The RTA Store
Paid Media Audit
Google Ads · Microsoft Ads · Meta (initial review)
Review Window
Trailing 30 Days
May 2026
Account
The RTA Store
Google Ads ID 4759109794
Channels Reviewed
Google · Microsoft
Meta · initial review
The RTA Store is investing at a seven-figure annual pace across Google, Microsoft, and Meta. At this level of spend the program should be engineered, documented, and measured with discipline. Roughly 70%+ of paid spend sits on branded terms, the single most important Google control — negative keywords — is effectively unused, and conversion imports look to be over-attributing revenue back to Google. Microsoft mirrors most of Google's structural problems and is wasting spend on geographies and network placements with zero attributed revenue. Meta is the best-built of the three but is still an enormous undertaking to manage well.
Primary Finding
“The business has been steering a seven-figure paid media program with an instrument that does not read true — and with the single most important Google control switched off.”
Channels in Scope
Three reviewed.
One worth adding.
Full account audit. Eight findings detailed below.
~$100K/month inspected. Same structural problems plus geo leak.
Best-built of the three. Full audit is a separate undertaking.
Not running today. Strongest-fit missing channel for RTA's audience.
01 · Executive Summary
Four issues sit underneath every paid media decision.
70%+ of Spend Sits on Branded Terms
Branded and category demand are blended together, and the largest campaigns are effectively competing against themselves on the same brand-adjacent queries.
The #1 Google Control Is Switched Off
One four-keyword negative list, applied to an inactive campaign. No account-level negatives. None on Shopping. Negative keyword management is the single most important lever in a modern Google account.
Conversion Data Cannot Be Trusted
Conversions are imported instead of natively tracked, Enhanced Conversions are off, and Google's reported Purchase value does not reconcile to GA4 (e.g. $800K vs $0 in March). Every bidding decision rests on this signal.
Performance Max and Retargeting Are Missing
No Performance Max, no Competitor campaign, no Retargeting, no DSA/RLSA. Once tracking is trustworthy, these are the campaign types that would meaningfully scale the account.
02 · Spend Overview
A seven-figure annual investment, concentrated in three live Google campaigns.
Trailing 30 days
Google Ads Spend by Active Campaign
Concentration
~70%+ of paid spend sits on branded terms — with no true brand-isolated campaign.
The Cabinet campaign alone accounts for $101K of the $142K reviewed on Google. Its $6.56 average CPC signals open-market competition, not brand defense.
| Campaign | 30-Day Spend | Conversions | Avg CPC | Opt. Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evergreen · Branded Terms · Cabinet | $101,348 | 322 | $6.56 | 52% | ≥61% branded · no theming |
| Promo · Branded Terms · Core | $33,253 | 150 | $5.80 | 68% | ≥89% branded · promo extensions on since 2024 |
| RTA-Standard Shopping 2026 | $7,825 | 22 | $0.13 | 67% | 51,713 products · 1 ad group · no negatives |
03 · Google Ads Findings
Eight findings, surfaced from the live account.
Each finding pairs the technical detail with the business meaning in plain English. The color stripe and label show how urgent it is.
How to read severity
- CriticalActively losing money or making decisions on bad data. Fix first.
- HighMaterially hurting performance. Should be fixed in the next 30 days.
- MediumInefficiency or risk. Address during the rebuild.
- LowHousekeeping. Resolve opportunistically.
What we found
- Only one negative keyword list in the entire account, containing four keywords
- That list is named "Negative from SQR 05/02/2019" and is attached to an inactive campaign
- No account-level negative keywords applied
- Search campaigns carry campaign-level negatives, but the Shopping campaign has zero negatives
- Across ~10,000 search terms in the last 30 days, zero have been added as negatives
- In the Cabinet campaign, 1,010 of 1,053 paid terms (~96%) converted nothing — burning ~$12K+ of the partial data returned
What it means for the business
“Negative keyword management is the single biggest lever for controlling waste and protecting margin in modern Google Ads. It is not being operated. Realistic Google-only monthly waste is north of $20K.”
Finding G.01 · Visualized
Where the Cabinet campaign budget actually goes
Of 1,053 paid search terms in the trailing 30 days, only 43 produced a conversion. The remaining 1,010 — ~96% — spent money and converted nothing. Zero-conversion terms burned $12,423 in the partial data returned. Realistic Google-only monthly waste is likely north of $20K.
04 · The Critical Issue
Conversion tracking cannot be trusted.
The structural problems waste money. The measurement problems hide it — and likely over-report revenue back to Google.
Conversion Actions Configured
117
Conversion Signal Flow
Where the system breaks
| Conversion Action | Category | 30-Day Count | Issue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase | Purchase | 348 | Real online orders, ~$766K value reported by Google — does not reconcile to GA4 |
| FRD Offline AUTO | Signup | 76 | Offline signup, no value attached |
| B2B Offline AUTO | Signup | 37 | Offline signup, no value attached |
| Sample / Sample Door | Purchase | 34 | Free or near-free sample requests miscategorized as purchases |
| Qualified Leads + Calls | Lead | Included | Auto-created, duplicated, not cleanly pruned |
| Free Kitchen / Closet Design · Form Leads | Lead | ~400/mo | Tracked but not used for bidding |
“The structural problems waste money. The measurement problems hide it.”
05 · Microsoft Ads Findings
Microsoft Ads has the same structural problems as Google — plus geo and placement leaks on top.
The Microsoft account appears to have been built the same way as Google, so the same issues carry over — and on top of that, spend is leaking to countries outside the US and to placements with no attributed revenue.
What we found
- ~$16K of 2026 spend has gone to countries outside the United States
- No website exclusions applied to campaigns
- Thousands of dollars going to Microsoft Audience Network placements with no attributed conversions or revenue
- Search campaigns set to "People in, searching for, or viewing webpages about your targeted locations" — the broadest possible interpretation
What it means for the business
“This is direct, recoverable waste. Geo-targeting tightening and placement exclusions can be applied immediately and will reduce spend without reducing revenue.”
06 · Meta — Initial Review
Meta is the best-built of the three. Full ownership is a separate, significant undertaking.
Initial overview · not a full audit
From the initial review, Meta is the best-built of the three platforms. The structural and tracking problems are not at the same magnitude as Google or Microsoft. A full Meta audit and ongoing management is, however, an enormous undertaking — effectively a full-time job for a dedicated specialist.
- Campaign structure, audience strategy, and creative cadence look closer to industry standard
- Pixel and CAPI implementation appear in place; attribution windows worth confirming alongside the Google + GA4 reconciliation
- Volume and complexity make ongoing management a dedicated full-time role
Our Recommendation
Our recommendation is to focus first on Google and Microsoft, where the issues are most acute and the rebuild work is highest leverage. Meta can remain on its current footing while the foundation work happens, with a deeper consultancy engagement layered in later if desired.
07 · Pinterest — Channel Opportunity
Pinterest is the most obvious missing channel — and the best-fit one.
Opportunity · Not Currently Running
The RTA Store sells a visual, considered purchase to homeowners actively planning kitchens, baths, and closets. That is exactly Pinterest's audience and exactly the moment Pinterest captures — earlier in the buying journey than Google or Meta, when users are saving ideas and building project boards. There is no Pinterest activity in the program today.
- Audience match: Pinterest skews heavily toward home, kitchen, and remodel planning — the core RTA Store customer
- Intent match: users are actively planning projects and saving products, not passively scrolling
- Creative fit: existing product photography, room scenes, and design content can be repurposed directly
- Lower CPC environment than Google, with strong shopping ad formats and catalog integration
- Captures demand earlier in the funnel, then can be retargeted across Google, Microsoft, and Meta
Our Recommendation
We recommend adding Pinterest as a new channel alongside the Google and Microsoft rebuild. Start with a catalog-driven shopping setup and a small set of idea-pin / collection campaigns built from existing assets.
08 · Severity Matrix
What we found, ranked by the cost of ignoring it.
| Finding | Severity | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Negative keywords effectively unused account-wide | CriticalActively losing money or making decisions on bad data. Fix first. | The #1 Google control is switched off. Likely $20K+/month of recoverable Google waste. |
| Conversion import does not reconcile to GA4 | CriticalActively losing money or making decisions on bad data. Fix first. | Bidding and budget decisions rest on a number that cannot be trusted; likely over-attributing to Google. |
| Shopping campaign 30-day ROAS at 0.77 | CriticalActively losing money or making decisions on bad data. Fix first. | Actively losing money. One ad group, 51,713 products, no negatives, no subdivisions, mis-categorized SKUs. |
| Microsoft Ads geo & placement leak (~$16K outside US in 2026) | CriticalActively losing money or making decisions on bad data. Fix first. | Direct, recoverable waste. Geo and network placement controls are off. |
| ~70%+ of paid spend on branded terms with no isolated brand campaign | HighMaterially hurting performance. Should be fixed in the next 30 days. | Brand, category, and competitor demand are blended; two campaigns bidding on the same brand terms. |
| Same flawed structure copied from Google to Microsoft | HighMaterially hurting performance. Should be fixed in the next 30 days. | Another ~$100K/month running through the same problems with no review layer. |
| No Performance Max, no Competitor, no Retargeting, no DSA/RLSA | HighMaterially hurting performance. Should be fixed in the next 30 days. | No upper-funnel demand creation, no defended competitive surface. Largest scaling opportunity in the account. |
| Ads edited in place — historical data destroyed | HighMaterially hurting performance. Should be fixed in the next 30 days. | Google cannot optimize without stable variants, and the team has no accurate record of what worked. |
| Product feed categorization errors causing disapprovals | MediumInefficiency or risk. Address during the rebuild. | Spray cans flagged as weapons; other SKUs tagged as vehicle parts, toys, bowling balls. |
09 · Strategy
Sequenced for impact, not effort.
Fix the measurement foundation first, turn on the operating disciplines that are missing, then add the campaign types that scale the account.
Rebuild conversion tracking before anything else
Move off the import. Stand up native tracking with Enhanced Conversions, define a clean primary conversion structure for bidding, and reconcile reported revenue against GA4 and Zoho.
Turn on negative keyword management as an operating discipline
Build a maintained shared negative library, attach it to every active campaign including Shopping, and establish a recurring search query review cadence.
Separate brand, category, and competitor-adjacent demand
Create a true protected brand campaign. Isolate generic RTA / category searches into their own intent-themed ad groups with matched ads and landing pages.
Rebuild Shopping into a multi-campaign, tiered structure
Segment by category, margin, and performance tier. Fix product categorization. Add negatives and audiences. Move to bidding strategies that respect ROAS, not just clicks.
Stand up Performance Max with retargeting layered in
Once tracking is trustworthy, Performance Max is the single highest-impact addition for this account. Layer in true retargeting and a competitor surface alongside it.
Apply the same rebuild to Microsoft
Tighten geo and placement controls immediately to stop the leak. Then rebuild the search structure, stand up a real retargeting campaign, and add a Microsoft Shopping campaign.
Hold Meta in place; revisit after the foundation is built
Meta is the best-built of the three. Focus the rebuild effort where the issues are most acute. A deeper Meta consultancy can be layered in later.
10 · Investment
Two flat-rate engagement options. No percentage of spend.
Flat monthly engagement. We do not charge a percentage of spend and we do not mark up media. The fee covers rebuilding the system and operating it end-to-end — strategy, structure, tracking, creative direction, ongoing optimization, and reporting.
Google + Microsoft + Pinterest
Full rebuild and ongoing management of Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, and Pinterest. Meta stays on its current footing.
- Conversion tracking rebuild and GA4 / Zoho reconciliation
- Account restructure: brand isolation, intent-themed ad groups, message-matched ads
- Shopping rebuild: tiered campaigns, feed cleanup, negatives, audiences
- Performance Max, Retargeting, and Competitor campaign stand-up
- Microsoft Ads rebuild: geo and placement controls, search restructure, real retargeting, Shopping
- Pinterest stand-up: catalog-driven shopping, idea-pin / collection campaigns from existing assets
- Active negative keyword and search query review cadence
- Monthly reporting reconciled to Zoho — not platform-reported numbers
Google + Microsoft + Meta
Everything in the Recommended engagement, plus full ownership of Meta with a dedicated specialist.
- Everything in the Google + Microsoft engagement
- Full Meta audit and rebuild
- Dedicated Meta specialist assigned to the account
- Creative strategy, audience strategy, and testing cadence on Meta
- Cross-channel attribution reconciled in one reporting layer
Both engagements start on the first of the month. Meta consultancy as a layered add-on can be scoped separately if Full Coverage is not the right starting point.
11 · The Bottom Line
Truth before optimization.
“The first priority is not optimization. It is truth. The RTA Store cannot confidently scale, cut, or reallocate budget until the measurement foundation is rebuilt and reconciled against Zoho. Once the account can be measured honestly, the structural rebuild and Performance Max stand-up can follow with a baseline worth trusting.
Let's Talk
Thank you for reading.
Recommended next step: start with the Google + Microsoft + Pinterest rebuild. The easiest way to move forward is a 60-minute project deep dive — pick a time that works and we'll walk through the findings, priorities, and what an engagement looks like.
Schedule a meeting with Craft Digital