The find-waste workflow ships with PaidSync and finds Google Ads keywords that spend without converting. By default it reads the last 30 days of keyword performance, flags every keyword with at least 50 clicks, at least 20 in spend in the account's currency and no conversions, ranks them by cost and adds up the total. You can change each threshold and look back up to 90 days. To run it, connect PaidSync to Claude or ChatGPT and ask it to run the PaidSync find-waste workflow. It only reads, a run counts as one task, and it works on every plan, including Free.
Know one limit before you trust the total: the keyword report behind it returns the 100 keywords with the highest cost in the window, so waste in cheaper keywords is not counted. Disclosure: PaidSync publishes this page.
What the find-waste workflow checks
The workflow is a few lines of code. This is all of it, in plain words.
- If you name an account, it runs on that account. Otherwise it uses your active Google Ads account.
- It reads the keyword performance report for the window, from today back the number of days you set.
- It keeps each keyword that has at least the minimum clicks, at least the minimum spend, and no more than the maximum conversions.
- It sorts those keywords by cost, highest first, and adds up their cost.
Settings you can change
Every setting is optional. Leave one out and the workflow uses the default below. Amounts are in the account's own currency.
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
account_id | Your active account | The Google Ads account to check. |
lookback_days | 30 | How many days back to read, up to 90. |
min_clicks | 50 | A keyword needs at least this many clicks to count. |
min_spend | 20 | A keyword needs at least this much spend to count. |
max_conversions | 0 | A keyword with more conversions than this is left out. |
What it returns
The total and the list, ranked by cost:
- wasted_keyword_count: how many keywords matched.
- total_wasted_spend: their cost added up, rounded to the cent.
- keywords: the top 50 by cost, each with its text, match type, clicks, cost, conversions and ad group.
- lookback_days: the window it used.
How to run it
In a chat. Connect PaidSync to Claude from Claude's connector directory, or to ChatGPT from its Plugins, connect Google Ads, then ask:
"Run the PaidSync find-waste workflow on my Google Ads account for the last 30 days."
Claude calls paidsync_workflows_run with the workflow's name and your settings. Setup is in how to connect Google Ads to Claude.
From your own agent or code. Call the same tool on https://mcp.paidsync.ai/mcp:
paidsync_workflows_run({
name: "find-waste",
params: { account_id: "123-456-7890", lookback_days: 30, min_spend: 20 }
})On a schedule. Because it only reads, it is safe to run unattended, for example every Monday. A Claude Code routine can run it as often as hourly on a paid Claude plan, or your own cron job can call it. PaidSync does not run it on a timer by itself.
Cost. A run counts as one PaidSync task, whatever it calls inside. The Free plan has 15 tasks a month with no credit card, and runs this workflow. Pro starts at $99 a month for 600 tasks.
Free for 15 tasks a month with no credit card, then priced by usage, from $99 a month for 600 tasks.
Start Free See a DemoLimits to know
- It reads the 100 keywords with the highest cost in the window, so waste in cheaper keywords is missed. A shorter window or a narrower account helps.
- The report covers every keyword that is not removed, so a paused keyword that spent during the window can appear.
- It reads keyword rows, so spend with no keyword behind it is not in the total.
- Raising max_conversions above 0 brings in keywords with a few conversions, which may be worth keeping.
- Google Ads alone.
Other ways to do this job
Checked on 29 September 2026, on each option's own pages.
- Google Ads automated rules. Google's examples include a "Pause keywords" rule with conditions such as conversions and cost per conversion, run daily, weekly, monthly or once. Google says the "standard turnaround time for rules to run is within 2 hours after the conditions are triggered."
- Google's own Google Ads MCP server. It can run the same keyword query in GAQL. Google says it is strictly read-only, and you host it yourself.
- PaidSync's wider waste report. In a chat,
get_wasted_spend_reportadds costly search terms with no results, low Quality Score keywords and ads with zero clicks to the zero-conversion keywords.
What to do with the results
To pause keywords from the list, run pause-zero-conv-keywords as a preview first; its thresholds are stricter, so check that the keywords you care about appear. To stop the searches that trigger the waste, run negative-keyword-candidates.
Frequently asked questions
What does the find-waste workflow count as waste?
By default, a keyword with at least 50 clicks, at least 20 in spend in the account's currency and no conversions over the last 30 days. You can change each of those numbers and look back up to 90 days.
Why does it miss some keywords?
The keyword report it reads returns the 100 keywords with the highest cost in the window. A keyword outside those 100 is not checked, however little it converts.
Can find-waste pause the keywords it finds?
No. It only reads. The pause-zero-conv-keywords workflow previews and, when you set apply to true, pauses enabled keywords with zero conversions.
Can I change the thresholds?
Yes. Pass min_clicks, min_spend, max_conversions and lookback_days in the run. Any you leave out use the defaults of 50, 20, 0 and 30.
How much does a run cost?
One PaidSync task per run, on every plan. The Free plan has 15 tasks a month with no credit card.
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