Free independent marketing audit

Is your Google Ads budget actually working? Find out for free.

Kestrel is your independent, Google-verified watchdog, a free, user-friendly second opinion on your Google Ads. Connect your Google account and we run a full read-only audit, 40+ independent checks, then tell you in plain English exactly where your money's going and where it's being wasted. No spin, no jargon. You will be able to see reports, especially if your ads were paused without your knowledge.

No credit card Google-verified & read-only Results in minutes
Your account health Live
84/100 Healthy
Conversion tracking Working
Budget pacing Needs a look
Wasted searches Under control
Landing page speed Action needed
40+ checks across your account · Account health · Spend efficiency · Growth & revenue · Updated daily
What goes wrong

The problems hiding in your Google Ads account.

These are real, common ways Google Ads quietly leaks money on wasted spend — the kind of thing that's easy to miss. Your free Google Ads health check looks for every one, independently.

Tracking silently stops

Conversion tracking breaks and nobody notices. You keep spending while Google optimises toward nothing.

Leaking onto the Display Network

Your search campaign is quietly opted into Display and search partners — cheap, low-quality clicks you never asked for.

Budget gone by midday

A campaign burns its whole daily budget by mid-morning, so the urgent afternoon searches never even see your ad.

Bidding against yourself

The same keyword runs in two campaigns, so your own ads compete and push up the price you pay.

Auto-apply changes things

Google's auto-apply quietly edits your budgets, bids and keywords — changing your account without asking you.

Low Quality Scores

Weak relevance means you literally pay more than competitors for the same position on every single click.

Showing to the wrong people

The default location setting shows your ad to anyone "interested in" your area — not just the locals who can actually buy.

Junk clicks & wasted searches

Irrelevant searches and invalid clicks drain budget daily — money spent on people who were never going to call.

Slow landing pages

You pay for the click, then the visitor hits a slow page and bounces before it loads. The money's just gone.

Who it's for

Built for businesses that live or die by their leads.

If you spend real money on Google Ads to win customers — but you're not technical, and you don't have time to police where it's going — Kestrel is for you. It earns its keep most in industries where every click costs real money and one lost lead is one lost job.

Not on the list? If you advertise on Google, Kestrel works for you — in any industry, any country.

How the audit works

From "no idea" to a clear score in minutes.

No spreadsheets, no jargon, no expert required.

01

Connect your account

Link your Google Ads — read-only and completely safe — and Kestrel runs all 40+ checks on your real account. No credit card.

02

Get your score & problems

See one health score out of 100 and a plain-English list of what's wrong, ranked by how much each issue is costing you.

03

Fix what matters

Work through the fixes in order and watch your score climb. Kestrel keeps checking daily, so you always know where you stand.

Your health score

One number you actually understand.

Every check feeds a single score from 0 to 100. No CTR, no CPA, no guessing — just "is my account healthy, yes or no?"

0–54

Action needed

Something's wrong and it's costing you now. Your audit shows exactly what to fix first.

55–79

Needs attention

Working, but with leaks and missed chances. A handful of fixes lift you into the green.

80–100

Healthy

Your account is in good shape. Kestrel keeps watching so it stays that way.

Your dashboard

Everything in your own portal — you stay in control.

Your free Google Ads audit isn't a one-off PDF. You get your own secure dashboard where you re-run audits whenever you like, track your account health over time, and manage your own Google accounts — all in plain English, all in one place.

Re-run your audit anytime

Log in and run a fresh, independent Google Ads audit whenever you want — after a change, before a meeting, or just to keep an eye on things. Watch your health score move as things get fixed.

Track your health over time

Your account health score and full history live in your dashboard, so you can finally see whether your Google Ads are actually improving — or quietly wasting your money.

You own your accounts

Connect and disconnect your own Google accounts in a click. You always own your Google Ads account and your data — no lock-in, no asking permission.

What it checks

All 40+ checks, in plain English.

Grouped into three simple questions, so you always know what each one is really telling you.

Account health Is it actually working? 11 checks
Conversion tracking Is Google even recording your leads?
Account changes Who changed what — including Google itself.
Ad problems Ads Google has quietly switched off.
Landing pages Where your clicks actually land.
Cost watch Early warning when your numbers shift.
Conversion values Does Google know what a lead is worth?
Bidding goals Is Google optimising for the right action?
Link tracking Are your ad links and tracking intact?
Extension problems Disapproved sitelinks, images or callouts.
Auto-apply Can Google change your account without asking?
Over-tinkering Too many changes reset Google's learning.
Spend efficiency Am I wasting money? 17 checks
Wasted searches The junk searches eating your budget.
Missed impressions How often you simply don't show up.
Budget pacing Spending too fast, or running dry early?
Quality Score Are you paying a premium per click?
Devices Mobile vs desktop — which pays off?
Best times When your jobs actually come in.
Self-competition Are you bidding against yourself?
Area performance Which areas pay off — and which drain budget.
Bid strategy Is Google's bidding actually hitting its target?
Invalid clicks How much junk traffic Google already filters.
Where ads show Is your budget leaking onto other networks?
Keyword match types How tightly your keywords are controlled.
Negative keywords Do you have any guardrails at all?
Where ads appear Junk apps and sites running your ads.
Location settings Showing to locals, or anyone curious nearby?
First-page visibility Keywords bidding too low to even show.
Who converts The ages and groups that actually hire you.
Growth & revenue Can I get more? 12 checks
Performance Max Opening up Google's black-box campaign.
Suggestions Google's own ideas, sanity-checked.
Winning searches Searches that won jobs — but aren't keywords yet.
Revenue feedback Teach Google which clicks become real money.
Local Services Get refunded for junk Google Guaranteed leads.
Customer Match Use your customer list to spend smarter.
Ad strength Are your ads strong enough to win?
Ad extensions The free extras that make your ads bigger.
Ad testing Are your ad groups testing more than one ad?
Remarketing Following up with people who didn't call.
Brand vs new Paying for people who already know you?
Improvement trend Is the account getting better over time?
Once you’re connected

Things to ask Claude

Your whole audit, in plain conversation. Click any prompt to copy it.

Start here

Find the waste

Decide & report

Claude can read everything and change nothing. Every recommendation is yours to apply — or ignore.

Optional add-ons

Later: your whole marketing, watched.

The free Google Ads audit is just the start. Later, you'll be able to add three more channels as optional extras — so Kestrel can watch everything that drives your results, all in one plain-English dashboard.

Add-on

Google Search Console

Your free organic search traffic — clicks, impressions and ranking position. We catch the drops that are easy to miss.

Add-on

Google Analytics

Where your visitors really come from, and whether they convert. Spot when traffic is up but the sales aren't.

Add-on

Google Business Profile

Your local presence — calls, direction requests and website clicks. Often the biggest source of local jobs, rarely watched.

Your Google Ads audit stays free, always. These will arrive later as optional add-ons — never bundled into the audit.

Safe by design

Read-only. We never touch your account.

Kestrel looks and reports — it never changes a thing. You stay in full control.

🛡

Read-only access

Kestrel reads your account to run the checks, but it has no ability to change campaigns, bids or budgets.

Disconnect anytime

You grant access through Google's own secure sign-in, and you can revoke it whenever you like.

Your data, your call

Your audit is yours. Nothing is shared, and the findings are written for you to act on.

Pricing

Your Google Ads audit is free. Forever.

No credit card, no trial, no expiry. You only ever pay for more client accounts — never for the audit, and never for the AI connector.

Prices in
Free audit
A real audit, on your real account.
$0
  • 1 audit account
  • All 40+ Google Ads checks
  • Claude & ChatGPT connector
  • Daily reports & notifications
  • No credit card, ever
Run free audit
Solo
For freelancers and one-person shops.
US$49/mo
  • Up to 5 audit accounts
  • All 40+ checks on every account
  • Separate history per account
  • Daily automatic re-audits
Get Solo
Team
For growing studios and small teams.
US$149/mo
  • Up to 15 client accounts
  • All 40+ checks on every account
  • Cross-account comparison in Claude
  • Separate history per account
Get Team
Most Popular
Agency
For agencies with a real client book.
US$499/mo
  • Up to 50 client accounts
  • Cross-account comparison in Claude
  • White-labelled client reports
  • Onboarding call
Get Agency
Scale
For networks and consolidators.
US$1,999/mo
  • Unlimited client accounts
  • Everything in Agency
  • Multiple team seats
  • Priority audit queue
  • Priority support & shared Slack
Get Scale

The audit itself is free on one account, forever — no card, no expiry, no trial that runs out. Paid plans buy you more client accounts, nothing else: all 40+ checks and both AI connectors are included on every plan, including Free. Billing is in US dollars; prices shown in other currencies are indicative only. Cancel any time.

FAQ

Questions, answered.

Is it safe to connect my Google Ads? +
Yes. Kestrel is read-only — it looks at your account and reports what it finds, but never changes anything. You connect through Google's own secure sign-in and can disconnect any time.
Is the audit independent and unbiased? +
Yes. Kestrel is completely independent — we're not tied to whoever runs your ads, so you get an honest, unbiased read on your account. Whether you manage it yourself or someone runs it for you, the audit just tells you what's working and what isn't.
What happens to my data if I disconnect? +
When you disconnect, we revoke our access and permanently wipe everything we held for your account — your reports, history and notifications. Your data is yours; disconnecting leaves nothing behind.
Does the audit change anything in my account? +
No. Nothing is edited, paused, or adjusted. The audit only reads your settings and performance to work out your score and find problems. Every fix is yours to make.
How long does the audit take? +
Minutes. Connect your account and Kestrel runs all 40+ checks, then lands you on your results — your score and the top problems found.
Do I need to know Google Ads to use it? +
No — that's the whole point. Every check is written in plain English: what's wrong, what it means, and what to do about it. No CTR, CPA, or impression-share jargon.
What does the health score actually mean? +
It's a single number from 0 to 100 built from all 40+ checks across account health, spend efficiency, and growth. Under 55 means action needed, 55–79 needs attention, and 80+ is healthy. You watch it move as you fix things.
How often does it update? +
Kestrel takes a fresh snapshot of your account every day, so your score and trends stay current and you get notified when something changes.
What does it cost? +
Your Google Ads audit is completely free, forever — no credit card, on one account. If you need to audit more accounts: Solo covers 5 (US$49/mo), Team covers 15 (US$149/mo), Agency covers 50 (US$499/mo), and Scale is unlimited (US$1,999/mo). Search Console, Analytics and Business Profile will come later as optional add-ons.
Do the extra channels cost anything? +
The Google Ads audit always stays free. Search Console, Analytics and Business Profile will arrive later as optional paid add-ons — added only if you want them, never bundled into the audit. Your audit history is always saved.
Which businesses is it for? +
Owner-operators and small businesses that run their own Google Ads — anywhere in the world. If you advertise on Google, Kestrel works for you, whatever country you are in.
Can you just run my Google Ads for me? +
Yes. If you'd rather not fix things yourself, we'll run your Google marketing for you — transparently. You keep this same dashboard and full visibility, you always own your account, and you can leave any time. Start with the free audit and you'll see the option inside.
What if I don't have direct access to my Google Ads account? +
Some accounts are managed by someone else, so you might not have a direct login. Kestrel connects through Google's secure sign-in — as long as you have access to the account (or can request it), you can run the audit, and we'll show you exactly where you stand.
Do I have to add a card? +
No — your Google Ads audit needs no card, ever. You'd only add one if you upgrade to audit more accounts, or later add an optional channel.
Do I need to install anything? +
No. Kestrel runs in your browser. Sign up, connect your account, and you're in — there's nothing to download.

See what's really going on with your marketing.

Run a free audit on your real Google Ads account and get your health score in minutes. Independent, plain-English, no card, no commitment.

Run my free audit →