Skip to content

Why Can’t I See My Google Ads?

April 4, 2017, by Heidi Jones
Why Can’t I See My Google Ads?

Pretty much every client we have ever had and will ever have asks us this question… “Why Can’t I See My Ads?”. You may have tried multiple search queries, none of which are showing your ads, but why? There are a number of reasons which we have listed below.

Account Under Review

If your Ads account is new and has only just been activated, it’s possible the account is under review. Google will periodically review accounts for your protection and to maintain the quality and security of Ads. During this time period, the ads will not show but will be eligible to show as soon as the account review has been completed. This process will usually be completed within three working days.

Daily Budget Has Been Reached / Delivery Settings

This is particularly common in an account with a low budget. Ads will attempt to show your ad as many times as possible without going over your daily budget. If your limit is reached within a day, the ads will stop showing until the following day. Depending on the ad delivery settings this could be early in the day or later. With standard delivery, ad budget is spread throughout the day. If your budget is low, your ads will not show for every search query through the morning to allow room in the budget to show your ads during the afternoon. With accelerated delivery, the budget is used up as quickly as possible which means the budget could be completely used up before lunch time and you will not see your ads after this time.

Ad Scheduling

After your campaign has been running for some time we will review the times that are most successful. If there are particular times of day where we are not seeing results, we will stop the ads from showing at these times. This will then allow the ads to show more frequently in the more successful times improving your results and the overall quality of the campaign. If you search during the times that we have stopped ads from showing, you obviously will not see the ads.

Location Targeting

Location targeting allows us to target your ads to specific locations. If you’re located or your computer IP address is located outside the target area, you will not see the ads.

Repeated Searching For Your Ad

If you repeatedly search for your ad on Google and do not click through, Google will eventually stop showing this ad. Google remembers your computer and if you are not clicking particular ads, it begins to think that you are uninterested. Google will not show ads to users who appear to have no interest in the content.

So how can you have your ad show 24×7?

There’s no guarantee Google will be able to show your ads 24×7 for all relevant search queries. The only way to ensure your ad continues to show throughout the day as much as possible is to give your Ads account an unlimited budget. As this is not ideal for most businesses, we, at The Online Co, will optimise your account to provide the best possible results from the campaign.

I hope that answers your question! If we can help any further please feel free to contact Us!

Cert IV (Marketing) – TAFE NSW

Google Ads Video Certified
Google Ads Creative Certified
Google Ads Search Certified
Google Ads Display Certified
Google Ads Measurement Certified

Heidi brings over 13 years of diverse digital marketing experience to her role, with a specialised focus on Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising. Having worked across SEO, social media, and SEM, she possesses a holistic understanding of the digital landscape that informs her highly effective paid strategies. For the past decade, she has been a cornerstone of TheOnlineCo. team as a dedicated SEM Specialist.

As a fully certified Google Ads expert, Heidi holds six distinct credentials: AI-Powered Performance Ads, Search, Display, Video, Measurement, and Creative Certifications. She leads and manages a team of SEM specialists with a relentless focus on maximising Return on Investment (ROI) for clients. Heidi has a unique talent for meticulously fine-tuning and optimising campaigns, ‘massaging’ them until the campaigns absolutely hum and sing.

Outside of TheOnlineCo., Heidi loves to bake delicious treats and spend time outdoors taking fresh-air walks with her family. She is also highly musical – enjoying singing, dancing, and playing the guitar, alongside enthusiastically (if admittedly terribly!) playing the drums.

Related Posts

Turning NDIS Traffic Into More Enquiries Through UX Optimisation

Using the existing website traffic, together with the behavioural & conversion data we had accumulated, to identify UX improvements for Active Ability.

Read more

Growing NDIS Visibility and Enquiries Through Digital Marketing

Enabling Active Ability to strengthen visibility, reach the right participants and referral partners and turn that visibility into genuine enquiries.

Read more
Google Ads

Why You Can’t Find Your Business on Google Ads: Understanding Visibility and Search Impact

Organic traffic is falling but leads are rising for some MedTech companies. James Parnwell explains why SEO alone is no longer enough and what AI Optimisation changes.

Read more
Back To Top
Search