Google Shopping Wasted Spend: Find & Eliminate Budget Drains

Types of Wasted Spend in Google Shopping

Wasted spend comes in several forms, as highlighted in Think with Google's research on advertising efficiency. Understanding each type helps you prioritize fixes:

Waste Type	Typical Impact	Difficulty to Fix
Zero-conversion products	15-30% of spend	Medium
Irrelevant search terms	10-20% of spend	Easy
Pricing issues	5-15% of spend	Medium
Low-ROAS products	10-25% of spend	Medium
Poor landing pages	5-10% of spend	Hard

Zero-Conversion Products

Zero-conversion products are the biggest source of waste. These are products that receive clicks and spend budget but never generate a sale.

How to Find Zero-Conversion Products

1. In Google Ads, go to your Shopping campaign
2. Click "Products" in the left menu
3. Add columns: Cost, Clicks, Conversions, Conv. Value
4. Filter: Cost > [your target CPA] AND Conversions = 0
5. Sort by Cost descending

The Statistical Significance Question

Before excluding products, ensure you have enough data. A product with 10 clicks and no conversions isn't necessarily a loser—it might just need more traffic. General guidelines:

• Minimum clicks: At least 50-100 clicks before deciding
• Minimum spend: At least 2-3x your target CPA
• Time period: At least 30 days of data

What to Do With Zero-Conversion Products

Don't immediately exclude—first diagnose why:

• Check pricing: Is this product uncompetitively priced?
• Check search terms: Is it matching irrelevant queries?
• Check landing page: Is the product in stock? Page working?
• Check images: Are product images high quality?
• Check demand: Is there actually search volume for this product?

For detailed analysis, see our zero-conversion products guide.

Low-Performing Products

Low performers are products that convert, but at a ROAS below your profitability threshold. They're not complete waste, but they're dragging down your overall performance.

Identifying Low Performers

Define your ROAS threshold first. If your break-even ROAS is 300%, products below that are losing money.

1. Calculate your break-even ROAS: 1 / (margin %) * 100
2. Filter products: ROAS < break-even AND Cost > $50 (or meaningful threshold)
3. Prioritize by total cost wasted (difference between actual and target ROAS)

Optimization vs Exclusion

For low performers, optimization often works better than exclusion:

• Lower bids: Reduce CPC to improve ROAS
• Improve feed: Better titles/images can improve CTR and conversion
• Add negatives: Exclude low-intent queries
• Check pricing: If uncompetitive, consider price adjustment
• Segment separately: Put in low-bid campaign for conservative exposure

Only exclude if optimization attempts fail to improve ROAS to profitability.

For optimization strategies, see our low-performing products guide.

Pricing Issues

Google Shopping is a price comparison platform. Users see your price alongside competitors. Uncompetitive pricing leads to clicks but not conversions.

How Pricing Affects Performance

• Users click to compare, leave when they find cheaper options
• High CTR + low conversion rate = pricing problem
• Google's algorithm factors in price competitiveness
• Uncompetitive products may show less often

Using the Price Competitiveness Report

Merchant Center provides price competitiveness benchmarks:

1. Go to Merchant Center > Performance > Price competitiveness
2. See how your prices compare to competitors
3. Identify products where you're significantly higher
4. Cross-reference with low-converting products

What to Do About Pricing

• Can't compete on price: Lower bids or exclude from Shopping
• Can adjust price: Test price reductions
• Competitive on price: Problem is elsewhere (feed, landing page)
• Premium positioning: Emphasize value in title/description, accept lower conversion rate

For analysis techniques, see our price competitiveness guide.

Irrelevant Search Terms

Google matches your products to search queries automatically. Not all matches are good. Irrelevant queries waste budget on users who won't convert.

Common Sources of Irrelevant Traffic

• Competitor brands: Searches for brands you don't carry
• Informational queries: "how to", "what is", "reviews"
• B2B terms: "wholesale", "bulk", "supplier" (if you're B2C)
• Irrelevant modifiers: "free", "used", "cheap" (if not applicable)
• Wrong product types: Similar but different products

Finding Wasted Search Terms

1. Go to Shopping campaign > Keywords > Search terms
2. Add columns: Impressions, Clicks, Cost, Conversions
3. Filter: Cost > $10 AND Conversions = 0
4. Look for patterns: competitor names, irrelevant modifiers

Building Your Negative Keyword List

Create negative keyword lists by category:

• Competitor brands: All brand names you don't sell
• Informational: "how to", "vs", "review", "comparison"
• Wrong intent: "job", "salary", "career", "diy"
• Pricing: "free", "cheap" (if premium positioning)
• Condition: "used", "refurbished" (if selling new only)

The Wasted Spend Audit Process

Run this audit monthly to catch waste before it compounds:

Step 1: Search Terms (30 minutes)

1. Export search terms with cost > $5 and zero conversions
2. Group by pattern (competitors, informational, etc.)
3. Add as negative keywords
4. Document patterns for future prevention

Step 2: Zero-Conversion Products (45 minutes)

1. Filter products: Cost > 2x target CPA, Conversions = 0
2. For each, check: pricing, landing page, search terms
3. Decide: fix, reduce bids, or exclude
4. Implement changes

Step 3: Low-ROAS Products (30 minutes)

1. Filter products: ROAS < break-even, Cost > $100
2. Calculate waste: Cost - (Conv. Value * break-even ratio)
3. Prioritize by waste amount
4. Optimize or reduce bids

Step 4: Price Competitiveness (15 minutes)

1. Review Merchant Center price report
2. Cross-reference with low-converting products
3. Flag products for pricing review

Preventing Future Waste

The best waste reduction is prevention. Set up systems to catch problems early:

Automated Rules

• Alert when product spends > 3x CPA with zero conversions (you can set these up using Google Ads campaign rules)
• Alert when campaign hits budget before end of day
• Pause products automatically at certain waste thresholds

Campaign Structure

• Use custom labels to segment by margin tier
• Separate high-risk products into their own campaign
• Set conservative bids for untested products

Regular Maintenance

• Weekly: Search term review, add negatives
• Monthly: Full waste audit
• Quarterly: Campaign structure review

Tools for Waste Detection

Several tools help automate waste detection:

Google Ads Native

• Search terms report (requires manual analysis)
• Product reporting (limited product-level insights)
• Automated rules (basic alerting)

Google Ads Scripts

• Custom scripts for automated reporting
• Zero-conversion product alerts
• Requires technical setup

Third-Party Tools

• SKU Analyzer: Product-level waste detection, automated recommendations
• Optmyzr: PPC management with Shopping features
• Channable: Feed management with performance insights

Frequently Asked Questions

Stop the Bleeding

Wasted spend is the easiest path to better Google Shopping ROAS. Instead of bidding more for incrementally more traffic, eliminate the traffic that never converts.

Key takeaways:

• Most accounts waste 20-40% of spend on non-converting products
• Zero-conversion products are the biggest opportunity
• Search term negatives often provide immediate 10-20% improvement
• Price competitiveness significantly impacts conversion rates
• Monthly audits prevent waste from compounding

SKU Analyzer automates wasted spend detection, showing you exactly which products are draining budget and why—with one-click optimization recommendations.