Occasionally, you may find that your Display campaigns are not serving as many impressions as you would expect, or are not spending much of their set daily budget. In this article, we’ll outline common reasons why your ads may not be serving, and how you can troubleshoot using the tools in Google Ads.
Before you begin
What to expect when a campaign is enabled
If you recently enabled your Display campaign, it can take some time for your campaign to start serving impressions. There are a few reasons for this:
- It takes 24-48 hours for newly created or edited ads to be reviewed to ensure they meet all policy requirements.
- For campaigns using automated bidding strategies, there may be performance fluctuations or changes in spend as Google Ads optimizes towards your set goal.
- It may take Google Ads some time to adjust serving if you make changes to your campaign settings.
Recommendations
Recommendations help highlight opportunities to improve performance when your Display campaign is not running or is getting low traffic. For example, you can look out for the following example recommendation types when troubleshooting these issues.
Common recommendation types to fix campaigns not running:
- Campaign hasn’t started or has ended
- Create or unpause an ad group
- Account budget exhausted
- All ads disapproved
Common recommendation types to fix low traffic:
- Adjust your CPA targets
- Raise your budgets
Use diagnostic insights to identify why your campaign isn't serving
Diagnostic insights highlight issues that may be limiting your campaign’s ability to serve. Diagnostic insights also provide recommendations on how to resolve these issues. Learn more About diagnostic insights.
Example: An advertiser hasn’t gained any conversions or traffic after creating a campaign. They use diagnostic insights to discover that their campaign isn’t serving because their assets are disapproved, and views a recommendation to fix these disapproved assets.
If your ad still isn’t receiving any impressions after 2 business days, check the common reasons listed in this article.
12 common reasons why your Display ads are not running or are getting low traffic
1. Account issues
If your account is suspended, or if you have a billing issue on your account, you won’t be able to run your ads until the problem is resolved.
Learn more about Account issues.
2. Ad groups, assets, or ads are not active or have policy issues
Even if your campaign is enabled, check to make sure you have active ad groups, assets, or ads within your campaign.
Learn more about Ad groups, assets, or ads are not active or have policy issues.
3. Date ranges and campaign start and end dates
Google Ads shows you performance data for the date range that you select.
Learn more about Date ranges and campaign start and end dates.
4. Auction dynamics
Other advertisers who are participating in the same auctions as you can affect your campaign’s ability to serve.
Learn more about Auction dynamics.
5. Low bid targets and optimization goals
While it may be possible to serve ads with a very low bid, your campaign is not likely to enter or win as many auctions and your ads may not have any impressions.
Learn more about Low bid targets and optimization goals.
6. Low budget
When you have a low budget, your ads may not serve as often while Google Ads ensures your campaign doesn't spend more than your spending limit.
Learn more about Low budget.
7. Display Targeting is too narrow
While targeting settings help you find the right set of users most interested in your business, each time you add targeting or if you have issues with your remarketing lists, you narrow the potential reach of your ads.
Learn more about Display Targeting is too narrow.
8. Targeting overlaps with other campaigns or ad groups
You may have multiple campaigns or ad groups in your account that are eligible to enter overlapping auctions due to similar keywords or other targeting.
Learn more about Targeting overlaps with other campaigns or ad groups.
9. Conversion tracking
If your campaign is using Automated bidding to optimize towards conversions, but is not getting sufficient conversion data or your conversion tracking is not set up correctly, your ad may have limited serving.
Learn more about Conversion tracking.
10. Low creative asset coverage and diversity (Ad Strength)
If you’re running an asset-based campaign, such as Responsive Display Ads, it’s important to ensure you have a diverse set of creatives across ad formats.
Learn more about Low creative asset coverage and diversity (Ad Strength).
11. Audience segments are disabled, removed, or revoked
If any of your data audience segments(formerly known as "remarketing lists") are disapproved, you'll see the status of your data segments changed to “Disabled” due to policy violation in your Google Ads account, and you'll receive an email about the issue.
Learn more about Audience segments are disabled, removed, or revoked.
12. Certain features used in campaigns
Your campaign may be paused if:
- You’re using certain features
- Your account does not have a good history of policy compliance and positive user engagement.
Learn more about Certain features used in ad campaigns.