There are a number of reasons why you may not be able to see your Google Ads listings. One of most common reasons is actually not related to your campaign at all, but a simple browser or ad blocking issue. Try clearing your browser and deleting cookies before trying to access your ads again.
Another reason why you may not be able to see your ads, is because you’ve searched for them on more than one occasion. When you search for your ads on the same device without clicking on them, Google will recognise your device, assume that you’re not interested and stop showing you those ads.
Please note that if you’d like to view your Ads, you should be using the Ad Preview & Diagnosis preview tool. This tool enables you to see your ads in a Google search — just as potential customers would — without affecting your ads’ performance. Don’t forget that if you click on your ads that this increases the number of impressions which has the effect of lowering the click-through rate and provides misimpressions of how your campaign is performing. As we base our decisions on the data generated, this can have a negative effect on your campaign’s overall performance.
At a campaign level, there are also a number of reasons why your ads may not be showing or you can’t see them, such as not searching within the target location of your ads. For example, if your ads target the Brisbane CBD and you’re searching at home in Nundah or Sunnybank, you won’t see your ads because the device you’re searching on isn’t within your ads’ target location.
A similar consideration also applies to the time of day that you search for your ads. As your ads will be shown at certain times to target a particular audience or during the times of day that your business operates, you won’t see your ads when searching outside of these scheduled times.
Another reason is that your budget isn’t high enough to provide ads throughout the day and can run out early, resulting in a loss of impression share. So that your ads will be shown at the times scheduled, we spread your budget throughout these periods which means that your ad may not be shown at the time you’re searching for it. This can be resolved by increasing your budget.
Bid adjustments may also affect your ability to view your ads at certain times, on certain devices and within certain geographical locations. We use bid adjustments to show your ads more or less frequently based on how, when and where your target market searches, which means that your ads may not be showing at the time of day, on the device or in the location from which you’re searching.
And lastly, there are the keywords that you’re searching for. A common reason for you not being able to see your ads is because you’re searching for a keyword that we haven’t targeted in your campaign. If you’re searching for ads based on keywords that aren’t targeted in your campaign, your ads won’t be shown in those search results.
Brisbane’s digital marketing specialists, Bambrick Media, have delivered successful Google Ads campaigns for local and national clients across a variety of sectors. When you’re ready to put your business in front of more ready-to-buy customers, contact us for your free strategy session.