Google Ads Settings That Waste Your Budget: And How to Fix Them

A Melbourne business launches a Search campaign with relevant keywords, reasonable ads and a set daily budget. But the campaign starts spending on search partner traffic, Display placements, users outside the real service area, broad search variations, weak conversion actions and hours when nobody answers the phone. The owner assumes the keywords are bad. But the real problem may be hidden inside campaign settings. If your campaign is already struggling, our Google Ads diagnosis guide can help you find the specific leak.

A campaign can look simple from the dashboard while quietly serving far beyond the audience you thought you selected. This guide walks through the 10 settings most likely to create waste, what each one does, when it might be worth using and how to fix it.

Important Clarification: Not Every Default Setting Is Automatically Bad

This article is not about switching everything off and running the most restricted campaign possible. Some of these settings genuinely help mature campaigns find valuable traffic. The issue is alignment. A setting that works for a national ecommerce brand with $50,000 a month in spend and years of conversion data may not suit a new Melbourne lead generation campaign with $1,500 a month and unverified tracking.

If you are building a new account from scratch, our Google Ads setup guide covers the technical process. This article focuses on the settings inside that setup that can quietly expand beyond what you intended.

A setting is not wasteful because Google recommends it. It is wasteful when it expands the campaign before the campaign is ready.

Quick Answer: Which Settings Should You Check First?

Start with these 10. For a broader account health check, run your campaigns through our Google Ads audit scorecard.

1. Google Search Partners

2. Display Expansion on Search campaigns

3. Broad match keywords and expanded matching

4. Location targeting: Presence vs Presence or Interest

5. Targeted locations and exclusions

6. Auto applied recommendations

7. Campaign conversion goals

8. Bidding strategy

9. Ad schedule

10. Automatically created assets and URL expansion

Setting 1: Google Search Partners

Search Partners extends your Search ads beyond Google's own search results to partner properties and search experiences. This can include other search engines, directories and sites with embedded search.

How it can waste money

• Lead quality from partner sites may differ from Google Search

• Placement context may be less clear to the user

• Calls or forms from partner traffic may convert at different rates

• Blended campaign reporting can hide network level performance differences

• Small budgets may be diverted before Google Search gets enough data

When it may work

Search Partners can be valuable when conversion tracking is reliable, the campaign has enough budget to test both networks, partner traffic converts profitably and performance is reviewed by network segment rather than in aggregate.

How to check and fix

• Open the campaign and go to Settings, then Networks

• Review whether Search Partners is selected

• Segment your campaign report by Network to compare spend, conversions and CPL

• Keep, pause or test based on actual lead quality, not assumptions

Setting 2: Display Expansion on Search Campaigns

Display Expansion allows a Search campaign to use available budget across Display inventory when Google identifies additional opportunities. This means ads can appear on websites, apps and other Display Network placements. The important distinction between Search and Display is user intent. Our guide on Search vs Display vs Performance Max explains the differences.

Why it catches businesses out

The campaign is labelled as a Search campaign, so the owner assumes every click came from someone actively searching for the service. But Search and Display represent very different user behaviour. A Search user is actively looking. A Display user is browsing something else when the ad appears.

How it can waste money

• Lower intent clicks from users who were not searching for the service

• Placements on websites or apps that do not match the business

• Accidental clicks on mobile apps

• Spare budget used on traffic the business never planned to buy

• Unclear reporting when Search and Display results are blended

How to fix

• Open campaign settings and review Networks

• Turn off Display Expansion for a Search only baseline

• If Display has a strategic role, build a separate Display or remarketing campaign with its own budget and targeting

If you want Search and Display, run them because each has a job, not because they were combined inside one campaign.

Setting 3: Broad Match and Expanded Search Matching

When a keyword is added as plain text without formatting, it is treated as broad match. Phrase and exact match require deliberate formatting or match type selection. There is also a campaign level broad match setting in eligible Smart Bidding campaigns and depending on the current interface, advertisers may encounter AI Max or expanded search term matching controls. Our keyword match types guide covers the mechanics.

How it can waste money

• Wider search interpretation than intended

• Job seeker, DIY and research traffic

• Services the business does not offer

• Location variations outside the target market

• Low quality conversions that teach Smart Bidding the wrong behaviour

When broad match can work

Broad match can perform well when conversion tracking is clean, primary conversions represent genuine leads, negative keyword coverage is strong, the campaign has adequate volume and budget and lead quality is reviewed outside Google Ads.

How to fix

• Inspect match types in the keyword table

• Check whether campaign wide broad matching or AI Max is enabled

• Examine the Search Terms report for irrelevant traffic

• Tighten early campaigns to phrase and exact where appropriate

• Build negative keyword lists. Our negatives guide covers how

Use our Google Ads waste estimator to get a quick sense of how much irrelevant traffic might be costing your account.

Setting 4: Location Targeting, Presence vs Presence or Interest

This is one of the most impactful settings for Melbourne service businesses and one of the most overlooked. Our Google Ads cost guide covers how geography affects costs. This section explains the setting that controls who sees your ads based on location.

The two options

Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations.

Presence or Interest: People in the location, regularly in it or who have shown interest in it.

Why this matters for Melbourne businesses

A Melbourne plumber targets Melbourne, Brunswick, Richmond and Bayside. With Presence or Interest, someone in Sydney researching Melbourne services could trigger the ad. That might make sense for hotels, universities or relocation services. It usually does not make sense for plumbers, electricians, dentists or pest control businesses who cannot service interstate leads.

How it can waste money

• Interstate clicks from people outside the service area

• Enquiries from suburbs or regions the business cannot service profitably

• Distorted location reporting

• Budget spent on leads that go nowhere

How to fix

• Open campaign settings and go to Locations

• Find Location options (sometimes under Advanced)

• Select Presence based targeting for local service businesses

• Review the matched locations and user locations reports

• Exclude areas the business cannot serve

Mentioning Melbourne in a search is not the same as being a customer your Melbourne business can serve.

Setting 5: Targeted Locations That Are Too Broad

Even with Presence targeting, the campaign can waste money if the selected area itself is too wide. Targeting all of Victoria for a Brunswick electrician, targeting Australia for a Melbourne law firm or using a 100 km radius for a low value local service all create the same problem: budget spreads across areas that will never convert into profitable work.

How to fix

Build targeting around business reality:

• True service radius based on travel time and cost

• Suburbs where the business has capacity and margins

• Exclude regional areas and suburbs outside operating range

• Separate high value areas from test areas if budget allows

Setting 6: Auto Applied Recommendations

Google Ads allows advertisers to opt into categories of recommendations that are then applied automatically when relevant. These can involve bidding, keywords, ads and assets, conversion goals, targeting and account maintenance.

Why they catch businesses out

Auto applied recommendations are not activated by default in every account. Someone must opt in. But they may have been enabled by a previous agency, an internal marketer, an old account administrator or a rushed setup process. Once enabled, changes can happen without weekly manual approval.

How they can waste money

• Broader targeting applied before tracking is ready

• New keywords added without review

• Bidding targets changed without business context

• Additional conversion goals added

• Ad assets altered without brand review

• Campaign strategy drifts from what was originally planned

How to fix

• Open Recommendations and find Auto apply settings

• Review every selected category

• Disable anything that should require manual approval

• Check the recommendation history and account Change History

• Document who can approve future changes

Setting 7: Wrong Conversion Goals

This setting determines what Google optimises toward. If the account calls a phone click or page view a primary conversion, bidding will favour users likely to perform those actions, not users likely to become customers. Our conversion tracking setup guide covers the technical configuration. Our call tracking guide explains how to track phone leads properly.

What can go wrong

A campaign may optimise toward account default goals or weak actions such as page views, form starts, phone number clicks, email clicks, chat opens, newsletter signups or imported Analytics events. These may be useful to observe but weak as primary bidding signals.

How to fix

Separate your conversion actions:

Primary conversions (use for bidding):

• Completed enquiry form submissions

• Qualified phone calls (with duration threshold)

• Booked appointments or consultations

• Purchases (with accurate revenue value)

Secondary conversions (observe only):

• Phone button clicks

• Email link clicks

• Brochure or PDF downloads

• Form starts without completion

• Page engagement or scroll depth

Check whether campaigns use account default goals, campaign specific goals or duplicated imported events. Smart Bidding cannot understand a good lead unless the account defines one correctly.

Setting 8: Bidding Strategy

A new campaign launching with Maximise Conversions, weak tracking, no conversion history and several soft actions marked as primary is a recipe for automated waste. Our Smart Bidding guide covers when each strategy makes sense. Use our budget estimator to model realistic spend before choosing a strategy.

How it can waste money

• Maximise Clicks may chase lower cost clicks rather than leads

• Maximise Conversions may maximise weak conversion actions (see Setting 7)

• Target CPA set at an unrealistic number causes the campaign to barely spend

• Frequent bidding changes restart the learning phase repeatedly

• Aggressive automation expands before search terms are clean

How to fix

Match bidding to campaign readiness:

New or unproven campaign:

Consider controlled bidding (Manual CPC or Maximise Clicks with a bid cap) while tracking is verified, search terms are reviewed and real conversion data is gathered.

Campaign with meaningful conversion history:

Consider Maximise Conversions, Target CPA or conversion value strategies where values are reliable.

Bidding automation makes decisions faster. That only helps when the campaign is measuring the right outcome.

Setting 9: Ad Schedule

Campaigns default to running 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For a business that does not answer calls after 5pm, that means paying for phone leads during hours when nobody picks up.

How it can waste money

• Unanswered phone calls from high intent searchers

• Slow lead follow up outside business hours

• High intent leads choosing the next advertiser who answers

• Budget spent during hours with no conversion opportunity

How to fix

• Review enquiry volume and call answer rates by hour and day

• Restrict the ad schedule to match business capacity

• Consider running form led ads outside hours while pausing call led ads

• If after hours demand is strong, invest in an answering service or booking system

Setting 10: Automatically Created Assets and URL Expansion

Depending on the campaign and features enabled, Google may use website content to create or customise ad assets and may expand landing page destinations beyond what you selected. Our guide on writing effective Google Ads covers why message control matters. You can run your current ads through our Google Ads copy grader to check headline quality.

Automatically created assets: the risks

• Outdated website copy pulled into ad headlines

• Weak or generic claims reused from old pages

• Wrong services highlighted

• Expired offers appearing in active ads

• Brand tone inconsistency

URL expansion: the risks

If URL expansion is enabled, a user searching "emergency plumber Melbourne" might land on the homepage, a blog post or an unrelated service page instead of the dedicated landing page you intended. That kills message match and conversion rate. Our comparison of landing pages vs homepages shows why this matters so much.

How to fix

• Review automatically created assets in your asset reports

• Check text customisation and URL expansion settings

• Turn off or restrict automation when the website has outdated content

• Exclude unsuitable URLs where the campaign supports it

• Use service specific landing pages for every high spend ad group

• Check every ad to page journey manually on mobile

If your website does not have service specific pages for your key campaigns, working with a Melbourne web design team to build conversion focused landing pages will improve both your ad relevance and your conversion rate.

The ad earns the click. The landing page still has to earn the lead.

Settings to Check Before Launch

Before publishing your campaign, verify these settings. Our Google Ads first 30 days guide covers the full week by week plan. Here is the settings specific checklist.

Networks

• Search Partners reviewed and decision documented

• Display Expansion reviewed

• Campaign type confirmed as Search

Keywords

• Match types confirmed (not all defaulting to broad)

• Campaign wide broad matching and AI Max controls reviewed

• Starter negative keyword list added

Geography

• Service locations correct and specific

• Presence vs Presence or Interest reviewed

• Exclusions added for areas outside service range

Measurement

• Primary conversions set to real enquiries only

• Weak actions marked as secondary

• Forms tested by submitting a real submission

• Phone calls tested on mobile

Automation

• Bidding strategy chosen deliberately

• Auto applied recommendations reviewed or disabled

• Automatic assets reviewed

Operations

• Ad schedule matches business capacity

• Phone calls can be answered during ad hours

• Landing pages checked on mobile

Settings Checks During the First 30 Days

Once the pre launch checklist is complete, the first 30 days are where you confirm that settings are working as intended. Here is how settings review fits into that timeline.

Days 1 to 7

• Confirm ads are serving on the correct networks

• Check location reports for clicks outside the service area

• Verify conversion actions are firing correctly

• Review Search Terms report for early broad match waste

Week 2

• Add negatives for irrelevant search terms

• Tighten location targeting if interstate clicks are appearing

• Review Search Partner performance separately

• Check for auto applied changes in Change History

Week 3

• Review ad schedule performance by hour and day

• Check automatically created assets for quality

• Verify landing pages match each ad group

• Review conversion goal alignment

Week 4

Decide what to keep, switch off, isolate into a separate campaign, test as an experiment or scale carefully. Document every change.

The 15 Minute Settings Audit

Open your highest spending campaign and work through these 10 settings in order. It takes about 15 minutes and will tell you where the biggest setting level issues are.

Recommended Starting Position by Campaign Maturity

Starting with tighter settings is not anti automation. It gives the campaign a clean baseline before expanding.

Common Mistakes When Fixing Settings

Overreacting to this article by switching off everything at once is its own form of waste. Our guide on common Google Ads mistakes covers the broader picture. Here are the specific mistakes people make when adjusting settings.

• Disabling Search Partners without checking whether they were converting

• Changing five settings at once and having no idea which change caused the result

• Switching bidding strategy and match types in the same week

• Shrinking the target area so far that volume disappears entirely

• Turning off all automation permanently instead of testing deliberately

• Judging changes after two days instead of allowing enough data

• Failing to document what was changed and when

• Ignoring reporting delays and making premature decisions

• Changing settings while conversion tracking is still broken

The recommended approach:

1. Fix obvious errors immediately (broken tracking, wrong location, Display in a Search campaign)

2. Change one major variable at a time where possible

3. Document every change with the date and reason

4. Allow enough data to judge the result

5. Compare lead quality and economics, not just dashboard metrics

6. Retain features that genuinely work

The aim is not maximum control for its own sake. The aim is profitable control.

What We Recommend at Elev8d

Every account we manage at Elev8d starts with a settings review before we touch keywords or ads. Our SEM management approach treats settings as the foundation, not an afterthought. If the settings are wrong, everything built on top of them inherits the problem.

For businesses investing in both paid search and organic growth, we also align campaign targeting with SEO strategy so both channels reinforce each other. Local targeting settings in Google Ads should reflect the same service areas you are building organic visibility for.

The principle: start with the smallest sensible version of the campaign. Prove that it converts. Then expand deliberately. Every setting that increases reach should be earned through evidence, not accepted by default.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Google Ads settings waste the most money?

For most Melbourne lead generation businesses, the highest impact settings to check are location targeting (Presence vs Presence or Interest), conversion goals (primary vs secondary actions) and broad match keywords without negatives. These three alone can cause significant budget waste.

Should I turn off Google Search Partners?

Not automatically. Segment your reports by network and compare conversion rate and CPL between Google Search and Search Partners. If partner traffic converts profitably, keep it. If it does not, pause it.

Should Search campaigns use the Display Network?

Generally not as a default. Search and Display serve different purposes. If you want Display reach, build a separate campaign with its own budget, targeting and creative.

Is broad match enabled by default?

Keywords entered as plain text are treated as broad match. There are also campaign level settings that can convert existing phrase and exact keywords to broad match behaviour. Check both the keyword table and campaign level controls.

What is Presence or Interest location targeting?

It allows ads to reach people who are in the target location or who have shown interest in it. For local service businesses, this can mean paying for clicks from people outside the service area. Most local businesses should start with Presence only targeting.

Why am I getting Google Ads clicks outside Melbourne?

Either the location targeting is set to Presence or Interest, the targeted area itself is too broad (e.g. all of Victoria) or exclusions have not been added for areas outside the service range. Check all three.

Are auto applied recommendations turned on automatically?

No. Someone must opt in. But they may have been enabled by a previous manager, agency or during setup. Check the auto apply settings and review Change History for changes you did not make.

Should I use Maximise Clicks or Maximise Conversions?

It depends on campaign maturity. New campaigns with limited conversion data may benefit from controlled bidding initially. Maximise Conversions works best when the campaign has enough real conversion data and the primary actions represent genuine leads.

How often should I review Google Ads settings?

Check settings thoroughly before launch, weekly during the first month and monthly after that. Also review after any website update, agency change or Google platform update that may have introduced new settings or changed existing ones.

What is AI Max in Google Ads?

AI Max refers to a set of automation features that can expand search matching, create assets and adjust targeting. The specific features and labels may change over time. Review any AI Max or expanded matching controls in your campaign settings to understand what is enabled.

Should new campaigns start with tighter settings?

Yes. Starting tight gives the campaign a clean baseline. You can always expand deliberately once you have data showing that the expansion is profitable. Starting broad and then trying to find the waste is slower and more expensive.

Next Steps: Pick Your Path

Path 1: Run the 15 Minute Audit

Open your highest spending campaign and work through the settings checklist above. Fix the obvious issues first (wrong location targeting, broken tracking, Display on a Search campaign).

Path 2: Get a Settings Review

Not sure which settings are quietly expanding your campaigns? Send us your campaign details and we will show you what needs fixing, what is worth testing and what should be left alone.

Path 3: Build From a Clean Baseline

If you are launching a new campaign, use this article as your settings checklist. Start tight, verify tracking, review weekly and expand only when the data tells you it is safe.

Sources and Further Reading

• Google Ads Help: About location targeting options, support.google.com

• Google Ads Help: About auto applied recommendations, support.google.com

• Google Ads Help: About keyword match types, support.google.com

• Google Ads Help: About conversion goals, support.google.com

• ACCC guidance on advertising and pricing transparency: accc.gov.au

• OAIC Australian Privacy Principles: oaic.gov.au

General information only. Rules vary by situation, particularly around advertising claims, privacy, reviews and consumer law. If you are unsure about compliance, get professional advice.