How do I stop Performance Max from wasting spend on mobile game apps?

You must exclude mobile app categories at the account level, as Performance Max explicitly bypasses standard campaign-level placement exclusions. Google's algorithm actively routes inventory to mobile games because accidental screen taps generate extremely low CPCs, padding the campaign's perceived engagement metrics while killing actual lead quality. The Placement Leakage Audit calculates your specific App Placement Wastage Rate and generates the exact account-level exclusion list required to sever this traffic.

How can I see exactly where my Performance Max ads are showing?

You must utilize the Google Ads API or custom script reporting to extract placement data, as the native UI aggregates this into useless high-level summaries. PMax deliberately obfuscates placement-level performance data to prevent advertisers from manually blocking low-converting network properties, limiting you to basic impression counts. The Placement Leakage Audit extracts these PMax Shadow Placements to reveal exactly which URLs and apps are draining your Smart Bidding budget without yielding conversions.

Why are my Google Ads Search campaigns getting Display Network clicks?

Your campaigns are likely suffering from quiet auto-enrollment into the Google Display Network (GDN) expansion and Search Partners. Google opts new Search campaigns into these expanded networks by default to maximize eligible inventory, resulting in bottom-of-the-barrel display traffic and click fraud that masquerades as search intent. The Placement Leakage Audit exposes your Network Dilution Penalty to show precisely how much budget was bled into non-search placements over the last 30 days.

Why am I getting leads from foreign countries when my location targeting is strictly US?

Your location settings are likely set to 'Presence or interest in' rather than 'Presence,' allowing Google to serve ads to users outside your targeted region who show search interest. This setting combined with expanded network placements often results in overseas bot farms or low-quality display networks capturing your budget through spoofed location intent. The Placement Leakage Audit calculates your Geographic Leakage Variance, instantly flagging campaigns where off-target locations are eating your domestic budget.

Why does my Display campaign have a high CTR but a 100% bounce rate?

You are experiencing placement fraud from malicious mobile apps or hidden iframes that force accidental clicks without rendering your actual landing page. These placements exploit the CPC model by generating massive click volumes, forcing Smart Bidding to bid higher on them while Google Analytics registers immediate user abandonment. The Placement Leakage Audit isolates these fraudulent sources using a Click-to-Session Discrepancy metric, pinpointing exactly which apps and sites are stealing your spend.

How do I stop Google Ads from bidding on parked domains?

You must proactively exclude the specific 'parked domains' content category in your account settings, as Google includes them in network inventory by default. Parked domains offer zero content value but generate massive volumes of accidental clicks from users mistyping URLs, which drains your daily budget on zero-intent traffic. The Placement Leakage Audit reviews your Content Exclusion Deficits to ensure parked domains and other zero-value categories are permanently blocked across your account.

Why is my YouTube video campaign only showing on kids channels?

YouTube's algorithm prioritizes kids' content because toddlers on shared devices generate the highest engagement rates and cheapest CPVs on the platform. These accidental clicks feed false positive signals to Smart Bidding, which then creates a feedback loop heavily biasing your delivery toward gaming and nursery rhyme channels rather than your actual demographic. The Placement Leakage Audit quantifies your Juvenile Placement Ratio and cross-references your delivery against a 50,000-channel blocklist to stop the bleed.

Can I use campaign-level placement exclusions for Performance Max?

No, Performance Max ignores campaign-level placement exclusions and requires you to apply negative placement lists at the account level or MCC level. Google designed PMax to operate across all channel inventories fluidly, meaning traditional campaign-specific guardrails are bypassed in favor of algorithmic freedom. The Placement Leakage Audit highlights your Vulnerable PMax Campaigns and provides a consolidated, account-safe exclusion file you can upload directly.

What are MFA (Made for Advertising) sites and how do they drain Google Ads budget?

MFA sites are low-quality, ad-stuffed webpages designed solely to arbitrage cheap traffic and harvest programmatic ad spend. Because these sites engineer high click-through rates and artificially inflate time-on-site metrics, Smart Bidding algorithms misinterpret them as high-intent placements and aggressively bid for their inventory. The Placement Leakage Audit flags your exposure using an MFA Identification Index to instantly identify and exclude these domains from your PMax and Display campaigns.

Does Target CPA protect my budget from junk display placements?

No, Target CPA actually accelerates spend on junk placements if they manage to trigger soft conversions or view-through events. When accidental app clicks or bot traffic hit your site and fire top-of-funnel conversion tags, the algorithm views these garbage placements as highly efficient and aggressively routes more budget to them to satisfy the tCPA constraint. The Placement Leakage Audit runs a Quality-Adjusted CPA check to expose how junk inventory is artificially deflating your reported acquisition costs.

How do view-through conversions hide bad placements in Google Ads?

View-through conversions allow Google to claim credit when a user scrolls past an ad on a low-quality site but later converts through a different, legitimate channel. By assigning full or partial conversion value to these phantom views, the algorithm justifies continuous spending on garbage placements that never actually drove a direct click or engagement. The Placement Leakage Audit separates your metrics to reveal the View-Through Illusion Rate, exposing which placements rely solely on coincidental attribution to survive.

What is placement leakage in Google Ads?

Placement leakage occurs when your ads appear on irrelevant placements — mobile game apps, kids apps, content farms, and low-engagement YouTube channels — that generate impressions and accidental clicks but zero conversions. The audit aggregates placement data from PMax, Standard, and Video campaigns to reveal exactly where your ads appear and how much impression volume flows to junk inventory.

How do I exclude mobile apps from Google Ads?

In Google Ads, go to Content → Placements → Exclusions → Mobile app categories. Exclude Games (mobileappcategory::69500) and Entertainment (::60000) as a starting package. For PMax campaigns, only account-level exclusions work — campaign-level placement exclusions do not apply to Performance Max campaigns.

What is the mobile app black hole in PMax?

The mobile app black hole describes how PMax automatically routes a large portion of Display inventory to mobile applications — games, utilities, and kids apps — where clicks are mostly accidental and purchase intent is near zero. Because PMax offers no campaign-level placement targeting, the only control is account-level mobile app category exclusions.

How is placement cost estimated when PMax doesn't report cost by placement?

PMax does not report cost at the individual placement level. The audit estimates cost using the account's average CPM (cost per thousand impressions) multiplied by each placement's impression count. For YouTube placements that report actual cost and view data, the audit uses real cost figures and calculates view rate to determine engagement quality.

What does placement health score mean?

The placement health score classifies all placements into three buckets: EXCLUDE (mobile apps — consistently junk), REVIEW (YouTube channels — may have value depending on audience relevance), and OK (websites — generally acceptable). If the Exclude slice exceeds one-third of total placements, the problem requires category-level structural changes, not individual placement cleanup.

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Placement Leakage · Audit Guide

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Audit Guide · 15 sections · 4 pages · Scroll to explore

How to Read Your Placement Leakage Report

Your audit reveals exactly where your ads appear — mobile apps, YouTube channels, websites — and how much of that inventory is junk. This guide explains every metric and the exact actions to take. The PDF skeleton on the right highlights where you are.

Jump to section

The Four Headline KPIsP1 Placement Type DistributionP1 Source Split (PMax vs Standard vs Video)P1 Top Placements by ImpressionsP1 Mobile App vs Website ShareP2 Top Mobile Apps (Impressions)P2 Top YouTube Channels (Impressions)P2 Exclusion CandidatesP3 App vs Other Placements TrendP3 PMax vs Standard Placement SplitP3 App Impression ConcentrationP3 Network SegmentationP4 Top Website DomainsP4 YouTube View Rate & Estimated CostP4 Placement Health ScoreP4

Page 1 — Where Ads Appear

The Four Headline KPIs

Page 1 — how much of your inventory is junk

These KPIs aggregate impressions from three placement sources — PMax, Standard campaigns, and Video campaigns — into a single view. The mobile app percentage is the headline: it tells you how much of your Display and Video inventory flows into mobile apps where accidental clicks and zero purchase intent dominate.

Mobile App %

Junk Indicator

The percentage of total placement impressions served inside mobile applications. Above 50% means the majority of your Display/Video inventory is mobile app traffic — games, idle apps, utility apps with no commercial intent. These placements generate accidental clicks, not customers.

→

If above 60%, add mobile app category exclusions immediately at the account level. Target mobileappcategory::69500 (Games) and ::60000 (Entertainment) as a starting point.

Unique Placements

The count of distinct apps, sites, and channels your ads appeared on. A high count with concentrated impressions on a few placements means a small exclusion list recovers most of the waste. A high count with evenly distributed impressions means the problem is structural — category-level exclusions are needed, not individual placement blocks.

Placement Type Distribution

Page 1 — the proportion reveals urgency

This donut breaks total impressions into four types: Mobile Apps, YouTube Videos, YouTube Channels, and Websites. The mobile app slice reveals the scale of the problem — the larger it is, the more structural the fix required.

Mobile Apps dominating

> 50%

More than half your placements are mobile apps. This is not a targeting refinement — it's a structural leak requiring account-level exclusions.

→

Apply category-level app exclusions before reviewing individual placements. Individual exclusions can't keep pace with the volume of junk apps Google discovers.

Websites dominating

Better Quality

Website placements are generally higher quality than mobile apps. You may still have junk sites (content farms, parked domains), but the baseline quality is better.

Source Split (PMax vs Standard vs Video)

Page 1 — which campaign type drives junk placements

This bar chart splits impressions by campaign source: Performance Max, Standard (Display/Search), and YouTube/Video. PMax driving a disproportionate share signals the algorithm is choosing placements with no manual override in place — you have zero control over where PMax serves.

PMax > 70% of placement impressions

No Manual Control

PMax controls where your ads appear with no placement-level opt-out for individual campaigns. The only controls available are account-level exclusion lists and mobile app category exclusions.

→

Apply exclusions at the account level — they affect all campaign types including PMax. Campaign-level placement exclusions do not work for PMax.

Top Placements by Impressions

Page 1 — the specific apps and sites consuming your inventory

Every placement ranked by impression volume with type classification (Mobile App, YouTube Video, YouTube Channel, Website) and source (PMax, Standard, Video). All entries in this table had zero conversions in the reporting period — these are the specific placements bleeding your budget.

Mobile game apps in top 10

Exclude Immediately

Mobile games generate impressions from accidental taps, reward-for-watching ad formats, and interstitial placements. Click-through rates may look healthy, but conversion rates are near zero because the user never intended to interact with your product.

→

Add each app's placement ID to your account exclusion list. Then add the broader game category exclusion to prevent new game apps from appearing.

Page 2 — Mobile App Black Hole

Mobile App vs Website Share

Page 2 — the binary question

A simple two-row comparison: total impressions from mobile apps vs everything else. The action column gives a verdict based on the app share: above 60% = CRITICAL, exclude all apps. Above 40% = REVIEW app traffic. Below 40% = OK, monitor individually.

CRITICAL — EXCLUDE APPS

> 60% app

The majority of your placement inventory is mobile apps. At this level, individual exclusions can't keep pace. You need to exclude entire app categories to make a meaningful dent.

→

In Google Ads, go to Content → Placements → Exclusions → Mobile app categories. Exclude Games, Entertainment, and Utilities as a starting package.

Top Mobile Apps (Impressions)

Page 2 — the worst offenders by name

The 15 mobile apps consuming the most impressions across PMax and Standard campaigns. Gaming, utility, and kids apps near the top are the clearest cases for immediate exclusion — these audiences have zero overlap with your customer profile.

Kids/education apps

Zero Intent

Children's apps generate impressions from users who cannot make purchase decisions. These impressions are pure waste regardless of your product category.

→

Exclude these apps individually AND add the children's app category exclusion to prevent new ones from appearing.

Top YouTube Channels (Impressions)

Page 2 — is YouTube spend driving value or just views?

The YouTube channels and videos receiving the most impressions from your campaigns. Check whether these channels have audiences with any plausible purchase intent for your product. Toy unboxing channels, gaming streams, and music videos consistently attract PMax spend without converting.

Entertainment/gaming channels dominating

Brand Spend, Not Performance

YouTube placements on entertainment channels drive awareness but rarely direct conversions. If your campaign objective is ROAS or CPA, these placements are misaligned — the algorithm serves here because impressions are cheap, not because users convert.

→

Exclude specific channels that are clearly irrelevant. For broader control, use topic exclusions in your campaign settings.

Page 3 — The Exclusion List

Exclusion Candidates

Page 3 — the actionable hit list

Every placement with over 500 impressions and zero conversion signal, ranked by impression volume. Each row includes the placement type and a universal action: EXCLUDE. This is the operational output of the audit — copy these placement IDs into your exclusion list.

High impression count placements

Biggest Impact

Start from the top. Each exclusion at the top of this list recovers more wasted impressions than ten exclusions at the bottom combined. Work top-down for maximum efficiency.

→

Add the top 20 placements to your account-level exclusion list. This single action typically reduces junk impressions by 40–60%.

App vs Other Placements Trend

Page 3 — is the algorithm routing more budget to apps over time?

Daily PMax app impressions vs non-app impressions over the reporting period. A widening gap means the algorithm is progressively routing more budget into irrelevant app inventory — the problem is self-reinforcing because cheap app impressions look efficient to the algorithm.

Widening gap

Accelerating Problem

Each day, the algorithm finds more cheap app inventory and routes more impressions there. Without exclusions, this trend only continues because app CPMs are lower than website CPMs, making the algorithm believe it's being efficient.

→

Implement exclusions immediately. The trend will not reverse without intervention — cheap app inventory will always win the algorithm's efficiency calculation.

S10

PMax vs Standard Placement Split

Page 3 — which campaign type contributes which placement types

A breakdown of impression volume by campaign source (PMax vs Standard) crossed with placement type (Mobile Apps, YouTube, Websites). This reveals whether the junk placement problem is isolated to PMax (where you have no placement control) or also affects Standard campaigns (where you can set placement targeting).

Standard campaigns also have high app share

Targeting Gap

Your Standard Display campaigns are also serving on junk apps — this means your targeting settings allow it. Unlike PMax, Standard campaigns can use placement targeting to opt into specific sites only.

→

Switch Standard Display campaigns to managed placements (opt-in only) rather than automatic placements. This gives you direct control over where ads appear.

S11

App Impression Concentration

Page 3 — can a few exclusions fix most of the problem?

This bar chart ranks the top 10 mobile apps by impression share. High concentration (top 5 apps = 60%+ of app impressions) means a handful of exclusions will recover the majority of wasted impressions at once. Low concentration means category-level exclusions are necessary.

Top 5 apps > 50% of app impressions

Easy Fix

The waste is concentrated. Excluding just 5 apps will cut your mobile app impressions in half. This is the best-case scenario — a surgical fix rather than a structural overhaul.

→

Exclude these 5 apps immediately. Then add category-level exclusions as a long-term guard against new junk apps.

Page 4 — Synthesis & Network

S12

Network Segmentation

Page 4 — Display vs YouTube vs Content networks

PMax placement data now includes network type segmentation (Display, YouTube Watch, Content). This table crosses network with placement type to reveal which networks drive the highest volume of junk placements. Display network + Mobile App is consistently the highest-risk combination.

DISPLAY + Mobile App

Highest Junk Risk

Mobile app placements on the Display network are the primary source of wasted impressions across all Google Ads accounts. High volume here with zero conversions confirms systemic junk placement bleed.

→

Exclude mobile app categories at the account level. This affects Display network app placements across all campaign types including PMax.

Low unique placements, high impressions

A small number of distinct placements generating massive impression volume means budget is concentrated on a few specific bad placements. This is easier to fix than thousands of long-tail placements.

S13

Top Website Domains

Page 4 — are your website placements legitimate?

The top 10 website domains by impression volume. Scan for content farms, unrelated editorial sites, and parked domains that signal zero-intent inventory at scale. Legitimate news sites and niche content sites are generally acceptable — the concern is domains that exist purely to serve ads.

Unrecognizable domains

Content Farm Risk

Domains you've never heard of with high impression volume are often made-for-advertising (MFA) sites — pages designed to maximize ad impressions rather than serve genuine content. User engagement is negligible.

→

Search the domain name. If it's a content farm or parked domain, add it to your placement exclusion list.

S14

YouTube View Rate & Estimated Cost

Page 4 — turning impression waste into a dollar figure

This table estimates the cost of junk placements using either actual cost data (for Video placements with cost fields) or account average CPM as a proxy (for PMax app placements that don't report cost directly). The engagement verdict tells you which placements have low view rates — confirming the impressions are ignored by users.

LOW ENGAGEMENT — Exclude

View rate < 20%

Less than 20% of users who saw your ad on this placement watched it. The impression was served but ignored — you're paying for ad renders that no human meaningfully saw.

→

Exclude all LOW ENGAGEMENT placements. These impressions generate zero value even for brand awareness because users aren't watching.

MOBILE APP — Exclude

No View Rate Data

Mobile app placements from PMax don't report view rate data. The estimated cost uses your account's average CPM multiplied by impressions — a conservative floor estimate of what these placements cost.

S15

Placement Health Score

Page 4 — the structural verdict

All placements bucketed into three categories: EXCLUDE (mobile apps — always junk), REVIEW (YouTube — may have value), and OK (websites — generally acceptable). If the Exclude slice exceeds a third of total placements, this is a structural rebuild problem requiring category-level changes, not a cleanup task.

Exclude > 33% of placements

Structural Problem

More than a third of all placements should be blocked. Individual exclusions won't scale — you need account-level category exclusions and potentially a rethink of which campaign types serve on Display network.

→

Implement all three layers: category exclusions (Games, Entertainment), individual high-impression app exclusions (from the table above), and topic exclusions for irrelevant content categories.

Also worth reading

Inside the Placement Leakage Engine →

The exact formulas and thresholds behind every metric

Ready to run your own audit?

Run My Free Placement Leakage Audit

P1/4Where Ads Appear

KPI Tiles

Placement Type Donut

PMax vs Standard vs Video

Top Placements Table

Q: What percentage of my ad impressions go to irrelevant placements?