Managing paid search and paid social requires plenty of strategic shifts.
One of the biggest is understanding that paid search favors older entities while paid social favors new things.
That said, sometimes there are legitimate reasons why a new campaign or ad group isn’t running.
In this Ask The PPC, we’ll address that question.
Rofhiwa of Pretoria asks:
I have decided to create a new ad group with three ads set, but I’m not getting any clicks or impressions for ads and keywords. What could be the reason?
Note that this post will cover common reasons an entity hasn’t gotten any clicks.
Each account is different, and it’s always best to take any concerns to the ad network support if you believe there’s an issue.
Reason #1: The Date Is Wrong
The most common and frustratingly obvious reason is we don’t always have the right date range.
That could be because we were analyzing another part of the campaign or working on a different account.
Set the date range in the top right-hand corner (true for all ad networks) to include at least yesterday and today.
You also might have unintentionally set the start date for the future.
Check start and end dates in campaign settings.
Once you’ve confirmed that you have the right date range, you can move on to other technical fixes.
Reason #2: The Ad Got Disapproved
When an ad is disapproved, you’ll get a notification.
At times, these can get lost in email filters or spam.
If you see that your ad is disapproved, check if it’s for a valid reason (e.g., editorial policies, restricted industries, etc.) or a mistake on the ad network’s part.
Valid ad disapprovals need to be corrected, and then you can appeal the disapproval in the ad interface.
Sometimes, ads get accidentally lumped into restricted categories because of wording choices.
The following words can sometimes accidentally trigger red flags:
- Credit.
- Housing.
- Broker.
- Loan.
You might also have an editorial issue and not even realize it.
These are the most common editorial issues in ads:
- Including a phone number in the ad text (must be contained to call extension).
- Using all caps (e.g., “FREE” or “TRY”).
- Using punctuation in the wrong place (e.g., “!” in a headline instead of description).
Reason #3: The Keywords Have No Search Volume
There’s nothing worse than being told your ideal keyword has no volume.
Yet, some industries naturally have lower search volume because of how niche their products/services are.
If your keyword has low search volume, it won’t run.
A good middle ground is to use a broad match on your longer-tail keywords.
Broad match allows audience signals to inform how the ad network matches your keyword to queries.
This additional queue can mean the difference between enough data to serve and being stuck in low search limbo.
Reason #4: The Bid Is Too Low/Bidding Strategy Doesn’t Make Sense
Brand new accounts won’t have the benefit of conversion data.
This means bidding strategies like Max Conversions, and Max Conversion Value will struggle to set meaningful bids in the early days of an ad group or campaign.
If the bid is too high for the budget (more than 10% of the daily budget), the ad network might struggle to enter the keyword into the auction.
Be sure to set bids and bidding strategies in line with your industry and the age of the account.
Reason #5: Accidental Exclusions
Ad groups inherit the negatives from their campaigns.
You might have a negative keyword list or campaign level negative prohibiting a keyword you’re actively bidding on from serving.
Audiences can be applied at both the ad group and campaign level, so adjusting the new ad group’s targets is possible.
That said, be sure you have the right exclusions, and confirm whether you intend to be on target and observe.
Target and observe prevent anyone who isn’t part of your targeted audience from triggering your ad – which means you’re excluding audiences without actively excluding them.
Final Takeaways
There are several reasons an ad group or campaign can struggle to get traffic.
Be sure to check for these hidden pitfalls, and if you’re still struggling, reach out to your ad network representative.
Have a question about PPC? Submit via this form or tweet me @navahf with the #AskPPC hashtag. See you next month!
More resources:
- Getting Started With GA4: These 4 Tips Will Get You Up & Running
- 4 Ad Customizers to Improve Google Ads Campaign Performance
- PPC 101: A Complete Guide to Pay-Per-Click Marketing Basics
Featured Image: Search Engine Journal/Paulo Bobita
