AOL not showing some AdWords - why?

[tedster]

I've read several older threads here on this topic, but found no definitive answer. I have a Mom & Pop client with a very successful AdWords campaign - running at nearly 5% CTR for a year and still converting well across the Google partners.

About a month ago, AOL stopped running the ad and I'd love to know how to fix this for the client without experimenting in the dark, because their ad is a gem.

The AOL traffic converted very well in this market, but this business is far from a big player -- so I don't feel I have any economic clout to go to bat with. Just need to understand what's happening.

[webdiversity]

The obvious answer would be that the client switched off syndication of the ads.

Failing that there would be no logical reason as to why that would be happening.

[vibgyor79]

That has happened a few times to our client campaigns too - mostly happens when the ads are paused/unpaused or modified. But thankfully, it happens ocassionally.

A quick email to Google AdWords support and repeated follow-ups will ensure that such ads are shown in AOL too.

[tedster]

Thanks folks -- I decided to email support and ask directly. Probably the best advice I could have been given.

[tedster]

Here's my answer - when you change an AdWords ad, you will see the changes on Google almost immediately. But the ad is then immediately pulled from the syndication list (the partners who carry the Google feed) until editorial can review the change.

Apparently that review may take a relatively long time, depending on the workload. However, I am happy to report that along with my answer, the involved ads also received editorial approval and are now showing on AOL.

I mentioned this thread in my email and asked if Google would like to make a contribution here -- explaining more about the process of which ads do and don't get sent out to their syndication partners. They've forwarded that request "upstairs" for a decision, so we can hope for a more detailed answer from Google in the near future. And in the mean time, if you've got an AdWord that's working, think twice before tweaking it.

[vibgyor79]

Did you hear them right, Tedster? Because this is serious!

- Why pull off the ads from the syndication list when Google ads are running normally?

- Is this a AOL policy? Or does it apply to all Google syndication partners?

[Shak]

I have heard something very similar, and hopefully should have a very "clear" answer by next week.

Shak

[AdWordsAdvisor]

I thought I'd revive this older thread crying out for an answer, because this topic is quite important - and related questions seem to come up often.

So here is an AdwordsAdvisor primer on how and when ads are sent to partner sites!

* All ads (new or edited) show on Google right away, before being reviewed. Ads run live on Google right away as a courtesy to our advertisers.

* However, ads will not be shown on partner sites until they have been reviewed and approved. This is to ensure that only ads and sites which meet our guidelines and polices are sent to partner sites. Please note that this applies to all Google partners.

* The time-to-review will vary with the volume of new and edited ads submitted, and is accomplished as quickly as possible. (Note that ads are reviewed Monday through Friday, so submitting a new or edited ad late Friday evening is likely to delay its appearance on partner sites.) The review process is performed by the Editorial Review Team, and an actual human individually reviews each ad and site. Contrary to popular belief, no robots are employed in this review process at all! ;)

* Worth noting: If you have an existing ad already appearing on partner sites, and then you edit the ad, it will come down from the partner sites. This is because an edited ad has new content - and that content must be approved before being sent to our partners. In other words, an edited ad becomes a 'new' ad, because it has new content.

* Each partner site chooses the number of ads they wish to show. (Taking AOL as an example: AOL currently shows the top four *approved* AdWords ads from Google.) So in order to appear on a partner site, an ad must have been reviewed and approved, and be in the appropriate top spots on Google.

Hope this bring some clarity to a Frequently Asked Question!

[vibgyor79]

>>> submitting a new or edited ad late Friday evening is likely to delay its appearance on partner sites

Never change ad copies on Friday then!

A couple of questions for you AWA -

What is the logic/reasoning behind this decision to review the ad copies before showing in the partner sites? Is it something that your partners have demanded?

For me, it looks like you are "penalizing" your advertisers for trying to improve their CTRs. This system discourages advertisers from trying out different ad copies.

From the advertisers' point of view, I think there is a workaround for this problem. Advertisers could create a new ad copy instead of editing the existing ad. Google will show both the ads alternately. Partners will (hopefully) show the original unedited ad. Once the new ad copy has been approved, then one can delete the old ad copy.

[eWhisper]

I never edit an ad unless the G AdWords team tells me to. If you edit it, then all the old CTR info is lost. I always make a new one with the new info, and once it's established and preforming better than the old one, then I delete the old one so if I want to look back through old ads, I still have the stats of how they preformed.

[AdWordsAdvisor]

The work-around you suggest is a good one Vibgyor - one noteworthy detail though:

When you have more than one ad in an Ad Group, AdWords will rotate the ads evenly - first one, then the other. When the original (and approved) ad is the one showing on Google, it'll be sent to partner sites - assuming appropriate position on the page of course.

However, when the new (and unapproved ad) is showing on Google, it will *not* be sent to the partner sites.