The last mistakes are not in the account: they are in how it is managed. They are the easiest to avoid and the most repeated, because they show no symptoms until they cause real damage. We close with them, and with the checklist that sums up the whole Basic level.
Mistake 1 · The account belonged to the agency
Case: a company changed agency after three years. The account — with its history, its remarketing lists, its accumulated Quality Score and its conversions — had been created inside the outgoing agency's MCC, with their email and their card. The agency did not hand it over. They started from scratch: three months of learning and a CPA 60% worse throughout.
How to avoid it: the account is created and paid for by the advertiser, with two administrators from the company; the agency links to it through its MCC (Module 2). If you are already in the bad scenario: ask for the transfer in writing before you announce the change.
Mistake 2 · Deciding on three days
Case: "Monday and Tuesday had no conversions, we've paused the campaign." With a CPA of €60 and €25/day, one conversion every two or three days is normal, and the conversion delay added another two. The campaign had in fact converted on Wednesday... attributed to Monday, after it was paused.
How to avoid it: evaluate over full weeks outside the delay window, and with a minimum number of conversions (Modules 5 and 6). Three days are noise; pausing and reactivating resets learning.
Mistake 3 · Never reading the search terms
Case: an insurance account with two years of activity and zero negative keywords. 38% of the accumulated spend had gone to searches about jobs, training and "free". Nobody had ever opened the report.
How to avoid it: the weekly routine from Module 3. Twenty minutes that, in this case, were worth more than a third of the budget.
Mistake 4 · Reports without the CRM
Case: a beautiful monthly report with CPA per campaign, for a whole year. Nobody had cross-checked the leads against the CRM: the "cheapest" campaign was bringing in leads from outside the country (location set to "interest"), with no chance of a sale. The "expensive" campaign brought in 90% of the real sales.
How to avoid it: a monthly Google Ads ↔ CRM reconciliation (Module 6) and, as soon as you can, the real value of each lead sent back to Google (offline conversions, Intermediate level).
Mistake 5 · Access for people who left
Case: an account with 11 users, 6 of them ex-employees or former agencies, two of them with admin level. A compromised Google account belonging to an ex-employee changed the billing details and created cryptocurrency campaigns over a weekend.
How to avoid it: a quarterly access review, mandatory two-step verification, and billing alerts switched on (Module 7).
The Basic level exit checklist
If you can tick all of this on an account, it is properly set up. It is the operational summary of all eight modules:
Structure (M2)
- Campaigns by budget + objective; brand separate; no "General".
- Ad groups of 5-20 keywords per intent; no junk drawers.
- Settings reviewed: partners, Display expansion, presence, languages.
Keywords (M3)
- Exact + phrase (broad only with Smart Bidding and data).
- Universal negative list applied; weekly search terms routine.
Ads (M4)
- 2-3 RSAs per ad group, Ad strength Good or better, no redundant assets.
- Assets: sitelinks, callouts, image; automated ones reviewed.
- One landing page per intent, fast and with a single action.
Money (M5)
- Strategy matching the stage; target set from the real figure.
- Change rule and change log in place.
Measurement (M6)
- Primary = what you would pay for; values; counting set to "One" for leads.
- A single tag, enhanced conversions, advanced Consent Mode v2.
- Monthly end-to-end test; reconciliation with the CRM.
Management (M7, M8)
- Saved columns with conversions, CPA/ROAS, IS and QS.
- 30-minute weekly routine; billing and disapproval alerts.
- Account owned by the advertiser; access reviewed; 2FA.
💡 Ninja trick: this checklist is, almost point for point, what the Ninja Scripts Agent reviews in every account: structure, negatives, measurement, access, dangerous settings and warning signs. A human goes through it once; the agent, every day. And when something falls off the list, it warns you with the context so the decision — which is still yours — arrives in time.
What you should remember
- The account belongs to the advertiser; the agency links to it.
- Full weeks and volume before deciding; never three days.
- Search terms every week; CRM every month; access every quarter.
- The exit checklist is your audit: if one point fails, that is where the work starts.
That is the end of the Basic level... almost: Module 9 walks through the other campaign types (Display, Shopping, YouTube, Performance Max, Demand Gen and Apps) at an introductory level, so the map is complete before you move on to the Intermediate level.