# How to find wasted Google Ads search spend with an AI agent

> Tier: deep. Full contract: quantified decision rules and evidence requirements.

Search terms that spend and never convert, ranked by cost, with the negative keyword list ready to review.

**Intent.** Produce the exact list of terms to negative, with the spend each one burned as the proof.

## When to use

- Monthly hygiene on any search account.
- CPA drifting up on search campaigns specifically.
- After broadening match types or adding broad match.

## When not to use

- Accounts under ~100 clicks a month: every term looks unconverting at that volume.
- Pure brand campaigns, where near-zero waste is expected and the pass finds noise.

## Sources

Required: Google Ads
Optional: Search Console

## Preconditions

- 30 days of search terms data or more.
- Conversion tracking verified recently enough to trust zero-conversion labels.

## Inputs

- `window`: Analysis window. Default: last 90 days.
- `click_floor`: Clicks below which a term is not judged. Default: 20.

## Procedure

1. Pull the search terms report with spend, clicks and conversions. — tools: `google_ads_get_search_terms`
2. Join to keyword performance to see which keyword matched each term. — tools: `google_ads_get_keyword_performance`
3. Bucket terms: converting, unconverting-above-floor, low-volume, and clearly off-intent.
4. If Search Console is connected, check whether wasted paid terms already rank organically. — tools: `google_ads_get_paid_organic_search_terms`
   A term ranking #1 organically is a candidate for paid exclusion even when it converts.
5. Draft the negative list, grouped by theme, with the spend each theme burned.

## Decision rules

- **When** A term has at least the click floor and zero conversions over the window → **conclude** Waste candidate. Rank by spend. **Unless** The account sells long-cycle: check a window at least 2× the typical conversion lag first.
- **When** A term is semantically off-intent regardless of volume → **conclude** Negative it on theme, and name the matching keyword that let it in.
- **When** Waste candidates sum to under 2% of search spend → **conclude** Report the account as clean; do not pad the list to look useful.

## Evidence requirements

- Every candidate carries clicks, spend, conversions and the matching keyword.
- The total reclaimable spend is stated with its window.

## Human approval boundary

- The gateway does not write negative keywords. The list is delivered for a human to apply in Google Ads.
- Recommending pausing a keyword is separate from negativing terms, and goes through Safe Writes if acted on.

## Failure modes

- Conversion lag makes recent terms look unconverting; exclude the last conversion-lag days from judgement.
- A broken conversion tag makes the whole account look like waste; if overall conversions collapsed, run tracking-audit first.
- Search terms reports omit low-volume terms; the reclaimable number is a floor, not a total.

## Output

- **Negative list, by theme**: Terms grouped, spend burned per theme, matching keywords.
- **Off-intent leaks**: Which keywords let bad traffic in, with match types.
- **Reclaimable spend**: The total, its window, and the click floor used.

## Related

- Skill: [account-audit](https://www.getmcpads.com/skills/account-audit.md)
- Skill: [tracking-audit](https://www.getmcpads.com/skills/tracking-audit.md)
- Guide: [wasted-search-spend](https://www.getmcpads.com/guides/wasted-search-spend.md)