Is it a bug or a feature?

Hope it's just an algo glitch

[Temedar]

Today I experienced the following situation.
I have two ad groups containing the keyword "widgets". One of these groups contains ads for a certain merchant, the other - for my own products. Both has little to do in common (different domains, etc.). When I search Google for "widgets", only one ad appears - an ad from a different affiliate for the same merchant as in my ad group #1. To my surprise, the ad for my own product does not show. The Ads Diagnostic Tool says that

(ad for merchant) Ad not shown ¦ Reason: Your ad shares a similar Display URL with a competing, higher ranking ad.
(ad for my product) Ad not shown ¦ Reason: Another ad in your account is showing for this keyword.

Something needs to be done about this.

[ronmcd]

Your affiliate ad is maybe the better performing one for that keyword, so it shows (all things being equal) most of the time. So when it tries to show it cant cos theres another affiliate using that url. but google doesnt then go back and try and find another ad in your account using that same keyword, its a one-shot deal and so no ad is shown.

I would guess thats whats happening. Your lower performing ad (your product) rarely shows ragardless of whether another affiliate is bumping you.