How do I audit wasted Amazon ad spend?
A 30-minute weekly audit catches most wasted PPC spend. Pull the search term report for 14 days, negative-out any term with 10+ clicks and zero orders, cut bids on keywords with ACoS 2x above target, and pause any SKU whose product-level ad spend exceeds its net profit for the period.
Step 1: search term audit
Pull the last 14 days of the Sponsored Products search term report. Filter for 10+ clicks and zero orders. Every one of those terms becomes a negative-exact on the ad group that served it. This alone typically cuts 15% to 25% of ad spend.
Step 2: keyword ACoS audit
Filter the keywords report for ACoS more than 2x your target ACoS and 30+ days of history. Cut bids 25% on each. Do not pause them outright unless spend is significant; a bid cut lets you keep organic ranking signal.
Step 3: SKU-level profit audit
For each active SKU, compare product-level ad spend to net profit for the period. Any SKU spending more on ads than it earns in profit gets paused or repriced. Nova surfaces this automatically at the Cockpit level so you do not have to build the query by hand.
Frequently asked questions
How much waste is normal?
20% to 40% of ad spend on unaudited accounts. After a first audit cycle, expect 5% to 15% ongoing.
How often should I audit?
Weekly for accounts spending $1k+/month, biweekly for smaller accounts.
Should I pause underperforming SKUs entirely?
Cut bids first. Only pause after a bid cut fails to move ACoS in 30 days.
Does Nova help audit ad spend?
Yes. Nova shows SKU-level ad spend inside the P&L so you see which SKUs are net-profitable after ads and which are not.
See this in Nova
Nova surfaces this metric per SKU in near real time so you can act before your next monthly close catches it.
Try Nova free for 14 daysRelated questions
How do I read the Amazon search term report?
The search term report shows every actual shopper query that triggered your ad, plus clicks, spend, and orders per term. Sort by spend descending and look for two patterns: terms with high spend and zero orders (negatives), and terms with strong conversion that are not yet in an exact-match campaign (promotion candidates).
What is a good negative keyword strategy on Amazon?
Run negatives weekly using two rules: negative-exact any search term with 10+ clicks and zero orders, and negative-phrase any recurring irrelevant modifier (free, cheap, competitor brand names when you cannot rank). Applied consistently, this cuts 15% to 30% of wasted spend within 60 days without hurting sales.
What is a good ACoS for Amazon PPC?
A good ACoS on Amazon depends on your target margin. Break-even ACoS equals your pre-ad contribution margin (usually 25% to 40%). Profitable ACoS sits 5 to 10 points below that: most private-label brands aim for 15% to 25%. Launch campaigns often run at 40% or higher for the first 30 days on purpose.
How do I lower TACoS on Amazon?
Lower TACoS by growing organic sales faster than ad spend. The three levers that move it most are: cut wasted ad spend on non-converting search terms, raise listing conversion rate so ads earn more per click, and build organic rank on branded and long-tail keywords so you buy less of your own traffic.
How do Amazon PPC bid adjustments work?
Bid adjustments let you multiply your base bid by placement (top of search, rest of search, product pages) and by audience segment. Top-of-search adjustments often move ACoS the most: raising the top-of-search modifier by 50% on a winning campaign can add 20%+ in sales at similar efficiency. Product page adjustments rarely pay off outside of ASIN targeting.