Paid advertising: How to check
Each of these checks takes under ten minutes and needs no tool and no expertise. Do them yourself rather than reading about them in a report.
The checks, in order
01 Compare the invoice with the report
The Google or Meta invoice against the monthly report. The numbers should match.
02 Read the actual search terms
Twenty lines are enough to see what you are paying for. If half have nothing to do with you, the campaign is not being maintained.
03 Search for your own ad
Search what you pay for and see where you appear and what it says. Surprises here are common.
04 Count enquiries, not clicks
Write down how many real enquiries you received. Compare with spend. That is the only equation that matters.