Campaign disabled for G search, but shows and get clicks!

[esllou]

I have a campaign I show only to on the content network. Both G search and the search network are disabled and show as such.

This morning for the first time ever, I showed a hundred ads on "Google Search" and got 2 clicks which I've been charged for.

Is there something I'm missing? How is that possible?

[esllou]

has no-one else seen this? Same again today, limited number of impressions, couple of clicks, despite the whole search network being disabled. Three days in a row now. Written to AW support to see what they have to say about it.

[Pengi]

Try searching yourself on the keyword(s). See if your site is listed.

[esllou]

I can't but that doesn't mean much. I'm not in the States and it could be showing on any of the search partner sites.

It's showing SOMEWHERE....

[fischermx]

Yes, it happens, of course!
Why? I don't know.
I have like 10 content-only campaigns and every day they show several impressions and some clicks in the search network, regardless they are not supposed to show there.

[ddogg]

I saw this the other day too, I don't remember ever seeing this before. They screwed something up, not sure if it is still an issue.

[DoctorDoctor]

I got the same thing as well.

[esllou]

my content-only campaigns were all 0 impressions / 0 clicks until about 5 days ago when they started showing just a few hundred impressions each. Which makes me think that it could be ONE of their search partners that has somehow fallen out of the nest.

I wrote to AW support four days ago and, unusually, haven't heard a thing back from them.

[AdWordsAdvisor]

I've consulted with the tech team on this, and they're aware of it as an issue that is showing up for a tiny number of advertisers. By way of illustration, in a very quick scan I was able to find just one example (probably esllou's!) of this escalated to the tech team for further exploration.

This thread tells me, though, that a least a few other folks have seen it. If you'd care to, I hope you'll contact AdWords support (with the Account ID and info pointing to the Campaigns/Ad Groups in question) and ask that the case be escalated to the tech team by AdWordsAdvisor's request.

Many thanks in advance!

AWA

<edit> fixed typo. Wow, one doesn't get any time to fix stuff anymore without the 'edited by' message showing up. Now you'll know how often I don't get it right the first time! </edit>

[edited by: AdWordsAdvisor at 8:09 pm (utc) on Sep. 11, 2006]

[La_Valette]

Happened to me today. Why can't this bug be fixed in the google code rather than needing to be reported on a case-by-case basis. Shouldn't happen to anyone, period.

[AdWordsAdvisor]

Why can't this bug be fixed in the google code rather than needing to be reported on a case-by-case basis. Shouldn't happen to anyone, period.

Agreed.

I was not referring to alerting the support folks so that accounts could be fixed on a case by case basis, La_Valette. It's just way easier to fix something for everyone if you start with an actual example of the problem to work from. And if something occurs in a tiny number of cases, it's most efficient to start looking for examples in Ad Groups which are know to have the issue.

Thus my request. ;)

AWA

[La_Valette]

Understood.

Can you post something here to alert us as to when this has been fixed? I've paused all my content campaigns till then.

Really I'm not too sure about the continued insistence on this being restricted to a "tiny" number of cases. I read about this 2 days ago here, then went to check my account out of curiosity, and lo and behold there's at least one adgroup doing exactly this. Coincidences exist, but they're statistically improbable.

(And even if it's just a tiny number of cases today, until the bug is nailed and google knows exactly what's going on, it's impossible to say it won't be a tiny number of cases tomorrow).

[deep_alley]

I heard about this today and thought of coming and posting here to see if anyone has seen this happening. Haven't see this in any of my adgroups...yet.
What I would like to know is that the ads are being shown on the search network or is it that these keywords are the ones that are triggering ads on the content network? [Basically is the summary tab showing numbers for both search and content or is it just the keywords in the keywords tab?]
Also is this happening everday since you first discovered it or just one off day?
Thanks.

[AdWordsAdvisor]

Can you post something here to alert us as to when this has been fixed?

Certainly.

Really I'm not too sure about the continued insistence on this being restricted to a "tiny" number of cases. I read about this 2 days ago here, then went to check my account out of curiosity, and lo and behold there's at least one adgroup doing exactly this. Coincidences exist, but they're statistically improbable.

Over the past three years, I've found WebmasterWorld to be a excellent barometer. If something is effecting a lot of accounts, a lot of folks on this forum will be posting about it very quickly. In this case, I see five cases represented in the 13 posts (including mine) over 7 days.

This fact, along with the number of cases reported to the tech team suggests that the number is very small at present.

(And even if it's just a tiny number of cases today, until the bug is nailed and google knows exactly what's going on, it's impossible to say it won't be a tiny number of cases tomorrow).

True enough.

AWA

[La_Valette]

Here's my experience with this:

1. The summary tab AND the keywords tab both show the "illegal" clicks and impressions. In other words, the summary tab shows clicks and impressions next to Search, which is not supposed to happen, and scrolling down to the keyword list shows the keywords responsible for triggering these - their total clicks and impressions as reported in the keywords tab correctly adds up to the total reported next to Search in the Summary Tab.

I can only guess, being on the outside of the Google system here, as to whether the ads are actually being shown on the search network - as the above would certainly strongly imply - or whether this is just a reporting error. I lean towards the former explanation.

2. As to how long I've been seeing this, I first noticed it happening "live" yesterday, but checking the offending adgroup's history reveals it to have been going on since the last several days, at least, without my noticing.

[La_Valette]

ps. 2 adgroups now showing this problem.

[La_Valette]

Noticed it in 3 adgroups now. I probably won't find more because my campaigns have been paused for a while now... hopefully this will be fixed soon!

[AdWordsAdvisor]

Can you post something here to alert us as to when this has been fixed? I've paused all my content campaigns till then.

I've received word that this is now resolved - as of Friday night, 9/15. My apology for any inconvenience which this may have caused.

AWA

[esllou]

AWA, I was going to post tonight too. For a good few days, the impressions are pretty much down to zero and no clicks anymore. I recieved a mail from support saying there would be a refund anyway, so overall, the problem was fixed pretty quickly and it sounds as if G is doing the right thing in refunding the "invalid" clicks.

so, thumbs up. :)

[La_Valette]

Indeed, I'm not seeing any further search clicks either. Fingers crossed that it will stay that way, but nice work and thanks.