Why it happens
Billing failed or the account is suspended
Billing failed or the account is suspended
A declined card, an expired payment method or a policy suspension stops every campaign at once. The account-level banner says so; the campaigns themselves can still read Eligible.
Ads are disapproved or limited by policy
A campaign with no approved ads cannot serve. See Google Ads disapproved for every policy reason and its fix.
The budget runs out early
A budget too small for the keywords spends by mid-morning and the ads disappear for the rest of the day. See limited by budget.
Bids are too low to win the auction
Low bids or a tight target CPA lose on Ad Rank. Search lost IS (rank) shows how much of the market you are priced out of.
Targeting is too narrow or wrong
A single small location, the wrong language, an ad schedule that ends at 5pm, or negatives that block your own keywords.
It works, but the tracking does not
Clicks and spend look normal and conversions read zero. That is a conversion tracking problem, not a delivery one.
How to fix it, step by step
Check billing first
Open Billing, then Summary. Clear any payment warning or suspension notice before touching campaigns; nothing else matters until it is gone.
Read the campaign and ad statuses
In Campaigns, add the Status column and hover any status that is not Eligible. Then open Ads and filter for Disapproved or Eligible (limited).
Check the budget and impression share
Add the Search lost IS (budget) and Search lost IS (rank) columns to the Campaigns table. Budget loss means raise the budget or narrow the campaign; rank loss means bids or ad quality.
Test a keyword with Ad preview
Go to Tools, then Troubleshooting, then Ad preview and diagnosis. Enter a keyword, location and device to see whether the ad would show and why not.
Check what changed
Open Change history and look at the days before it stopped. A paused ad group, a new negative list or a bid strategy switch is often the whole story.
Steps checked against Google Ads Help: Find out why you may not see your ad; Google Ads Help: About the Ad preview and diagnosis tool; Google Ads Help: Campaign status definition.
Sprites fixes this
Or let Sprites fix it
Sprites runs the whole checklist in one pass and stages the fix for the break it finds.
What Sprites does
- Finds every enabled campaign with no impressions or heavy lost impression share, joined to its budget.
- Reads campaign, ad group and ad status, including each ad’s approval and policy findings.
- Splits lost impression share into budget and rank, so you know which lever to pull.
- Lines the drop up with the account change history from the last 30 days.
- Raises budgets, re-enables paused entities and adjusts bidding or targeting, each change shown before it goes live.
What it doesn't do
- It does not read or update billing and payment methods, and cannot lift an account suspension.
Questions
Why did my Google Ads suddenly stop working?
Usually a failed payment, a disapproval or a change someone made. Check Billing first, then ad statuses, then Change history for the day it stopped.
Is Google Ads down right now?
Rarely. Platform outages are short and Google posts them on the Google Ads status dashboard. If only your account is affected, the cause is in your account.
Why do I not see my own ad when I search for it?
Google stops showing you an ad you keep searching for and never click, and your location or device may sit outside the targeting. Use Ad preview and diagnosis instead of live searches.
My ads get clicks but no conversions. Is Google Ads not working?
The ads are working. Either the conversion tag is broken or the traffic is wrong. Check the conversion action status first, then the search terms report.
How long does it take a new Google Ads campaign to start working?
Ads usually serve within a day of approval. Smart Bidding then needs up to around 50 conversions or three conversion cycles before results settle.
Let Sprites fix it
Connect the account. Sprites finds the cause, stages the change and waits for your approval.