Split testing Adwords adverts not working

[Jon12345]

I have 2 adverts. Both are the same except for the url.
But one is showing 98% of the time, the other 2% of the time. Why is that?

[nyet]

The system algo will vary the rate of impressions for each ad and eventually settle on the one that performs best.

[Jon12345]

I thought it was meant to split them 50/50 for as long as you run the two ads.

[Frequent]

Do you have ad serving optimization turned off for the campaign?

If so, you can still see a less than even split early in the day if you have very low impressions. It should even out to 50/50 by the end of the day most of the time.

Freq---

[Import Export]

Frequent is right. You most likely have "Automaticall Optimize Ad Serving" (forget exact text) checked, as it is by default. To edit this, you need to go into Campaign settings for the campaign in question. Keep in mind you have to edit this setting for all campaigns, at the campaign level in order to allow your ads to run for true A/B testing..

[Jon12345]

Optimisation was already turned off. There are 319 clicks to one ad, 7 to the other.

Is this a known bug in the Adwords system?

[Frequent]

If the new ad is a recent addition it may not have been reviewed yet so it can't show on search partners or content.

Oh, and they aren't bugs...they are features. ;)

Freq---

[eWhisper]

Are you looking at a time frame that includes times when both ads weren't active?

[Jon12345]

Added last Friday. Looked today. Yesterday. Day before.

I didn't think it had to be reviewed.

The ad is identical except for the page to which the visitor is taken.

[archie goodwin]

I've had this happen a couple times. There is a bug that causes this. Try turning on optimization, then immediately turn it back off. That should reset it.

AG

[Frequent]

Every new ad must be reviewed before it gets displayed anywhere other than on Google itself.

This also applies to any change to an existing ad. It must go back through review. This is why it's better to create a new ad with a change and then delete the old ad after the new one has started to display.

Freq---