If You're Not Tracking These 5 Metrics in Your Monthly Report, You Can't See Your Losses

Every month you look at your report, there are numbers but their meaning is unclear. The click-through rate looks good, but there are no sales. You increased your budget, spending went up but conversions didn't. The reason for this picture is usually focusing on just one thing; but to see the truth in Google Ads, you need to read several metrics at the same time. Here are the 5 metrics you need to place side by side in your monthly report.

1. Click-Through Rate (CTR): Asking the Right Question Matters

CTR, or click-through rate, shows how many people who saw your ad actually clicked. A high CTR is generally considered a good sign; but it doesn't mean anything on its own. If CTR is high but there are no conversions, the problem is not in the ad but on the landing page. If CTR is low but the conversion rate is high, it means you're giving the right message to your audience. Comparing global benchmarks with your own account is also misleading; the competitive environment in Turkey, user habits, and your sector change this rate entirely. Always read CTR together with quality score and conversion data; otherwise you can't see the real picture.

2. Quality Score: Your Fastest Improvement Lever

Quality Score is the rating Google gives your ad from 1 to 10. This score is calculated based on three things: how relevant your ad is to what's being searched, the expected click rate, and what users experience when they land on your page. 7 and above is considered healthy. If your score is low, increasing your budget is pointless; Google is already showing you less and charging you higher click prices. The practical advice for 2026 is this: don't put too many different keywords in one ad group. Ad groups with scattered topics lower relevance and your score erodes.

3. Search Terms Report: Where Is the Budget Going?

This report shows what people actually searched for when they saw your ad. It's a much more critical document than it appears. Why? Because as of 2026, Google can keep a significant portion of the search queries that trigger your spending outside the report under the guise of privacy. So you already can't see part of it. But neglecting the visible part is also a big loss. According to analyses of accounts in Turkey, a notable share of the budget in many accounts flows to irrelevant searches. Check this report monthly without fail; if there are terms unrelated to your business, add them as negative keywords and direct the money to the right place.

4. Cost Per Conversion (CPA): The Real Invoice of Your Campaign

How much does it cost you to acquire a customer? CPA answers this question. But beware: without conversion tracking set up, this metric is a meaningless number. Be sure to tag actions like form submissions, phone calls, or purchases. If CPA seems high, don't immediately blame the ad budget; first check the quality score, then the search terms report, then review how well your landing page convinces visitors. And an important technical note: Google is releasing an update related to conversion tracking in June 2026. Trusting your CPA data without checking your Consent Mode settings can be risky.

5. Impression Share: It Tells You Where the Loss Is Coming From

Impression Share is how often your ad actually appeared out of the total opportunities it could have been shown. But its real value lies in its two sub-metrics. If 'Budget Lost IS' is low, the solution is to increase the budget. But if 'Rank Lost IS' is low, increasing the budget fixes nothing; you first need to raise your quality score. This is one of the most common mistakes in SMB accounts in Turkey: increasing the budget when the loss is rank-based. In 2026, Google's ability to show ads in multiple positions on the same page made this calculation a bit more complex; that's why reading the two sub-metrics separately is more important than ever.

• Did Impression Share drop? First check whether you're losing to budget or rank.
• If rank-based: Which component is weak in the Quality Score — ad copy or landing page?
• If relevance is low: Are there terms in the Search Terms Report that need to be added as negatives?
• If CTR is reasonable but CPA is high: Review the landing page and bid strategy.
• If everything looks fine: If you have display or video campaigns, also check the view-through contribution report.

Preparing a monthly report may look like a few hours of work, but when not read correctly, it ends up being just a summary of last month. Evaluating these 5 metrics together gives you a much clearer view of which button to press. You don't need a large budget or complex tools to get started; once enough data accumulates, asking these questions is enough. If you want to see where your account is stuck, get in touch with our experts.