Why Aren’t My Google Ads Showing

January 6, 2023

Why Aren’t My Google Ads Showing | AIA Book in a free 30 minute strategy session

If you want your business’s unique offerings to show up in front of customers, then it makes sense to have your ads display on one of the largest advertising platforms in the world. Ads that show up on the Google Display Network will be seen by up to 90% of the global internet users. And one of the best things about Google AdWords is that the platform gives you a ton of options when it comes time to show your ads to targeted customers.

You spend time, money, and effort to get your pay-per-click AdWords account set up, keywords loaded, and ad copy optimised. You launch your Google ads and bite your nails with excitement to see those conversion rates and increased sales start rolling in. But then, crickets. No impressions, clicks, or ad spend results in your carefully crafted and well-laid Google AdWords plans.

When your ads aren’t showing, it can be a huge let-down and a total confidence killer. But this can happen to anyone. Several things can be preventing your ad from displaying on the search results page. Below, we’ll outline the top reasons why your Google ads aren’t showing up, and what you can do about it.

You might also be interested in WHY ARE GOOGLE ADS CALL-ONLY ADS GETTING CLICKS BUT NO CALLS?

1. You’ve been outbid.

This is one of the most common reasons that could be preventing your ad from showing. When another company outbids you, their ads will start showing up instead of yours. If this is the case, you’ll need to make some bid adjustments.

Also, your keyword bids can be too high for the daily budget you’ve set for the campaign. If your max keyword CPC is set to 5 dollars, but your campaign daily budget is only ten dollars, Google won’t show your ads. It’s possible to either increase your daily budget, lower your keyword bids, or both to get your ads to show up.

Figuring out an effective bidding strategy that’s going to fit your budget while giving you a healthy ROI is both an art and a science. It takes time, patience, and specialised knowledge of how the Google AdWords bidding structure works. But there are other reasons why your ads aren’t showing on the search results page that have less to do with bids and can be an easier, less expensive fix.

2. Your campaign or ad group was paused.

This is one of the most straightforward fixes if your ads aren’t showing. Make sure to check the status of the ad in the AdWords account, and be sure to set the Campaign Ad Group to “active” status. If the status is set to “paused,” it means the ads aren’t showing.

3. Your ads weren’t approved.

If your ad copy does not adhere to the AdWords text policy, the ads will be disapproved. You can double-check your ads approval by clicking the Ads tab for the specific campaign and looking at the status column. The status column will say whether or not the ad campaign has been approved, disapproved, or approved limited. If the ad is disapproved, you can check the small question mark in the column to learn more about what’s wrong with the ad and how to go about fixing it.

4. You’re using disapproved keywords.

Violating AdWords keyword guidelines can render your ad invisible. Google will review all your campaign keywords and ultimately approve or disapprove them. There are specific keywords you can’t use for advertising. For example, it’s not permissible to advertise websites that sell firearms, tobacco, hard liquor, fireworks, drugs, and pornography. You may be inadvertently using disapproved keywords related to these industries. To check your Adwords keyword approval status, click the keywords tab in your AdWords account, and check the status column of your ad that isn’t showing.

5. Your negative keywords are using broad match.

It’s essential to identify negative keywords for your Adwords campaigns. But if you use broad match for negative keywords, your ad might not display. Check your negative keywords list if your ad isn’t showing. Make sure you haven’t identified negative keywords for campaigns or ad groups that are at a level or set for match types that can nullify the keywords for an ad group.

6. Low search volume is to blame.

Do your keywords have low search volume? That will stop your ads from showing up on the SERPs. Check for low search volume for your keywords in the “keywords” section of your AdWords account. Again, this will be displayed in the status column. If your keywords have low search volume, you’ll need to switch to more robust keywords and phrases that people are more likely to use for their queries.

7. The ad scheduling isn’t optimised.

A poorly planned, non-optimised ad schedule can stop the ads from displaying to your target audience. You must know when your target audience members are likely to search for terms related to your products and services and have those ads display to them at those times. For example, if you’re trying to advertise a B2B product or service, having your ads show in the middle of the night can ruin your ad performance and hurt your quality score.

8. Billing information is incorrect.

Make sure your billing information is accurate. If your credit card number is wrong, the address is incorrect, or the card is expired, your ads won’t show.

If you’re unsure about how your ad looks to the end-user, using the ad preview tool can help you check your ads to make sure the copy is aligned with keywords that match your audience’s search terms without increasing your impressions. Viewing the ad can also give you insight into what might be wrong with it that could be causing Google to hide the ad. Google Analytics can also give advertisers insight into why their ads may not be showing up on the SERPs.

Do you want to increase your sales and conversions with a targeted, airtight AdWords campaigns? It’s never too late to get started. Contact Australian Internet Advertising today and see what we can do for your company.

Billy P.

About The Author

William Polson founded Australian Internet Advertising in 2013 and has over 12 years of experience immersed in Digital Marketing.

With an in-depth level of digital marketing knowledge, William has been sort after by and worked for, many large national brands including Subaru, Blooms The Chemist, and Nova 96.9.

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