Ad spend waste finder
By Toolspoke
Checks your Google Ads and Meta Ads each week for spend that brought no conversions, and posts a ranked list of what to cut.
Needs a Toolspoke account. You choose which project it installs into.
- Google Ads + Meta Ads + Slack
- Required integrations
- Runs on a schedule
- Mondays at 9am by default
- Post one message
- What its last step does
- Some actions can delete
- 1 of 35 actions in its tools
On this page
The short version
- What it is
- A ready-made Toolspoke agent that finds the ad spend that bought nothing and tells you what to cut.
- What it reads
- 30 days of Google Ads campaigns, keywords and search terms, and Meta campaigns and ad sets, against the 30 days before.
- What it finds
- Spend with no conversions, costly converters, tired Meta creative, and campaigns held back by budget.
- What you get
- One Slack post, ranked by money, with a recommendation and the most each cut could save.
- How often
- Every Monday once you switch it on.
- What it never does
- Pause anything, change a budget or bid, add a keyword, or promise a saving.
- What you need
- A Toolspoke account, Google Ads, a Meta ad account and a Slack workspace.
What Ad spend waste finder does
Ad spend waste finder is an AI agent that reads your Google Ads and Meta Ads every week, finds the spend that brought no conversions, and posts a ranked list of what to cut and where the budget would do more. You make the changes in the ad platform.
Ad accounts leak money quietly. A broad-match keyword picks up searches you never meant to buy, a lookalike audience that worked in spring stops converting, and the same ad shows to the same people until they stop clicking. Each costs a little a day.
The platforms report all of it, across dozens of screens. Finding the waste means checking every campaign, keyword and search term against what it cost, every week, and few teams have the time.
Ad spend waste finder reads it all on Monday morning. It works out what a conversion costs in each account, flags anything that spent twice that and converted nothing, and ranks the list by money. Each item says what to do and how much it spent.
In practice, every Monday you have:
- Campaigns, keywords and ad sets that spent with nothing to show for it
- Search terms worth adding as negative keywords
- Meta ad sets whose creative has worn out
- Campaigns converting well but held back by budget, where a cut could move
How it works
Ad spend waste finder works in four steps each week: it reads both accounts, sets a yardstick for each, finds the waste and posts the ranked list. All of it comes from the agent's written instructions, which you can read and edit after you install it.
Step 1: Read Google Ads
Campaigns, keywords, search terms and budgets, for two windows.
Step 2: Read Meta Ads
Campaigns and ad sets, with spend, frequency and your conversion.
Step 3: Find the waste
Spend of twice the cost per conversion, with none recorded.
Step 4: Post the list
Ranked by money, with a recommendation for each.
A yardstick from your own account
There is no universal amount that counts as waste. The agent works out what a conversion costs across each account, and flags anything that spent at least twice that and converted nothing. A big account and a small one each get a fair threshold.
It allows for late conversions
Conversions are reported days after the click. The window ends three days ago, so a campaign is not flagged for conversions that have not arrived yet. Campaigns and ad sets less than 14 days old, or still in Meta's learning phase, are too new to judge.
It checks the tracking first
If an account, or a campaign that converted last month, shows no conversions at all, the tracking may be broken. That warning goes at the top, ahead of any cut, because cutting on broken tracking would cut what works.
It keeps the platforms apart
Google and Meta each count conversions their own way. The agent never adds them together or compares their costs as if equal. The limits are listed under what it will never do.
What a weekly post looks like
A run of Ad spend waste finder posts one message to Slack. It leads with any tracking warning, then the waste ranked by spend, then where budget could move.
Northwind
Channels
- general
- marketing
- growth
- sales
marketing
17 Sep to 16 Oct against the 30 days before. Google 9,610 spent, 132 conversions at 73 each. Meta 5,210 spent, 41 purchases at 127 each.
No conversions (6), up to 3,410
- Google, Brand broad match: 1,240 spent, 0 conversions. Most clicks came from searches for free templates. Pause it, or move it to phrase match.
- Meta, Lookalike 3% ad set: 980 spent, 0 purchases. It had 6 the month before. Lower the budget, or check the audience.
- Search term "free crm template": 310 spent, 0 conversions. Add as a negative keyword.
- Meta, Spring video ad set: frequency 5.2 and clicks down 41%. Refresh the creative.
Where budget could move (2)
- Google, Competitor terms: 48 per conversion, losing 40% of its impressions to budget.
- Google, Integrations: 55 per conversion, losing 22% to budget.
Too new to judge (3)
Meta, October launch (6 days old) and 2 Google ad groups started this month, 640 spent between them.
- No conversions
Items that spent at least twice the account's cost per conversion and recorded none, plus tired creative, ranked by spend. Each has a recommendation and the most it could save.
- Where budget could move
Google campaigns converting below the account's cost per conversion and losing impressions to budget. A cut elsewhere could go here.
- Too new to judge
Campaigns and ad sets less than 14 days old or still learning, with their spend, so you know they were seen.
When the numbers look wrong
If an account shows no conversions at all, or a campaign that converted last month shows none, the post leads with a tracking warning and recommends checking the tag before cutting anything.
If one platform cannot be read, it reports the other and says which is missing. If neither can be read, it says so once and stops.
Who uses Ad spend waste finder
Ad spend waste finder suits anyone running Google or Meta ads who wants the leaks found every week without an afternoon in the ad platforms. The examples use made-up names.
A founder running their own ads
Nadia Haddad set up campaigns herself and checks them when she remembers. The Monday post shows her the broad-match keyword that spent 1,240 on free template searches.
A performance marketer with two platforms
Owen Fletcher manages Google and Meta for a store. He starts the week with the ranked list and makes the cuts himself.
An agency checking client accounts
Mei Tanaka installs one copy per client. Each Monday she has a list to bring to the client call, with the numbers behind each change.
A marketing lead defending the budget
Rafael Costa uses the where budget could move list to argue for shifting spend, not cutting it.
What Ad spend waste finder connects to
Ad spend waste finder connects to three tools: it reads Google Ads and Meta Ads, and posts one message to Slack. You connect each one yourself, and Toolspoke stores the connection encrypted, so the agent never sees the credential.
Google Ads
RequiredInspect campaigns, ad groups, keywords, and performance.
Authentication: OAuth 2.0
Meta Ads
RequiredRead Meta ad accounts, campaigns, ad sets, ads, audiences and insights, and pause a campaign.
Authentication: Sign in with Facebook
Slack
RequiredSearch conversations and send messages to your workspace.
Authentication: Bot token
| Tool | What Ad spend waste finder does | What it cannot do |
|---|---|---|
| Google Ads | Reads campaign, keyword, search term and budget reports (campaign_metrics, keyword_metrics, search_terms_report, list_campaign_budgets, run_gaql_query). | Change anything. Every action in the Google Ads connector is a read: it cannot pause a campaign, change a budget or bid, or add a keyword. |
| Meta Ads | Reads campaign and ad set results (get_insights, list_ad_sets). | Pause a campaign if you give it read access. Pausing is the only Meta action that changes anything, and a read-only grant cannot reach it. |
| Slack | Posts one message to the channel you chose (send_message). | Read direct messages. It can edit its own messages and schedule messages, and the agent is told to do neither. |
Google Ads is read-only, so the agent cannot change your campaigns there, which is a property of the connector. With Meta installed with read access, it cannot pause a campaign either. Every change it recommends is one you make in the ad platform.
The activity log records each call. The post in Slack is the only thing the agent writes.
What Ad spend waste finder will never do
Ad spend waste finder is told never to pause anything, never to change a budget or bid, never to add a keyword and never to promise a saving. It finds the waste, and a person decides what to cut.
- Pause, enable or remove a campaign, ad set, ad or keyword, change a budget or a bid, or add a negative keyword.
- Promise a saving or a result.
- Call a campaign waste when it was named at install as built for reach or awareness.
- Treat view-through or assisted conversions as nothing.
- Add conversions across platforms, or compare their costs as if equal.
Why it will not make the cut itself
A campaign with no conversions might be feeding a retargeting audience, or be the one your sales team relies on for calls the platform never sees. The person who knows that makes the change in the ad platform.
Why it will not promise a saving
Turning off a campaign saves its spend, but some of its customers may come another way, or not at all. The agent gives the spend in the window as the most a cut could save, and says up to.
Why it skips awareness campaigns
A campaign built for reach is not meant to convert. Name it at install and the agent leaves it out, rather than flagging it as waste every week.
If something goes wrong
If one platform cannot be read, report the other and say which is missing. If neither can be read, post that once and stop. If the chosen Meta conversion has no data at all, say the conversion name may be wrong and report Meta spend without judging it.
These are written into Ad spend waste finder's instructions. They guide the agent, but they are not a permission. What it is allowed to touch is set by the access you grant.
Ad spend waste finder reads your accounts and ranks the waste. Every pause, budget and bid stays with a person.
When Ad spend waste finder runs
Ad spend waste finder runs every Monday at 9 AM, but only after you switch its schedule on. It arrives switched off, so nothing runs and nothing is charged until you decide.
- Each run reads the 30 days ending three days ago, against the 30 days before.
- It checks for broken tracking before anything else.
- It ranks the waste by spend and suggests where budget could move.
- It posts one message to the Slack channel you chose.
Each run uses model credit from your workspace balance, so it makes one run a week. A larger account costs more, because there is more to read. The Google Ads, Meta and Slack calls themselves are free.
Your copy is an ordinary agent in your project. You can pause its schedule there, run it once on demand, change the day and edit its instructions. The agent's page lists recent runs and their cost.
How to set up Ad spend waste finder
To start finding waste, add Ad spend waste finder to a Toolspoke project, connect Google Ads, Meta Ads and Slack, and switch on the schedule. It takes a few minutes, and nothing runs until the last step.
Step 1: Create a Toolspoke account or sign in
Choose Use this agent. If you are new, you will be asked to sign up first, and you come straight back to this agent afterwards.
Step 2: Add it to a project
Pick the project it should live in. You get your own editable copy, and you can see the three tools it brings before anything connects.
Step 3: Connect Google Ads
Sign in with Google and give the customer ID of the account to read, and the manager account ID if you reach it through one.
Step 4: Connect Meta Ads with read access
Connect your Meta ad account and name the conversion that counts, such as purchase or lead. Read access means it cannot pause a campaign.
Step 5: Choose the channel and any awareness campaigns
Sign in to Slack and invite the bot to your marketing channel. Name any campaigns built for reach, so they are left out.
Step 6: Switch on the schedule
The schedule arrives switched off. Run it once, check a few items against the ad platforms, then switch it on.
Make Ad spend waste finder fit your accounts
Ad spend waste finder's instructions are plain English and you can edit them after you install it. Installing copies the agent, so your edits stay with your copy. Open the agent in Toolspoke and tell the builder what to change, and it rewrites the instructions.
Paste any sentence below into the builder chat, or say the same thing in your own words.
Flag anything that spent more than 150 with no conversions, instead of twice the account's cost per conversion.
Use conversion value. Flag anything whose return on ad spend is below 1.5 over the window.
Use the 14 days ending three days ago, against the 14 days before.
Read Google Ads only, and leave Meta out of the post.
Run every Monday and Thursday at 9 AM.
This changes when the agent wakes up, so the builder edits its schedule, not the instructions.
None of these edits needs more access or touches the Never rules. They change what Ad spend waste finder is told, not what the connections allow.
How it compares to other options
Ad spend waste finder beats the alternatives when you want the waste found every week with the numbers behind it, and loses to them when you want changes made for you automatically.
| Compared on | Ad spend waste finder | Platform recommendations | Automated rules | A monthly agency review |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Looks across Google and Meta | Yes, kept apart | One platform each | One platform each | Usually |
| Ranks waste by money | Yes | Ranks by its own score | No | Sometimes |
| Suggests spending more | Only where it converts | Often | If set up | Often |
| Warns about broken tracking | Yes, first | Sometimes | No | If they notice |
| Changes campaigns itself | No, cannot | With auto-apply | Yes | Yes |
| How often | Every week | Always on | Always on | Monthly |
Automated rules are the better choice when you know exactly what should trigger a pause and want it done at 3 AM. Ad spend waste finder is for the team that wants a person to decide, with the evidence in front of them.
Platform recommendations come from the platform selling the ads, and often suggest spending more. The agent's yardstick is your own cost per conversion.
Frequently asked questions
Can Ad spend waste finder pause my campaigns?
No. Every Google Ads action in the connector is a read, and with Meta installed with read access the connection cannot pause a campaign. You make every change in the ad platform.
How does it decide what is waste?
It works out what a conversion costs across each account, and flags anything that spent at least twice that and recorded none. You can change the rule to a fixed amount or a return on ad spend.
What about campaigns built for awareness?
Name them at install and they are left out. Their job is reach, not conversions.
Will it add Google and Meta conversions together?
No. Each platform counts conversions its own way, so the agent reports them separately and never compares their costs as if equal.
What if my tracking is broken?
If an account, or a campaign that converted last month, shows no conversions at all, the post leads with a tracking warning, ahead of any cut.
Does it work with LinkedIn or TikTok ads?
Not yet. It reads Google Ads and Meta Ads, the two ad platforms Toolspoke has toolkits for.
Is Ad spend waste finder free?
It has no price of its own, and every Toolspoke plan includes agents. Tool calls cost nothing, but each run draws on your usage balance. Pricing has the details.
Find the spend that buys nothing
Connect Google Ads and Meta Ads and switch on the schedule. Your first list lands on Monday.