First establish what stopped
“The ads stopped working” can mean no impressions, no clicks, no recorded conversions or no useful customers. Each needs a different investigation. Start with a dated observation from the platform, rather than a dashboard label alone.
Check the account time zone and reporting delay. Compare complete days, using a period that suits your conversion cycle. An enabled campaign means it is configured to run; it does not prove that an ad entered or won an auction.
No impressions: check eligibility before rewriting creative
- Account: billing holds, suspension, advertiser verification and security review.
- Campaign: enabled status, start and end dates, schedule, locations and budget.
- Ad group and ad: enabled state, policy review and serving eligibility.
- Keywords: approval, search demand and exclusions that could block the intended searches.
- Bidding: limits or targets that could make the campaign too restrictive.
Record the exact status and reason at each level. Google's Search delivery troubleshooting is a useful checklist, and its Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool helps check a specific search without repeatedly searching for your own ad.
Worked example: enabled is not serving
Hypothetical diagnostic example. A campaign has an A$30 average daily budget, is enabled and reports zero impressions across several complete days. Its only responsive search ad is disapproved.
The confirmed obstacle is the ad's eligibility. Raising the budget or adding more keywords cannot solve that obstacle. Fix the underlying policy or destination issue, resubmit where appropriate, then check Google's resulting review and actual delivery. Do not describe a successful API update as a successful repair until the platform outcome is verified.
Impressions but few clicks: inspect the offer and intent
Read the actual search terms alongside the ad and destination. Are people seeking your service, or jobs, training and information you do not sell? Does the ad clearly describe the offer? Does the page confirm that promise?
Compare trends with enough relevant observations. A low-volume campaign can produce large percentage swings from a few clicks. Do not replace all copy solely because one day's click-through rate changed. Also check whether network or device mix changed before judging the headline.
Clicks but no recorded conversions: test measurement
Complete the intended action on the website. Check that the form or checkout works and that the correct success event fires once. Verify the action and campaign goal in Google Ads. A working container snippet does not establish working conversion tracking.
Then allow for the time customers take to act. Use the conversion tracking checklist to separate implementation failure from genuinely low conversion volume. A test visit without an eligible ad interaction is not proof of a paid-ad conversion.
Conversions but poor customers: assess the definition
A campaign can look productive while optimising for a weak signal, such as any contact-button click. Compare recorded leads with accepted enquiries, sales and margin. If the objective is wrong, improve measurement before increasing spend.
Location settings, an ambiguous offer or overly broad keyword intent can also attract unsuitable leads. Review campaign structure and search terms together rather than assuming every conversion has the same value.
Keep a repair record
For every intervention, keep the before state, reason, API or platform response and the follow-up check. If a problem needs billing details, identity verification or website access, it requires the account owner's input; automation should surface that clearly.
Site to Spend's managed plans provide monitoring and supported campaign adjustments. Platform approval and auction demand remain outside our control. See how AI campaign management works and how to interpret spend before treating a budget increase as the universal repair.