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The short answer
A Search campaign can spend outside Google Search, on Search Partners and on the Display Network. Both are on by default and both are averaged into the campaign's numbers. Oppy lists every Search campaign with either network switched on.
Why it matters
When you create a Search campaign, Google ticks two boxes for you: Search Partners, the other sites that show Google ads in their own search, and the Display Network. Neither is Google Search. Both convert differently, and both are folded into the same rows as your Search results.
The campaign's click-through rate, cost per click and conversion rate then stop describing Search. A strong Search campaign can look average because a cheap stream of Display clicks drags the figures down, and nobody can tell from the totals. Switching both off often cuts impressions sharply and raises the share of clicks that turn into calls.
How Oppy decides
The check reads the network settings of every campaign.
Checks that weigh money or clicks judge what they find on your own account's numbers, not on one figure applied to every account, so what counts as a problem on a small account is not the same on a large one. Checks on settings read how the account is set up.
When there is too little to go on, the check says so instead of guessing. A finding always comes with the rows behind it, so you can read the evidence before you decide.
| This check | |
|---|---|
| Step of the audit | Structure |
| What it reads | Campaigns, their settings and their results |
| Needs trustworthy conversions | No. It does not wait for the tracking step. |
| What happens next | Reported in the audit with the rows behind it. The decision stays with you. |
Check it yourself in Google Ads
- In Google Ads, open Campaigns and pick a Search campaign.
- Open Settings, then Networks.
- See whether Google Search Partners and Google Display Network are ticked.
- To see what each network brought, go back to the campaign table, open Segment and choose Network (with search partners). Compare cost, conversions and cost per conversion line by line.
What to do about it
Untick the Display Network on Search campaigns. If you want Display, run it as its own campaign with its own budget and bids, where you can judge it on its own numbers.
For Search Partners, look at the network segment over the last few months. If partners convert at a cost you accept, keep them on and say so. If not, untick the box. Try the Search Partners waste calculator to put a figure on the difference.
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Other checks in this area
The checks next to this one in Wasted spend, each with its own page.