Situation is this:
Time frame Apr 8 - Apr 12 (the last day is not closed, but it is not important for this)
The client 1, account 1 (runing for several months):
Phrase / status / clicks/ impr / CTR
Blue Widget / Normal / 120 / 2927/ 4%
"Blue Widget" / Normal / 0 / 0 / 0%
Widget / Normal / 36 / 780 / 4,60%
"Widget" / Normal / 0 / 75 / 0%
Everything works OK for this campaign.
The client 2 (started on Apr 6), account 2
Situation for the same phrases:
Phrase / status / clicks/ impr / CTR
Blue Widget On Hold 0
"Blue Widget" On Hold 0
Widget / On / Hold / 0
"Widget" / Normal / 29 / 1693 / 1,70%
The problems we have here:
1. The system has decided that for client 2 the term Blue Widget should be On Hold as a broad match and also as a phrase match. As you can see from the stats of client 1 I am able to get 4% CTR even for the broad match. My view is that this behaviour of the system means, that my customer, me and even Google is loosing money. So the problem we have here is - the machine, that decided that these phrases should be on On Hold, is not smart enough.
2. Another problem we have here is this - the term "Widget" at account 2 has Normal status and works fine. But many MORE targeted (I mean multiword, specific keywords that include word "Widget") went On Hold today. So again, the less targeted word is OK, more targeted word is ON Hold, it means machine does not work well. It also means that all the people on the support who are sending copy and past info "Use multiword, specific keywords in place of singular and/or general keywords" as a cure for "On Hold problem" are loosing thier time and time of all the customers.
3. The most important part - the stats of client 2 shows, that Blue Widget is On Hold in last days and has 0 impressions and 0 clicks, but anytime I search for this term, the ad of client 2 appears! The ad of client 1 appears too. So, I am sure there were impression for the Blue Widget term, that should be counted for client 2, but stats shows 0. The ad of client 2 is shown very close to client 1 (there are only 5 or 6 ads for Blue Widget in my country), so I am 100% sure there were clicks (I did 2 of them when checking this theory) for this term, but stats shows 0. So we have 2 problems here:
3a) On Hold is not On Hold - the ads are being shown (it is an old know problem)
3b) The ads for On Hold words are being shown but stats shows 0 impressions and clicks. This mean that these clicks are given for free to the customer.
It is not easy to find out the problem described under the 3b if you do not have another account to compare.
But it is easy to confirm it if you know what to look for in your own account. So may anybody else confirm the problem described under the 3b?
3a) On Hold is not On Hold - the ads are being shown (it is an old know problem)
3b) The ads for On Hold words are being shown but stats shows 0 impressions and clicks. This mean that these clicks are given for free to the customer.
dave741
Your 3a is what I'm experiencing in this thread.
[webmasterworld.com...]
However, my "on hold" keywords are still producing both page impressions and clicks for the last three days.
Everything what is written in the msg 1 was the truth for the last days. So, I am especially sure for the 3b point in the last days.
A few minutes ago the status of many words in the "Blue Widget" adgroup of client 2 changed. The result is this:
Phrases Blue Widget, "Blue Widget", Widget, "Widget" has the normal status now. So, myabe I can sleep well this night - the most important keywords might to work.
But the problem descibed under the 2. remains - although the phrases Blue Widget a "Blue Widget" have a normal status now, these phrases changed to On Hold:
Blue Widget review
"Blue Widget review"
Blue Widget price
"Blue Widget price"
Blue Widget discount
"Blue Widget discount"
And in this time the On Hold status is real On Hold - I mean that the ad is not shown for phrases like "Blue Widget review".
