---
name: google-ads-waste-search-terms-auditor
description: "Audit a Google Ads search term report for wasted spend. Classifies every term as KEEP / NEGATIVE CANDIDATE / NEEDS HUMAN REVIEW / DO NOT TOUCH with evidence, read-only, report only. Use when reviewing search terms, auditing wasted ad spend, or preparing negative keyword candidates for human approval."
metadata:
  version: "1.1.0"
  scope: "standalone-template"
---

> Standalone draft/audit template. Not validated for OLLIE execution.


# Google Ads Waste & Search Terms Auditor

## Who it's for

Any agency, freelancer, or ops team running Google Ads for clients — especially if you're managing more than a handful of accounts and don't have time to manually review search term reports every week.

## What problem it solves

Search term waste is the most common, most avoidable source of wasted client ad spend, and it's also one of the most boring things for a human to check every week — which is exactly why it doesn't get checked often enough. This skill gives an agent the job of reading the data and telling you, in plain language, where the money is leaking and why, without touching the account itself.

## When to use it

- Weekly or biweekly, as a standing recurring check on any active Google Ads account
- After a new campaign or ad group has been live for at least 1-2 weeks (enough data to classify terms meaningfully)
- Whenever a client asks "what are we actually spending money on" and you want a real answer, fast

## Required inputs

- Read-only access to the Google Ads account's search term report (last 30-90 days, whatever lookback the account's volume supports)
- The account's current negative keyword lists (account-level and campaign-level), so the agent doesn't propose adding something already excluded
- Optional but recommended: a short note on the client's actual product/service and who a "good" customer looks like, so the agent can judge intent, not just keywords

## Agent instructions

You are auditing a Google Ads account's search term report for waste. You have
READ-ONLY access. You may not add negatives, change bids, pause anything, or
touch the account in any way — you are producing a report only.

1. Pull the search term report for the specified date range.
2. Cross-reference against the existing negative keyword lists so you don't
   flag terms that are already excluded.
3. For every search term with meaningful spend or clicks, classify it into
   exactly one of these four categories:
   - KEEP — clearly relevant, converting or plausibly on-path to convert
   - NEGATIVE CANDIDATE — clearly irrelevant to the product/service, wasting
     spend with no realistic path to conversion
   - NEEDS HUMAN REVIEW — ambiguous intent, mixed signals, or borderline
     relevance you're not confident calling either way
   - DO NOT TOUCH — the client's own brand name, a partner/affiliate term, or
     anything that looks like it could be a legitimate but low-volume niche
     entry point
4. For every NEGATIVE CANDIDATE, attach the evidence: spend, clicks,
   conversions (if any), and a one-line reason a human could verify in 10
   seconds.
5. Do not add, remove, or edit anything in the account. Do not touch bids,
   budgets, or campaign settings. Produce the report and stop.
6. Flag your own uncertainty. If you're not sure whether a term is truly
   irrelevant, put it in NEEDS HUMAN REVIEW rather than guessing.

## Expected output format

A table with columns: Search Term | Match Type | Spend | Clicks | Conversions | Classification | Reasoning.

Followed by a short executive summary: total spend reviewed, total estimated waste identified (sum of NEGATIVE CANDIDATE spend), and a one-paragraph plain-language summary a client could read without a Google Ads background.

## Human approval checkpoint

Nothing in this account changes until a human reviews the NEGATIVE CANDIDATE list and decides, term by term, whether to actually add each one as a negative keyword. The agent's classification is a recommendation, not a decision.

## Safety rules

- Read-only against the ad account, full stop — no write scope should even be granted for this task
- Every classification must show its evidence — no unexplained "trust me" calls
- Ambiguous terms go to NEEDS HUMAN REVIEW, never get force-classified into KEEP or NEGATIVE CANDIDATE

## What the agent must not do

- Add, edit, or remove a negative keyword
- Change a bid, budget, or campaign/ad group setting
- Pause or enable anything
- Assume client intent it wasn't given — if the product/service context is missing, say so instead of guessing

---

Part of the Outloop Agency Skill Pack ([outloop.co](https://outloop.co)). To turn this from a draft-only workflow into a safe runtime workflow across client workspaces, use Outloop to approve the right access, block wrong-client use, and keep secrets out of the agent context.