The surprisingly common question we hear
After nine years running a marketing agency, we heard this question more than you might expect: "Are our ads actually running?" It sounds basic, but the reality is that Google Ads campaigns can stop, pause, or underperform without obvious warning signs.
Many business owners assume their ads are working simply because they're paying Google each month. Others check sporadically and panic when they can't immediately spot their ads. Neither approach gives you the visibility you need to manage your advertising investment properly.
Why ads stop running (and why you might not notice)
Google Ads campaigns can become inactive for numerous reasons. Budget exhaustion is the most common culprit — your daily budget runs out early in the day, leaving you with no coverage during peak hours.
Account suspensions happen more frequently than most advertisers realise. Policy violations, billing issues, or suspicious activity can trigger automatic pauses. Ad disapprovals can also knock individual ads offline while leaving your campaign technically "active."
Seasonal fluctuations in competition can price you out of auctions entirely. Your £2 cost-per-click might have been competitive six months ago, but if competitors are now bidding £5, your ads simply won't show.
Method 1: Campaign status indicators
Start with the most obvious check — your campaign status in Google Ads. Navigate to your Campaigns tab and look at the Status column. "Eligible" means your campaigns can serve ads. "Paused" is self-explanatory.
Pay attention to the sub-status information that appears when you hover over status indicators. "Limited by budget" tells you ads stopped showing due to insufficient daily budget. "Below first page bid" indicates your bids are too low for meaningful visibility.
Check your ad group and keyword statuses too. A campaign might show as "Eligible" while individual ad groups are paused or keywords are marked "Low search volume."
Method 2: Impression and click data
Status indicators tell you whether ads can run, but actual performance data tells you whether they are running. Review your impressions over the past 7-30 days. Zero impressions mean your ads definitely aren't showing.
Low impression volumes compared to historical performance suggest reduced activity. Compare recent weeks to the same period last month or last year to account for seasonal variations.
Impression share metrics provide crucial context. If you're only capturing 20% impression share due to budget constraints, your ads are running but missing 80% of potential opportunities.
Method 3: Search verification
Searching for your own ads seems logical but can be misleading. Google personalises results based on your location, search history, and device. You might not see ads that are showing to your target audience.
When you do search, use Google's Ad Preview tool instead of regular search. This tool shows ads without affecting your campaign metrics or triggering Google's fraud detection systems.
Search from different locations if you're targeting specific geographic areas. An ad targeting "London" won't appear in searches from Manchester, regardless of how well the campaign is performing.
Method 4: Notification monitoring
Google Ads sends email notifications for significant account changes, but these often end up in spam folders or get overlooked in busy inboxes. Review your notification settings to ensure you're alerted about policy violations, billing issues, and performance changes.
Billing failure notifications are particularly critical. If your payment method fails, campaigns pause immediately. These emails sometimes arrive with minimal warning, especially for business accounts with multiple payment administrators.
Overtime's AI agent monitors these notifications continuously and alerts you immediately when campaigns stop running for any reason, rather than waiting for monthly reports or manual checks.
Method 5: Performance tracking
Establish baseline metrics for healthy campaign performance. Track weekly impressions, clicks, and conversions to identify unusual patterns quickly.
Sudden drops in any metric warrant immediate investigation. A 50% decrease in impressions over two days suggests technical issues rather than normal fluctuation.
Monitor your quality scores regularly. Declining quality scores can gradually reduce ad visibility even when campaigns remain technically active. Poor landing page experience or low click-through rates can essentially invisible your ads over time.
Setting up systematic monitoring
Create a weekly routine for checking campaign health rather than reactive spot-checks. Review status indicators, performance metrics, and recent notifications in a consistent sequence.
Document your baseline performance levels so you can quickly identify deviations. What constitutes "normal" impressions for your industry and budget? When do seasonal dips become genuine problems?
Consider automated monitoring solutions if you're managing multiple campaigns or lack time for regular manual checks. Many businesses discover their ads have been offline for weeks simply because nobody was systematically monitoring performance.
Common monitoring mistakes
Relying solely on Google Ads email reports can create false confidence. These summary emails focus on high-level metrics and may not highlight campaigns that have stopped running entirely.
Checking only during business hours misses the full picture. If your target audience searches primarily in the evenings or weekends, daytime monitoring won't reveal visibility issues during crucial periods.
Ignoring mobile versus desktop performance differences can mask problems. Your ads might be running perfectly on desktop while mobile campaigns have been paused due to budget constraints.
When to investigate further
Any unexplained performance changes deserve deeper investigation. "Unexplained" means changes that don't correlate with known factors like budget adjustments, bid changes, or seasonal patterns.
If you're confident your settings are correct but ads still aren't showing, check for policy violations that might not be immediately obvious. Recent changes to Google's advertising policies can affect previously approved campaigns.
Account-level issues sometimes affect campaign delivery without clear indicators in individual campaign dashboards. Review your account notifications and billing status if multiple campaigns show reduced performance simultaneously.
Staying ahead of issues
Effective Google Ads monitoring becomes second nature with practice, but it requires consistent attention that many business owners struggle to maintain alongside other responsibilities. Whether you choose manual monitoring or work with an AI agent that handles this automatically, the key is having a system that catches issues before they significantly impact your business.