Google Ads Audit Checklist for Pet Supply Stores

Run a Google Ads audit for a pet-supply store in this order: define the decision, validate species and product data, check safety and care wording, map owner intent, test landing and checkout promises, reconcile orders and recurring delivery, then compare returns and margin. Treat food, treats, equipment, grooming, supplements, and service paths as different when their risks or economics differ.

This is a self-service educational checklist. It does not claim that adz.so automatically audits a store. Gather account exports, catalog diagnostics, product and packaging captures, inventory, order and fulfillment records, recurring-delivery data, refunds, returns, consent tests, and change history. Use Google Ads Help and current Shopping policies for authoritative platform references.

1. Establish the review contract

[ ] Record audit period, markets, currencies, animal categories, product groups, campaigns, and landing pages.
[ ] State whether the question concerns eligibility, wasted spend, product fit, acquisition, recurring delivery, or contribution margin.
[ ] List retail, grooming, training, boarding, clinic, consultation, support, and service conversion paths in scope.
[ ] Preserve settings, change history, feed versions, page state, inventory or expiry evidence, order totals, and shipping costs.
[ ] Assign an owner and proof condition to each material finding.

Keep product purchase, subscription start, renewal, cancellation, refund, return, replacement, support, and service booking distinct. If an event or cost cannot be proved, mark it unknown.

2. Validate species and product data

[ ] Sample dog, cat, bird, fish, reptile, small-animal, and multi-species products where relevant.
[ ] Within each category sample food, treats, grooming, bedding, toys, crates, collars, apparel, equipment, supplements, medicine-like products, bundles, samples, gifts, clearance, and recurring items.
[ ] Match product ID, title, brand, species, breed or size guidance, life stage, formula, quantity, dimensions, material, ingredients, warnings, image, price, sale price, stock, shipping, and destination.
[ ] Confirm variant selection stays stable from ad or product result through cart, checkout, and order.
[ ] Record diagnostics, disapprovals, warnings, exclusions, automatic updates, regional sources, shipping, tax, and data freshness.

Write the affected field, source, market, item ID, observed value, expected value, owner, and retest condition for each discrepancy. Check Shopping policies before assigning a policy conclusion.

3. Review care and safety language

[ ] Read ads, assets, product pages, feeding or use instructions, warnings, packaging, reviews, and checkout copy together.
[ ] Flag cure, treatment, prevention, guarantee, “veterinarian approved,” “clinically proven,” “safe for every pet,” “non-toxic,” behavior, or medical wording that lacks current scope.
[ ] Check species, age, weight, breed, environment, supervision, allergy, ingredient, choking, toxicity, and use limitations.
[ ] Record exact claim, product, market, evidence or approval source, review date, owner, and permitted alternative.
[ ] Confirm queries and audiences do not infer an animal’s condition from a person’s search.

The checklist identifies a claim for veterinary, regulatory, legal, or policy review; it does not replace that review. Keep owner names, addresses, pet medical notes, and payment data out of the ordinary worksheet.

4. Review campaign and owner intent

[ ] Segment spend, clicks, conversions, and value by species, life stage, category, product, formula, market, campaign, audience, query, and page.
[ ] Record budgets, bidding, locations, languages, devices, networks, product groups, exclusions, and change history.
[ ] Note seasonality, promotions, adoption periods, supplier changes, stockouts, recalls, shipping restrictions, and fulfillment capacity.
[ ] Classify queries as species, breed, size, life stage, product, ingredient, use case, training, grooming, health, emergency, gift, review, comparison, price, sale, subscription, support, shipping, return, wholesale, service, or irrelevant.
[ ] Confirm the destination answers care or purchase intent without promising a medical outcome.

Separate education from retail intent and retail from grooming, boarding, training, clinic, emergency, and support demand. A high-converting query can still be misrouted.

5. Check returning visitors and landing pages

[ ] Distinguish product viewers, cart visitors, purchasers, recurring customers, canceled subscribers, support visitors, and care researchers.
[ ] Review audience windows, exclusions, consent, message fit, and frequency controls where applicable.
[ ] Match species, size, life stage, formula, quantity, variant, price, offer, inventory, delivery, returns, recurring interval, cancellation, and support between ad and page.
[ ] Test mobile and desktop rendering, pop-ups, subscription defaults, location restrictions, redirects, marketplaces, and payment handoffs.
[ ] Check warnings, directions, safety context, delivery promises, and returns before conversion.

Use Google Ads remarketing best practices for related returning-user questions. Save URL, item ID, market, date, observed state, expected state, and proof condition.

6. Test order, recurring delivery, and consent

[ ] Test product view, selection, cart, checkout, purchase, recurring-delivery start, renewal, pause, cancellation, refund, return, replacement, exchange, support, and service booking.
[ ] Confirm events fire once with the correct product ID, order ID, value, currency, and timestamp.
[ ] Check confirmation reloads, payment redirects, cross-domain transitions, and subscription-management pages for duplicate events.
[ ] Reconcile platform results with store orders, fulfillment, recurring orders, cancellations, refunds, returns, support, and approved offline stages.
[ ] Test consent granted, denied, changed, and withdrawn, including attribution windows, time zones, imports, and currency.

Keep one-time food, recurring food, one-time equipment, service bookings, first order, renewal, refund, and replacement distinct. If records do not join reliably, preserve the gap rather than inventing a match.

7. Review returns and economics

[ ] Capture product cost, shipping weight, packaging, pick-and-pack, discounts, samples, damage, replacement, refunds, returns, support, delivery failures, and recurring-order churn.
[ ] Compare reported value with net revenue and contribution margin by species, category, product, bundle, first order, repeat order, subscription, market, and channel.
[ ] Identify high-volume food or litter with expensive delivery, products with high returns or replacements, and starter offers with different replenishment economics.
[ ] Check recurring-delivery, cancellation, delivery, return, and support terms are visible before conversion.
[ ] Mark profitability unknown when required costs, churn, or returns are missing.

Return on ad spend alone does not prove a pet-supply product is profitable.

8. Close findings with proof

For each failed checkbox, capture account, campaign, species, life stage, product, market, period, feed item, query, page, event, subscription, fulfillment, return, claim, policy reference, impact, owner, priority, action, proof condition, retest result, and limitation.

Prioritize tracking and consent failures; species, product, price, stock, safety, claim, policy, and destination mismatches; recurring, refund, return, support, and margin gaps; misrouted service or health intent; then budget, audience, creative, and merchandising tests. A checkbox passes only after the affected path is retested.

Pet-supply handoff

End with what is proven, what should be corrected or paused, what can be tested, and what remains unknown. This checklist is a repeatable review aid, not an automated adz.so audit. For deeper context, see how to audit Google Ads for pet supply stores and keep conclusions anchored in the store’s catalog, fulfillment, customer, and margin evidence.