Jeremy May
VP of Client Services
417.782.3694
It’s not uncommon for your boss, or clients in our case, to ask why they don’t see their ads when searching applicable keywords. After all, they pay good money each month to get those ads placed in search engines. Below, you’ll find some of the most common reasons one might not see their ads on Google, Bing, or other search engines.
Budget Constraints
If the ad campaign's budget has been exhausted for the day or the specified time period, the ads may not show up until the budget is replenished. Or perhaps the account isn’t funded at all.
Ad Approval Status
If an ad violates Google's advertising policies or is pending approval, it may not be shown until reviewed and approved.
Ad Scheduling
Advertisers may schedule their ads to be shown only during specific times of the day or days of the week. If the search occurs outside the specified schedule, the ads may not display. There are pros and cons to this approach. For example, you may find immediate lead contact extremely valuable in your conversion funnel, but only have call center operation Monday-Friday 8am-5pm, so you see no reason to buy ads outside that time frame. This strategy can be valuable, but if your competitors all do this, ad costs will likely be higher during these times, potentially offsetting those conversion benefits.
Bid Too Low
If the bid for the ad is too low compared to the competition, it may not be shown in the top ad positions. Advertisers need to bid competitively to increase the chances of their ads being displayed.
Geographic Targeting
If the ads are targeted to a specific geographic location, they may not show up for users outside that targeted region.
Low Ad Quality
If the ad's quality score is low, it may not meet the platform's quality standards. Ads with irrelevant keywords, low click-through rates, or poor landing page experiences can cause this to happen.
Ad-Targeting Restrictions
If an ad is targeting specific demographics or interests and the user does not fall into those targeting criteria, the ad may not be shown to that user.
Search Terms
A user search term can prevent an ad from showing based on targeted keywords that are being managed. In this case, if an ad is specifically targeting the keyword "OTR driving jobs" but the user searches for "local driving jobs", the ad may not be displayed because the user's search term does not match the targeted keyword.
User behavior
Google closely monitors user behavior and may adjust ad visibility based on various factors. If a user consistently clicks on an ad but does not convert or engage with the desired outcome (such as making a purchase or filling out a form), Google's algorithm may determine that the user is not likely to convert in the future and may reduce the ad's visibility.
Bonus Tip
If the ad does show up, be sure to advise your boss not to click on the ad. Those clicks are not free.
Overall, the reasons for Google ads not showing up can vary, but they often boil down to factors related to ad quality, competition, budget, user behavior, and targeting settings.
Simply put, we are an extension of your team. So if you’re not getting the results you expect from your digital ads, please reach out. We’ll gladly provide you with a free account review and a tip or two on how to leverage some of the pitfalls discussed in this article.
You can reach us by calling 800-209-8536 and requesting our Client Services Team or completing our contact form here.