# ADS AUDIT — US VARIANT

> **Region:** United States, Canada
> **Currency:** USD (Canadian advertisers should normalize CAD→USD for cross-platform comparison)
> **Primary platforms:** Meta (FB+IG), Google (Search+YouTube+PMax), TikTok, Reddit (B2B SaaS)
> **Key regulations:** FTC Act, CAN-SPAM, CCPA (California), state privacy laws (VA VCDPA, CO CPA, CT CTDPA, UT UCPA)
> **Major attribution platforms:** Triple Whale, Hyros, Northbeam, Wicked Reports, Polar Analytics

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## HEALTHY BENCHMARK RANGES (US, 2025-2026)

### Meta Ads

| Metric | Poor | Average | Good | Excellent |
|--------|------|---------|------|-----------|
| **CPM (Reach optimization)** | >$25 | $15-25 | $10-15 | <$10 |
| **CPM (Conversion optimization)** | >$40 | $20-40 | $12-20 | $7-12 |
| **CTR (link click)** | <0.6% | 0.6-1.2% | 1.2-2.0% | >2.0% |
| **CPC (link click)** | >$3.50 | $1.80-3.50 | $0.90-1.80 | <$0.90 |
| **CPL (lead gen, B2C)** | >$25 | $12-25 | $6-12 | <$6 |
| **CPL (lead gen, B2B mid-market)** | >$200 | $80-200 | $40-80 | <$40 |
| **CPA (DTC e-com, AOV $50-100)** | >$60 | $35-60 | $20-35 | <$20 |
| **ROAS (DTC, prospecting)** | <1.5x | 1.5-2.5x | 2.5-4.0x | >4.0x |
| **ROAS (DTC, blended including retarget)** | <2.5x | 2.5-3.5x | 3.5-5.0x | >5.0x |
| **Frequency (cold)** | >5 | 3.5-5 | 2-3.5 | <2 |
| **Hook Rate (3s view %)** | <20% | 20-30% | 30-40% | >40% |

### Google Ads

| Metric | Poor | Average | Good | Excellent |
|--------|------|---------|------|-----------|
| **CPC (Search, non-brand)** | >$5 | $2.50-5 | $1.50-2.50 | $1-1.50 |
| **CPC (Search, brand)** | >$2 | $0.80-2 | $0.30-0.80 | <$0.30 |
| **CTR (Search, non-brand)** | <3% | 3-5% | 5-8% | >8% |
| **Quality Score (Search)** | <5 | 5-6 | 6-8 | 8-10 |
| **Conversion rate (Search → form)** | <2% | 2-5% | 5-10% | >10% |
| **CPA (legal/financial leads)** | >$300 | $150-300 | $80-150 | <$80 |
| **CPA (DTC e-com)** | >$80 | $45-80 | $25-45 | <$25 |
| **ROAS (Performance Max, DTC)** | <2x | 2-3.5x | 3.5-5x | >5x |
| **Search Impression Share (brand)** | <70% | 70-85% | 85-95% | >95% |
| **Search Impression Share (non-brand priority)** | <30% | 30-50% | 50-70% | >70% |

### TikTok Ads

| Metric | Poor | Average | Good | Excellent |
|--------|------|---------|------|-----------|
| **CPM** | >$15 | $10-15 | $7-10 | $5-7 |
| **CTR** | <0.8% | 0.8-1.5% | 1.5-2.5% | >2.5% |
| **CPC** | >$2 | $1.20-2 | $0.70-1.20 | <$0.70 |
| **CPA (DTC e-com, AOV $40-80)** | >$50 | $30-50 | $18-30 | <$18 |
| **ROAS (Spark Ads, prospecting)** | <1.2x | 1.2-2x | 2-3.5x | >3.5x |
| **VTR (6s view rate)** | <8% | 8-15% | 15-25% | >25% |

### ROAS targets by business model (US)

| Model | Break-even ROAS | Healthy ROAS | Scale ROAS |
|-------|-----------------|--------------|------------|
| **DTC e-com (40-50% margin)** | 2.0-2.5x | 3.0-4.0x | 4.0-5.0x+ |
| **DTC e-com (60-70% margin, beauty/supplements)** | 1.5x | 2.5-3.5x | 3.5-5.0x |
| **B2B SaaS (lead-gen)** | LTV/CAC ≥3:1 | LTV/CAC 4-6:1 | LTV/CAC >6:1 |
| **Local service (HVAC, dental, legal)** | 4-6x first-touch | 6-10x | 10x+ |
| **Course / info-product** | 1.8-2.2x | 2.5-3.5x | 3.5x+ |
| **Dropshipping (15-25% margin)** | 4-5x | 5-7x | 7x+ |

---

## COMMON RED FLAGS (US)

### Meta-specific

1. **Low Quality Ranking, Engagement Ranking, Conversion Ranking** — when 2+ are "Below Average," the algorithm penalizes auction priority. Fix: refresh creative.
2. **Overlapping audiences** — running 5+ ad sets in the same campaign with similar interests inflates CPM and steals from yourself. Use Audience Overlap tool.
3. **Ad fatigue at scale** — frequency >5 on cold audience indicates creative pool exhaustion. Mandatory: ≥10 fresh creatives/week at $10K+/month spend.
4. **iOS attribution gap** — Meta-reported revenue often understates true revenue 20-40% post-iOS 14.5. Reconcile against Triple Whale or Shopify.
5. **AEM not configured** — Aggregated Event Measurement: top 8 events ranked correctly. Misranked → wrong optimization signal.
6. **Lookalike from low-intent seed** — LAL built from page views vs. purchasers. Always seed from the bottom of funnel.

### Google-specific

1. **Low Quality Score (<5)** — bid inflation 2-3x. Check ad relevance, expected CTR, landing page experience.
2. **PMax cannibalizing Search** — PMax sometimes "steals" brand and high-intent search clicks. Add brand-exclusion list to PMax.
3. **Broad Match without Smart Bidding** — burns budget on irrelevant terms. Either add Smart Bidding or switch to Phrase/Exact.
4. **Wasted spend keywords** — Search Term Report has terms with $200+ spend, 0 conversions, no negative-keyword block. Audit weekly.
5. **No Enhanced Conversions** — Google's first-party data layer; missing it means GCLID-only attribution and 15-30% under-reported conversions.
6. **GA4 not linked to Google Ads** — losing audience signals and conversion imports.

### TikTok-specific

1. **Sound disabled** — TikTok mandates sound. Silent video = auto-skip. Critical fail.
2. **9:16 not used** — running landscape/square video on TikTok = poor view-through rate.
3. **"Looks like an ad"** — too polished, too brand-y. TikTok rewards UGC-style native content.
4. **Spark Ads not used** — using only "in-feed ads" without organic creator partnerships limits reach efficiency.
5. **TikTok Pixel only (no Events API)** — same iOS attribution gap as Meta. CAPI/Events API mandatory.

### Account-level / Compliance

1. **Disapproved ads piling up** — repeated policy disapprovals damage account trust score.
2. **Missing FTC disclosure on UGC/influencer ads** — `#ad`, `#sponsored`, or "Paid partnership" required.
3. **CCPA / state-privacy non-compliance** — missing "Do Not Sell My Personal Information" link on US sites with California traffic.
4. **DMA-style restrictions** for legal/financial verticals — special category, requires manual review and limited targeting.

---

## REGION-SPECIFIC AUDIT RULES

### Tracking peculiarities (US)

- **iOS 14.5+ users** = 50-65% of US smartphone traffic. CAPI/Events API is non-negotiable.
- **Cookie deprecation in Chrome (delayed but coming)** — assume 60-70% of cookies will be unavailable for cold prospecting by mid-2026. Build first-party data list NOW.
- **Triple Whale / Hyros / Northbeam usage** is industry-standard for DTC. Audit must verify MMP is connected and reconciled.
- **Server-side tracking (Stape, GTM SS)** — recommended for AOV>$50 stores; mandatory for $50K+/month ad spend.

### Privacy / Consent

- **CCPA (California)** — opt-out link, "Do Not Sell" enforced. Missing = lawsuit risk.
- **State laws (VA, CO, CT, UT, OR, TX)** — universal opt-out signal (GPC) recognition required.
- **Consent Mode v2 (Google)** — implement for Google Ads, even outside EU; future-proofs against US opt-out laws.
- **Health/financial verticals** — HIPAA / Reg B / Reg Z apply to data collection and creative claims.

### Bid strategy maturity

| Account stage | Recommended bid strategy |
|---------------|--------------------------|
| New (<7 days) | Lowest Cost (Meta), Maximize Conversions (Google), Lowest Cost (TikTok) |
| Learning passed (50+ conversions/week) | Cost Cap (Meta), Target CPA (Google), Target Cost (TikTok) |
| Mature (100+ conversions/week) | Bid Cap (Meta) for ROAS scaling, Target ROAS (Google) |

---

## US-SPECIFIC QUICK WINS

When auditing US accounts, these 5 fixes commonly produce 15-30% lift within 2 weeks:

1. **Implement CAPI/Enhanced Conversions** — recover 15-25% of lost iOS conversions.
2. **Add brand-exclusion list to Performance Max** — prevent PMax cannibalization (5-15% efficiency gain).
3. **Refresh top-frequency creatives** — when frequency >4 on cold, swap in 5+ new variants.
4. **Audit Search Term Report** — pause keywords with >$200 spend & 0 conv.
5. **Connect GA4 audiences to Google Ads** — enables remarketing and lookalike-style audience building.

---

## DROPSHIPPING IN THE US

### US-specific dropshipping rules

| Check | Pass criteria | Severity |
|-------|---------------|----------|
| Shipping <14 days for US ZIP codes | US warehouse / fast-shipping supplier | Critical |
| Sales tax registration in nexus states | Avalara / TaxJar setup | Critical |
| FTC compliance on creative claims (no "cures", no "guaranteed") | Legal review | Critical |
| Refund/return policy clear and US-compliant | Visible on LP + checkout | High |
| Customer support response <24h (US business hours) | Helpdesk integration | High |
| Break-even ROAS computed including ~30% Shopify+payment+app fees | Profit model | Critical |

### US dropshipping benchmarks

- **Winning product CPA**: $15-25 for AOV $40-60.
- **Mature winner ROAS**: 2.5-4x (with 30-40% margin after fees).
- **Creative testing budget**: 20-30% of total ad spend continuously.
- **Hero product lifecycle**: 30-90 days from launch to fatigue at scale.
- **Email/SMS revenue contribution**: 25-40% of total revenue (Klaviyo + Postscript benchmark).

---

## OUTPUT NOTES (US)

- Use USD for all currency.
- Quote benchmarks **as ranges**, not single numbers (e.g., "Meta CPM healthy at $7-12, your account at $18 is 50% above range").
- Compare to industry benchmark + business-model benchmark + account history.
- Flag ROAS reported by Meta vs. Triple Whale/Shopify reconciled — if gap >25%, that itself is a Critical finding.
- Reference major US events (Black Friday/Cyber Monday Q4, back-to-school July-Aug, tax season Jan-Apr) when comparing historical periods.

---

## EXAMPLE: HEALTH SCORE NARRATIVE (US DTC e-com)

> Use this format when writing executive summary lines for US clients.

**Account snapshot:** US-only DTC skincare brand, $40K/month spend, 60% Meta / 30% Google / 10% TikTok, AOV $65, gross margin 55%.

**Health Score: 64/100 (Grade C — average)**

Top findings:
1. **Critical — Meta CAPI not deployed.** EMQ at 4.2 (below 6.0 floor); estimated 18-25% iOS purchase loss in attribution. Fix in 7 days.
2. **Critical — Performance Max cannibalizing brand search.** Brand keywords being attributed to PMax instead of standalone Search-Brand campaign. Add brand exclusion list to PMax (15-min fix).
3. **High — Frequency 4.8 on cold audience (Meta).** Top 3 creatives running >35 days. Refresh cohort: 8 new creatives needed, target launch in 5 business days.
4. **High — TikTok Pixel only, Events API missing.** Platform-reported ROAS 1.2x on TikTok looks weak; with Events API, expect 1.6-1.9x reconciled.
5. **Medium — Google Ads not linked to GA4.** Missing audience-import opportunity; 10-15% efficiency gain typical.

**30-day forecast if Critical+High fixed:**
- Meta blended ROAS: 2.4x → 3.1x (+29%)
- Google PMax ROAS: 2.1x → 2.6x (+24%) by reclaiming brand
- TikTok ROAS reconciled: 1.2x → 1.7x (+42%)
- Aggregate: ~$12-15K incremental revenue/month at same spend.
