Not more than a week ago I’d polished off this blog post and was ready to publish it, but after being confronted by a number of the issues outlined in today’s post I thought that reworking it to include my experiences would add a personal touch.  Today’s post addresses the effects of and solutions to pending and disapproved ads, as part of the ongoing “Why Can’t I See My Ads?!” series this post should assist you in identifying and resolving pertinent issues related to ads with either a pending or disapproved status.  The root causes of these problems are generally quick to spot and solve, but it certainly helps if you know what you’re looking for so you can effectively resolve the issue.

Pending Status

“Simple stuff here”, that was my introduction to this section no more than a week ago.  Guess what?  No longer is this how I feel in regards to pending ads.  All this because the last week has drastically illustrated the value of circumventing any campaign restrictions imposed by pending ads.  The logical, commonly practiced maneuver of creating new ads and awaiting their approval before switching to them is a practice everyone should follow.  But when larger campaign alterations are required, such as creating or altering ad groups within a campaign, complications can arise.  In my case these complications arose from creating ad groups for a once single faceted campaign, this in turn ensured Google had to reapprove all of my ads as they had been ‘altered’.  A week later my ads are still pending, and my monthly budget plan has been skewed to the point that when the campaign is back live substantial alterations will need to be imposed.

So what can be done?  Well for one, if you’re not pressed by time and are simply awaiting approval from Google you don’t need to sweat a pending status.  Instead, use this time to analyze and optimize your campaign and check back on your ad’s status in a few days.  On the other end of the spectrum are campaigns that will be negatively affected by pending ads and the subsequent time and clicks lost by this hindrance.  For such campaigns make sure to create new ads every time so as to avoid ad restrictions or delays.

Disapproved Status

As we move onto the more involving, and certainly challenging component of this post ,ad disapproval will become our focus.  The following paragraphs outline the strict, rigid policies Google upholds for the use of trademarks, adherence to their content policy and URL consistency across ad groups.   Since these restrictions all provide independent causes for ad disapproval the following paragraphs aim to address each one individually.

Content Policy

Google AdWords adheres to a consistent, though often overreaching, policy that parallels traditional restrictions imposed on the advertisement of illicit and immoral products or services.  Ad display for gun and alcohol sales, escort services, bulk marketing materials, traffic devices, etc. are all heavily regulated if not banned.  If your ads have been disapproved for issues regarding content policy you may want to consult this list for specific content and country restrictions.

The key to resolving content policy issues is to not only understand what you’re allowed to advertise, but in what form and description.  If your ads are being disapproved for reasons related to content policy I’d urge you to take the time to study the policy and how it affects your specific product or service, and then rework your ads and keywords to adhere to Google’s policies.

Trademarks and Intellectual Property

Of all the reasons for ad disapproval covered in this post this is by far the most subjective one as Google adheres to a strict policy regarding intellectual property as to avoid any potential conflicts.  Unfortunately this can result in ads being disapproved for breaches related to trademarks and other components of intellectual property even when you’re rightfully permitted to use such terms.  As such, ad disapproval is often the result of Google overreaching rather than my ads’ wording and you may be forced to resolve this issue with a Google rep.   If confronted by this issue I’d suggest you double check your ad copy and if something still isn’t right then move forward by contacting a Google representation.  I’ve been more than impressed by their assistance at quickly determining and resolving such issues, and I understand that they’re only adhering to such a strict policy to ensure they’re covered.

URL Inconsistencies

Finally we have ad disapproval based off URL inconsistency, thankfully this is a straightforward issue and will mark the end of this post.  Ads disapproval for URL address inconsistency can be simply resolved by correcting one of two problems: either your ad group has multiple URL’s or there is an inconsistency (error) in one of the URL’s.  Regardless of the problem this complication is easily resolved by double checking your work for consistency.  Note that each ad group is only permitted one URL for the landing page, so if you’ve correctly entered the URL’s this may be the issue at hand.

As Elder Abuse Awareness Day on June 15^th approaches all of us at Page 1 Solutions thought it would be appropriate to not only highlight the upcoming event, but the actions brave individuals take in deterring elder abuse and neglect.  That such a day needs to be marked, or even exist, is unfortunate; but it is our hope that in bringing to light both the issue of elder abuse and how individuals can deter such a travesty we can better service our community.

As an online marketing agency we want to commend the lawyers, and honestly any individual, who stands up for victims of elder abuse.  Unfortunately, too often the perpetrator is of kin to the victim ensuring those that stand up for the rights of the elderly aren’t always thanked – from all of us at Page 1 Solutions ‘Thank You’.  The rest of this post is centered on a number of agencies that you can contact regarding elder abuse, each serves a wide array of purposes from reporting elder abuse and neglect to more proactive measures.

International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse(INPEA)

The organization is focused on the global dissemination of info regarding elder abuse, and further they’re committed to any and all forms of prevention.

National Association of Area Agencies on Aging (AAA)

Primary function is to build the capacity of its members and organizations to help older people live in their community with dignity and choices.

National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse (NCPEA)

An association of individuals dedicated to protecting and serving the lives and dignity of America’s elderly population.  Their goal is to identify, and develop a clear understanding of abuse and subsequently provide direction and leadership to prevent it.

Thanks for reading, and remember every small action can make an impact in the lives of others!

Today’s post is going to expand the current series of “Why Can’t I See My Ads?” to include discussion on the equally frustrating problem of “Why Are My Ads Displaying in a Low Position?”.  The two concerns are intertwined as an ad displaying in a position lower than 4th is essentially not being displayed, or seen for that matter.

While we work ourselves through this problem there will be numerous references to how Quality Score impacts Ad Rank, for more information on Google AdWords’ Quality Score you can check out Kate Field’s series on this critical component of AdWords’ ranking system.

Ad Rank

Ad Rank = CPC Bid x Quality Score

Given the above formula it would appear a prominent Ad Rank (position) is easy to achieve, and in many non competitive markets this is true.  But when targeting competitive markets, those that are in either high demand from a large population or because of their inherent value, you quickly realize why Quality Score is so critical to Ad Rank and display.

In competitive markets simply increasing the Cos Per Click (CPC) bid isn’t going to solve the problem of low Ad Rank; as you’re now liable for paying the elevated bid which may exhaust your daily budget in one or two clicks.  This scenario, and the real life application, can be discouraging as your campaign is confronted by low Ad Rank and exuberant CPC bids.  The superficial solution is to drastically increase your bid, a method far too common and often invoked to increase ad position when Quality Score is low.

The primary peril of excessive CPC Bids is the limitation they place on your traffic, so to counteract this issue lets focus on how improving your Quality Score translates to higher Ad Rank.  The most applicable methods for confronting low Ad rRank and high CPC bids include: adding geoqualified and longtail keywords, improving your campaign’s Click Through Rate (CTR), targeting keywords with historically high CTR, and maintaining a high level of relevancy between your keyword, ads and landing page.

To maintain brevity and simplicity in this post let’s look at one single method of increasing Quality Score, for more detailed approaches continue on to Kate Field’s series on Quality Score.  As highlighted above one of the primary ways to increase your Quality Score is to drastically improve your campaign’s click through rate (CTR).   By targeting, and restricting your campaign to, keywords that have high CTR’s you demonstrate to Google that your ads and product are relevant to searchers.  In return Google AdWords rewards you with a higher quality score that increases your ad position, lowers your CPC and can even increase ad exposure.

While increasing CTR is only one of the many methods for improving your Quality Score the process is for the most part visible and achievable by any AdWords’ users by restricting your campaign to keywords with a good CTR and targeting new keywords that emphasize relevancy and motivated searchers over a large number of impressions.   For more information on the perplexing issue of “Why Can’t I See My Ads?” return to the initial post where the series is outline, or for more information regarding quality score click here.

What may come as a surprise to some readers is that every Google AdWords user, be it a professional or casual user, has concerns related to their ad display.   The root cause of this problem, and evidently why the answer is so coveted, is that Google has created AdWords as a dynamic, ever evolving program to ensure users don’t gain an unfair competitive advantage.

While there is no single definitive answer to why your ad isn’t showing, I’m going to highlight a few of the more pertinent and common reasons.  In doing so I hope to clarify some of the issues that restrict ad display and subsequently help you learn more about Google AdWord’s inner workings.  Read along and you’ll quickly realize why it’s so critical to have an efficient, well organized campaign manager and how they can alleviate your stress.

In today’s blog post I’m going to address budget restraints, future posts related to ad display will focus on ad rank, disapproved ads, and a tantalizing piece on the Infinite Realm of the Internet (essentially the chaos theory).

Budget Restraints

To ensure this section doesn’t remain too abstract I’m going to put forward a pretty basic example to exemplify why your ads will never show 100% of the time.  If a client of ours begins a $3000/month campaign we’re going to set daily parameters of a $100/day budget.  This budget mandates that Google stops the ads from displaying once the $100 has been spent, but Google takes this one step farther by displaying the ads on a rotating basis to ensure they don’t only display for the first few hours of the day.  So if your ads aren’t being displayed sit back and relax, it’s likely your daily budget has either expired or your ads are being carefully presented on a calculated interval.

On the other end of the spectrum, meaning the ugly side, your budget may not be large enough to bid on certain keywords.  This problem may arise when starting a new campaign, ad group or set of keywords, or even as the market becomes more competitive and Cost Per Click (CPC) rises.  When working with a tight budget an AdWords user may be forced to consolidate their keywords to specific queries instead of a broad match.  If the campaign is being poorly managed, it’s very possible that your daily budget may only accommodate one or two clicks when targeting keywords with a high CPC.  In this case, the best plan of action is to rework the campaign so more specific (and hopefully cheaper!) keywords are utilized.

Make sure to check back for future posts related to Ad rank, Disapproved ads, and a tantalizing piece on the Infinite Realm of the Internet. Additionally, I’ll be routinely checking the blog for questions and comments so feel free to leave your thoughts!