to read the whole account top to bottom. Order saves time and keeps the talk with the vendor focused.

Block	Time	What to check
Access and billing	15 min	Are you owner? Can you export? Whose card / contract?
Structure and search terms	30 min	Groups by intent? Negatives? Junk in 30–90 days?
Conversions, geo, schedule	25 min	What is primary? Tag duplicates? Tashkent UTC+5?
Brand vs generic + landing	25 min	Where do leads come from? Does the offer match the ad?
Click fraud and decision	15–25 min	Anomalies? Fix / switch / test 4 more weeks

Write answers in three columns: ok / doubt / red flag. That is enough for a talk with the current vendor or an independent auditor. If in an hour everything is "green" except one zone — it is often smarter to improve than to burn learning history. Account launch basics — in the Google Ads setup guide.

03Access, account ownership and billing

This is block #1 — people often leave it for last, and that is a mistake. Without account ownership, switching agencies means lost history, lock-in, and fights over "whose negatives". What to check: • Are you the Owner of the Google Ads account or MCC (Manager account — the agency's manager account), not a permanent guest / limited Standard user? • Can you invite another specialist without the current vendor's permission? • Do you have access to GTM (Google Tag Manager — the tag container on the site), Google Analytics / GA4, and the domain where tags live? • Can you download: change history, the negative keyword list (queries you do not want to show for), the Search terms report (actual search queries), conversion settings? • Is billing on your card / Google contract — or pay "through the agency" with no clear statement?

Signal	What it means in practice
Guest access only	Switching teams without export ≈ almost from scratch
Agency card, you get a monthly invoice	Hard to match spend to the account and contract
Export refused "by policy"	Red flag: lock-in matters more than results
Owner is your corporate Google	Normal: vendor works under your control

Without account ownership, leaving makes sense even if numbers "look fine". Pretty CPL with guest access is a weak argument to "leave as is".

04Account structure, search terms and negatives

Open Search campaigns separately from Performance Max (Google's automated multi-placement campaign) and answer honestly. Structure • Is there logic: brand / services / geo — or one dump for all keywords? • How many active ad groups pack 20–30 different intents together? • Do ads match the landing: a "repair" headline should not send people to a homepage with no offer? Search terms • Was the report reviewed for 30–90 days? • Junk like "free", "job", "download", rival brands, irrelevant cities? • Is irrelevant query spend a few percent — or a visible share of budget? Negative keywords • Is there a living list at account and campaign level — or empty for months? • Does the vendor bring negatives in the weekly report — or wait for you to ask "shall we look"? Red flag: the vendor will not share search-term reports or says "the algorithm will figure it out" on a budget around $400–700/month. At that spend, manual query hygiene is usually needed — otherwise Smart Bidding (automated bid strategies) learns on noise.

Before	After hygiene
One group "All services Tashkent"	Brand / service A / service B / geo split
Search terms ignored for 3 months	Weekly review + negatives
"Algorithm will handle it"	Account + campaign negatives + ad tests
Ad ≠ landing	Offer and CTA match the keyword

05Conversion quality, geo and schedule

Don't ask "how many conversions" — ask what counts as a conversion. Measurement • Primary (main actions Smart Bidding learns on): form / qualified call / confirmed Telegram — or viewing the Contacts page? • Duplicates: GTM + Google Ads tag + GA4 import on the same event? • Have conversions been reconciled with CRM (the system that tracks leads and deals) at least once in the last 30 days? • Conversion window and values: a `tel:` click is not equal to a payment? Geo, language, time • Geo: Uzbekistan / Tashkent / radius — or "whole world" by mistake? • Ad languages match the audience (ru / uz), not a random "English + whole world"? • Schedule: nights with no call center? Weekends with no manager? • Account timezone = Tashkent (UTC+5)? Otherwise reports and CRM drift apart. If account CPL looks "pretty" (e.g. around $8) but CRM has almost no qualified leads — fix measurement first, not "expensive clicks". More — conversion setup and anti-fraud.

Audit question	Normal	Red flag
Primary	Lead / qualified lead	"Contacts" page view
CRM match	Monthly+	"The account already shows it"
Geo	UZ / city / radius	Whole world with no reason
Timezone	UTC+5	Another zone "historically"

06Brand vs generic and landing match

Split the report into brand (queries with your company name) and generic / non-brand ("service + Tashkent", competitive and broad queries). • Brand often yields cheaper leads — normal, but not the only proof of vendor skill. • Generic is where real work shows: negatives, ads, landing, structure. • If most conversions are brand while generic spends without leads — review strategy, not only "scale what looks good in a screenshot". Landing page • Does the offer match the ad? • Fast CTA (call to action — call / Telegram button) above the fold on mobile? • Page speed and on-site form — or a push to Instagram with no tracking? • Do ad language and page language match? Ad ↔ page mismatch hurts Quality Score (Google's ad quality rating) and CPL. That sits with both the agency and the site — see the link in ad services.

Looks good in Ads	Check separately
Low brand CPL	Brand share of conversions vs generic spend
Many conversions	Lead quality in CRM / junk %
High CTR	Landing match and mobile speed
"Reach is fine"	Leads and deals, not impressions

07Click fraud and budget protection

Before switching vendors, check budget protection against click fraud (invalid or inflated clicks that burn spend without real customers). • Click spikes without sessions in analytics / very high bounce / same IPs or subnets? • IP exclusions in Google Ads — or only "we look at analytics once a month"? • Does the vendor acknowledge click-fraud risk in competitive Tashkent niches, or wave it off as "Google has protection"? • Is there a process: anomaly → review → exclusion / claim / filter before conversion upload? "Google has its own protection" is only partly true: Google does filter Invalid Clicks, but it does not cover every scenario. For a local business on a modest budget, extra hygiene and an anti-fraud layer often pay for themselves. How it works — in the anti-fraud article. Red flag: clear anomalies in reports, while weekly emails only say "reach grew".

08Decision: stay, improve or leave

Roll the checklist into a decision. Keep the comparison in a table — easier to explain to partners and to yourself.

Criterion	Worth staying / improving	Time to switch
Access	You are owner, export works	Permanent guest / export refused
Reports	Weekly: queries, negatives, CPL by service	Only "reach" and pretty screenshots
Conversions	CRM match, Primary close to money	Junk goals, "optimization" = raise budget
Hygiene	Vendor proposes negatives and tests	Same keywords and creatives for months
Test length	4–8 weeks on a sane budget	"One more month of guessing" with no hypotheses
Click fraud	Process when anomalies appear	"Google will protect" despite clear spikes
Promises	Measurement method and CRM KPIs	"We guarantee N leads" with no method

Worth staying if reports are clear, conversions match CRM, the vendor cleans search terms, and the test runs 4–8 weeks — often better to improve the account than burn learning. Time to switch if there is no ownership, conversions are junk, click fraud is ignored, or promises have no method. Switching without an audit often repeats the same mistakes under a new logo. Checklist first — contract second. Independent review — UZNEO within Google Ads setup.

09What to request from the current and the new vendor

Even if you leave — prepare a handover so you do not lose months of work. Ask the current vendor in writing for: • Full export: campaigns, negatives, search terms for 90 days, change history. • Conversion list: what is Primary / Secondary, where tags live, whether Enhanced Conversions are on. • Structure logic: why these campaigns and budgets. • IP exclusion list and notes on anomalies. • Confirmation that you are the account owner (or ownership transfer before exit). Ask a candidate new vendor before the contract: • Who will be Owner on your side? • Will they "start from zero" or audit the current account first? • How often do they review search terms and negatives on a $400–700/month budget? • How do they define a lead: account vs CRM vs manager qualification? • What do they promise for 30 / 60 / 90 days — and what do they *not* promise? A solid vendor answers calmly. Pressure to "sign a yearly contract today" without an audit is a bad start for running ads.

Summary

An audit before changing vendors saves time and budget: account ownership, structure, search terms, negatives, conversion quality, geo and schedule, brand vs generic, landing, click fraud. Access and lead-quality red flags matter more than a pretty CPL screenshot. Order: 90–120 minutes by the table → ok / doubt / flag list → decide to fix, test 4 more weeks, or switch. If you want a calm review without pressure to "sign a yearly contract" — UZNEO can walk the checklist and decide: fix the current account or rebuild ads on clean conversions.

Anti-Fraud