This article outlines different reasons for campaign fluctuations and changes. It explains why they lead to changes in campaign performance over time and how you can use the tools in your Google Ads account to understand the drivers of these changes.
Keep in mind: It’s normal for your campaign performance to vary.
On this page
Before you begin
Use explanations to identify reasons for performance changes in a single click
Explanations are available for these campaign types:
- Search campaigns using manual CPC, enhanced CPC, enhanced CPC for value, target CPA, maximise conversions, maximise clicks bidding, maximise conversion value and target ROAS.
- App campaigns using target CPA.
- Performance Max campaigns.
Explanations give you insights into large changes in your account’s performance and help you quickly find out why they happened. By default, you’ll see explanations that compare the date range you selected with the previous period of the same length.
- Go to your 'Campaigns' or 'Ad groups' page.
- Hover over values in your data table that are coloured in blue with a dotted line.
- You’ll see how this value has changed since the last period.
- Click View explanation to see what caused the change.
Assess your performance based on your bid strategy and optimisation goal
Before drawing conclusions about your campaign performance, it’s important to first consider whether the settings you're using match the metrics your campaign is optimising towards. Updating your campaign’s bid strategy or optimisation goal settings to align with your business and advertising goals will help to ensure that you're focusing on the relevant metrics when analysing campaign performance to understand what drove fluctuations.
For example, target CPA helps you get as many conversions as possible at or below the target cost-per-action (CPA) you set. In campaigns using target CPA, cost-per-conversion and other conversion-related metrics may be better indicators of performance than cost per click and impressions. Check your campaign’s start and end date or changes made to the start and end dates to help understand your campaign's performance.
10 common reasons why your performance is fluctuating
1. Recent changes to account or campaign settings
Editing any account or campaign settings, such as bid strategy, bid adjustments, bids, budget, keywords, audiences, demographics or ad scheduling can change your performance.
Learn more in 'Google Ads performance fluctuations: Changes to account or campaign settings'.
2. Conversion tracking setup and conversion delay
If there’s a sudden drop or increase in global pings or tag fires for a conversion action that your campaign is using for auto-bidding, this can result in a drop in serving and spending as Google Ads optimises towards your set conversion action.
Learn more in 'Google Ads performance fluctuations: Conversion tracking setup and conversion delay'.
3. Bids and bid targets
Your performance may fluctuate if your bids, bid limits or bid targets are set without taking into consideration the historical data that Google Ads will use to serve your ads.
Learn more in 'Google Ads performance fluctuations: Bids and bid targets'.
4. Budget settings
Your campaign may be more likely to have performance fluctuations when its budget is limited.
Learn more in 'Google Ads performance fluctuations: Budget settings'.
5. Creative coverage and diversity
If you’re running an asset-based campaign (responsive search ads, responsive display ads, app campaigns, Performance Max) in particular, it’s important to ensure that you have a diverse set of creatives across ad formats.
Learn more in 'Google Ads performance fluctuations: Creative coverage and diversity'.
6. Targeting settings and overlaps (audiences, keywords, geographical locations)
If your campaign is targeting a smaller group of users with very specific audience, keyword, location or language settings, it may also be more likely to have performance fluctuations. You may have multiple campaigns or ad groups in your account that are eligible to enter overlapping auctions due to similar keywords or other targeting.
Learn more in 'Google Ads performance fluctuations: Targeting'.
7. Policy and ad review status
Changes to the review status of your ads or keywords can affect your performance.
Learn more in 'Google Ads performance fluctuations: Policy and review status'.
8. Other account issues
Issues with your payments, billing transfers or other account-level issues can affect the performance of your account and campaigns.
Learn more in 'Google Ads performance fluctuations: Account issues'.
9. Auction dynamics
The choices that other advertisers, who are participating in the same auctions as you, make can affect your campaign’s performance.
Learn more in 'Google Ads performance fluctuations: Auction dynamics'.
10. External market shifts
Performance fluctuations, like budget overspend or underspend, sometimes result from external market shifts rather than major campaign settings. You can use Google Trends to analyse if specific search terms or products have experienced a sudden surge or decline in user interest and traffic.
Here's how to address overspending or underspending due to market shifts:
- To correct overspending driven by a demand spike:
- Implement negative keywords to block inefficient traffic.
- Adjust bid targets.
- Tighten budget caps.
- To correct underspending if interest drops:
- Broaden keyword targeting.
- Expand audiences.
- Shift budget towards other trending terms or products capturing active market demand.
