There is, however, a lag time. For example, I could post a new kw, search it awhile later and see my ad for that kw, but google campaign STILL shows no impressions. That is normal.
Kay
Wouldn't it be great if you could look at your ad groups and telll which ones are active and which are waiting for approval? When you create a new ad it would be great to know when it actually starts appearing. Are there any secrets on how to figure this out other than searching your own keywords?
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding something - you can always tell by checking your campaign stats. If showing impressions, then your ads are active.
kaylowe is quite correct, in terms of ads showing on Google. And yes, there is a typical delay of about three hours in the stats on the Campaign Summary page.
Now, in terms of when your ads have been reviewed and approved - and have therefore started to show on partner sites: if you've chosen to appear in the content network, then take a look at the Ad Group level of your account, and look for impressions/clicks in the 'Content Total' row. (BTW, the date range tool allows you to look day-by-day, so you can see when they actually started to appear.)
If you've chosen to not appear on the content network, then you may be able to tell that you're approved and appearing on the search network, by looking for the increase in impressions/clicks that is typical when your ad is sent to partner sites.
AWA