Jason King, Ad Grants Certified Professional
Volunteer Product Expert, 95% Human, 5% Coffee, 0% AI
Member since 8/6/2019

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English chap, living on a rural smallholding in France. Trainer and consultant for nonprofit organizations using Ad Grant and paid Google Ads accounts. Google Ad Grants Certified Professional, Google Partner, Platinum Google Product Expert, and Microsoft Advertising Partner. Author of the Google Ad Grants training course.

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Test your website's page loading speed before you apply for a Google Ad Grant
Before you apply for a Google Ad Grant check that the website's pages load fast enough, especially the home page. A slow website can cause your application to be rejected. Your Ad Grant account can even get temporarily suspended later on if the pages slow down.
 
See the Ad Grants website policy at support.google.com/grants/answer/1657899 which says "your website must load quickly" without actually defining how that's measured.
 
Google's PageSpeed Insights tool
 
Use Google's PageSpeed Insights tool: pagespeed.web.dev to test individual pages. There are options for testing on mobile or desktop: always choose mobile, since that is how most people browse websites.
 
There is no officially specified score that you need to reach, but I've observed that websites scoring 50/100 and above for performance tend to be accepted for an Ad Grant, but those in the red get rejected.
 
This isn't just a Google Ads or Ad Grants issue; a slow-loading website can adversely affect your performance in organic search.
 
Common causes of slow page loading speed
  • Over-sized images are usually easy to fix with some routine image optimization, regardless of what tool you use to build your website.
  • If redundant JavaScript code is being loaded, depending on how your website is built, that might be easy to fix or impossible. Some website-building platforms like Wix don't let you alter the code; whereas if you use WordPress, you can change any code you like.
  • Embedded third party code (Twitter timeline, Facebook embed) might slow down a website, in which case you need to decide how essential it really is.
  • A trickier problem to solve, is a long Time To First Byte (TTFB). Is there a long delay before your website even starts to load? That could be a problem on the server, or in the website code.
  • What if the tool says it can't even reach your website? That could indicate various problems and is important to fix, since if Google Ads can't reach your page it might disapprove ads using that landing page.
Share this report with your web developer
 
Whatever the reasons for the pages loading slowly, send the PageSpeed Insights report to your web developer and instruct them to read its recommendations to help diagnose and fix the problems. Once that's done, re-test the speed and see if it's improved.
 
If the developer replies by saying nothing's wrong, and maybe they show you that a different testing tool scores the website highly, remind them that this is the tool that Google uses.
 
The screenshot below shows a website that passes the mobile speed test with a good score:
 
 
 
Using Lighthouse in the Chrome browser
 
You can use a tool called Lighthouse to run the same tests from within the Chrome browser.
  1. In the Chrome browser, navigate to your website's home page
  2. Press F12 to bring up the Developer tools.
  3. Click the tab for Lighthouse.
  4. Check the option for "mobile".
  5. Click Analyze page load.
You may need to wait for a minute or two for the results while Lighthouse audits the page.
 
 
 
Choose your CMS wisely
 
Some Content Management Systems (CMS) enable you to edit the code on your website and fix problems with relative ease. Some don't. Some run faster than others. 
 
If you have a WordPress website, the loading speed should always be something you can improve, or your web developer can improve.
 
But I regularly see nonprofits using Wix get rejected for Google Ad Grants. When I run speed tests (using PageSpeed Insights) to find out whether that's the cause, it almost always comes back under 50/100. The recommendations in the report are always about redundant script and other code issues. Reliably so. If they were using a better CMS they'd be able to fix coding issues, but on Wix there's little they can do.
 
This community guide was written by Jason King, an Ad Grants Certified Professional and the author of the Google Ad Grants Complete Course.
 
If you have any questions about testing website speed, please comment below.
How to fix low impressions in a nonprofit's Google Ad Grant
On the Google Ad Grant and Google Ads community forums we hear that it’s becoming more and more difficult for nonprofits to launch new Ad Grant campaigns and get their ads seen. But why is that? And if your campaigns have stalled, what can you do to fix the problem of low impressions and clicks in a Google Ad Grant?
 
Let’s go through the main factors that prevent your ads being seen, and taking each in turn, figure out what actions you can take to overcome the problem of low impressions in a Google Ad Grant and make your campaigns thrive.
 
1. Choose a correct bidding strategy
 
This is essential. Don’t choose manual bidding, or maximize clicks, or target impression share. That mistake will cause your campaigns to never bid higher than $2 per click. Google Ads uses a bidding auction, where you are in competition with other advertisers to get each ad shown. An incorrect bidding strategy will hobble your account, prevent it being able to bid high enough to win the auction, and you’ll fail to get impressions.
 
Checking stats across 20+ Ad Grant accounts, not one of them has an average Cost Per Click (CPC) below $2. The average is $4.50 and some bid as high as $10 or more. CPC has risen a lot over the last few years, making it more important than ever to use a conversion-based bidding strategy.
 
A correct bidding strategy for a new account could be Maximize conversions. There are a few others you could use later on, but they are mostly useful for accounts that lead to regular revenue, whether sales or donations, so start for now with Maximize conversions. That strategy removes the $2 bid cap and enables the system to bid as high as it needs to.
 
If you do use Max conversions, set a Target Cost Per Action (tCPA) that's higher than the average cost per conversion you've seen in the last six months. If you're just starting out, set it to for example $200. Over time, reevaluate that amount based on the actual cost per conversion you see.
 
2. Set up meaningful conversion tracking
 
Right at the start you have to get to grips with the most technically complicated aspect of managing a Google Ads account: conversion tracking.
Before Google will let you use that all-important conversion-based bidding strategy, you have to set up conversion tracking. Essentially what you’re doing is telling Google Analytics to record when visitors to your website take useful actions, then attributing those actions to the ads that led to them. And not just to ads: conversion tracking enables you to attribute successful website interactions to all channels including organic Google search, Bing search, emails, referrals and social media.
Think backwards, in these steps:
  1. What are your nonprofit’s objectives?
  2. Does the website enable visitors to take actions that further the nonprofit’s objectives?
  3. Configure what are called events in Google Analytics to track those actions happening
  4. Mark the important ones as conversions
  5. In Google Ads, import those conversions
  6. Switch your campaigns to Maximize conversions
Some examples of conversions might include: donations, newsletter signups, a volunteer interest form submitted, or contact form submitted, an important document downloaded, video watched, an important link to another website clicked, or an email address or telephone number clicked on.
I intend to create a video guide to conversion tracking in Ad Grants, because it’s difficult to describe. What’s important to know right now is that the new version of Google Analytics has built-in tools to track user activity and set up custom conversions.
 
3. Allocate the correct budget
 
All campaign budgets can be set to $329 to enable each campaign to have the best chance to spend the daily budget. Don’t worry about what that totals, because the daily spend will always get capped at $329 and it’s impossible to over-spend in an Ad Grant.
 
4. Create as few campaigns as possible
 
Campaign performance is powered by conversions. You need to get plenty of conversions per campaign. So don’t set up more campaigns than are strictly necessary, or there won’t be enough conversions to go round to aid the machine learning.
 
There are legitimate reasons to create multiple campaigns: if they require different geo-targeting, different languages, or if you’re targeting a wholly different audience. For example, you might have one campaign to target the public, and another to target professionals.
 
5. Don’t keep changing campaign settings
 
New campaigns enter a five-day learning phase during which cost per click can fluctuate wildly. After that the message about learning disappears, but your campaigns never really stop learning. Leave the settings alone. Try not to change the bidding strategy, the budget, or the conversion goals during the first weeks and months.
 
6. Don’t be niche and local
 
The smaller your geographical reach, the less useful an Ad Grant will likely be, since there won’t be so many people searching for what you offer. Don’t be tempted to widen the geo-targeting beyond where you provide services, since that will backfire and adversely affect your results.
 
For very localized nonprofits, you might find that a Google Business Profile, kept updated regularly, is more useful than an Ad Grant.
 
Is the service or information your nonprofit offers of interest to only a very limited audience? That can be problematic in an Ad Grant, since there won’t be enough people searching for it. However, if your topic is niche but your geographical reach is national or international, that might well work ok. In fact, that can be a great combination leading to a high volume of impressions, and a high Click Through Rate.
 
7. Don’t have a lot of competition
 
Perhaps the most difficult barrier to overcome is the problem of other advertisers. If the keywords you’re bidding on are too popular then you might not get many impressions.
 
Cost Per Click has risen dramatically over the last few years in Ad Grant accounts. That’s most likely a sign of increased competition, as more and more nonprofits get grants.
 
It’s bad enough when the competitors are other nonprofits, but when they’re businesses, you might find it impossible to get impressions in an Ad Grant. To know why, you need to understand how Ad Grants are positioned relative to paid ads in the search results.
 
All paid ads get shown above all grant ads… in a separate bidding auction. One auction takes place for paid accounts and potentially several of your competitors’ ads get shown at the top of search results. But those aren’t direct competitors: because you have an Ad Grant your keyword competes in the second auction, which only includes Ad Grant accounts.
 
Now imagine what happens if there are a lot of advertisers, some with paid, some grant accounts. All the paid ones appear first and there’s nothing you can do about that; but then there’s a second auction and maybe you’ll win or lose it. Your ad might not appear at all, or it might end up placed well below all the others and rarely get clicked. 
 
That’s why almost every Ad Grant account gets a <10% Impression share, meaning that less than one in ten of the times an ad could be shown, it’s your ad. That’s why it’s so difficult to get traffic in an Ad Grant if the nonprofit is niche, local and faces competition.
 
What can you do about competition?
 
Try to win the bidding war against other Ad Grants. Keep your Keyword Quality Scores high. Have a great landing page with clear calls to action. Use Max conversions.
 
Use the Ad Grant for the least competitive keywords, and use a paid account to run ads for the more difficult keywords. That’s why so many nonprofits have paid accounts for donation and signup asks. You’re allowed one Ad Grant and one paid account.
 
If you don’t have an advertising budget, then only use the Ad Grant for awareness and information ads and don’t try donation or other difficult keywords. That can still be a viable long-term strategy, provided the website funnels people towards taking actions. Ad Grants can be valuable for list building.
 
Keep testing keywords. Sometimes your competitors overlooked less obvious keywords. Maybe you have a niche within a niche that you could exploit, an angle that your competitors can’t take.
 
 
8. Try Dynamic Search Ads
 
Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) can be useful on new and under-performing Ad Grants, provided the website is well built with plenty of good content. They are quick and easy to set up. See https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2471185 for instructions. DSA are useful for discovering which search terms and landing pages Google thinks can get traffic. They enable Google Ads to use its own initiative and decide which search terms should trigger whichever landing pages that it thinks relevant.
 
Whilst you could create a single DSA ad group to target the entire website, you’ll get better results if you create multiple DSA ad groups to target sections of the website. You can target part of a url such as “/blog/” or “/get-involved/”.
DSA ad text can sometimes go off-message so in the long-term try to replace them with standard ads. They are not suitable for nonprofits with precise branding and messaging.
 
9. Policy issues
 
Google Ads has a lot of policies. Depending on what your nonprofit does, it might be impossible to use Google Ads, or just very difficult, or you might never have an ad disapproved. Sometimes ads are approved but given a “limited” status which means they will only be shown to some people in some countries at some times.
 
To take just a few examples: a church might find ads greatly limited due to the “religious belief in personalized advertising” policy; a housing charity might find its ads flagged for the “Housing, employment, and credit” policy but still be able to advertise as normal so long as they don’t use demographic exclusions; an addiction nonprofit won’t be able to advertise at all unless they undertake a specific and costly certification process.
 
Use the Policy Manager report in Google Ads to check which policies are currently affecting your ads and fix and appeal them as necessary. If you don’t understand why they’ve been applied, come to the Google Ads forum and ask for an explanation.
 
10. Strive for high Keyword Quality Scores
 
Keywords can be assigned a Quality Score between 1 and 10. Not all keywords will be scored, and scores can change from week to week. Within an ad group, the higher the average scores, the cheaper the CPC will be, and the more likely the ad is to be shown. Too many low quality keywords can flatline an account’s impressions, and this is a common reason for slow decline; but it can also be a problem on a new account.
In the Keywords report, add these three columns: Quality scoreLanding page experience, and Ad relevance. That will help you spot problems, and diagnose whether it’s the ad itself or the website that’s causing them.
  • In an Ad Grant account keywords scoring only 1 or 2 will get automatically paused.
  • Personally I remove or tweak any that score only 3 or 4, or try to improve the wording of the ad or the landing page.
  • Ideally I would want most keywords to score 7 and above.
  • Usually only the brand scores 10
11. Improve the landing pages
 
When you check keywords' quality scores, do you see mainly "below average" in the Landing page experience column? Then there might be work to do to improve the landing page that your ads send people to. Take a look at the page and ask yourself these questions:
  • Does the page load slowly? Use Google's PageSpeed Insights tool to check: https://pagespeed.web.dev/. Make sure the score is safely above 50/100 so it's not in the red.
  • Are there clear Calls To Action on those pages?
  • Have you set up conversion tracking for those actions?
  • Is the text on the page well written and persuasive?
  • Is there clear navigation to other pages that might also interest a visitor?
  • Is the page relevant to the keywords in the ad group?
 
12. Check settings that might restrict who sees your ads
 
This advice isn’t for newly created campaigns, but if your campaign has a history, check the following: audience targeting, demographic exclusions for age and gender, and ad schedule. Check for any bid adjustments that are set to -100%. Sometimes these get applied then forgotten about.
 
13. Wait longer
 
How recently did you create the ads? Only a few days ago? Ad Grant accounts usually take longer to get momentum than paid Google Ads accounts.
 
14. What if longstanding campaigns have flatlined?
 
It can happen. Campaigns that have run successfully for months or years, stop getting impressions and nothing you do seems to bring the spend back up. Sometimes you can't diagnose why the drop happened and it could be factors outside your control (like new competitors). There's a trick that some account managers use to counter this. In my experience it sometimes works, sometimes doesn't, but is worth a try if nothing else helps.
 
If you're using Max conversions, switch to Max conversions with a Target Cost Per Action (tCPA) that's substantially higher than the average cost per conversion you've seen in the last six months.
 
The graph below shows an Ad Grant account where spend had dropped way below normal levels and remained there for a couple of months. See the grey square on the timeline below the graph? That's a note I made to mark when we switched to Target CPA at $200. Note what happened next: cost and clicks shot up as the average cost per click rose a few dollars. Not only was there an improvement in quantity, but in quality too: the conversion rate rose and the Click Through Rate (CTR) remained steady. 
 
 
 
15. Try Performance Max
 
Go to create a new campaign. Do you see an option for Performance Max? This is brand new in Ad Grants and if you don't see it yet, that's because it's still rolling out. It's a type of campaign that's keyword-less and instead about the audiences you want to target. I highly recommend you try it, my early results are promising and it can sometimes spend more easily than a standard search campaign.
 
If you're a local nonprofit that wants visits, be aware that P-Max can put ads in Google Maps, not just in search results. That can lead to useful conversions as people seek directions, save your location on the map, and even call you. To enable that, connect your ads account to your Google Business Profile account and create a location asset.
 
Further reading
 
How to fix Google Ads campaigns not running or low traffic (useful Google Ads support page, but not specific to Ad Grants)
 
This community guide was written by Jason King, an Ad Grants Certified Professional and the author of the Google Ad Grants Complete Course.
 
If you have any questions about low impressions, please comment below.
 
Post history
exceeding caps, ignoring budget limits entirely
A recent glitch, which has actually been benefiting you! One of my accounts has gone back to normal spend since March 10. Sounds like whatever caused this has been found and fixed.

The diagnosis tool is awful
Also true in paid accounts.
Naveed—are you able to share a link to the video?

One video has a thousand testimonials? That in itself could be a problem: how could that possibly be verifiable?

I didn't notice the words in your question's title. This is an addiction service? You should be aware that there are specific rules about addiction service advertising, read this and check the rules for your country: https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/15598649
Login to your Google for Nonprofits dashboard at https://www.google.com/nonprofits/. You should see your Ad Grants Customer ID number.
 
Now login to Google Ads. Do you see the same Customer ID? If so, choose Billing from the menu at the top. Then Summary. Does it say "This account is not billed"? If so, it's your Ad Grant account, continue to use it. Set the daily total budget for your campaigns to $329. See https://support.google.com/grants/answer/9841727.
 
Or was it a different ID? That's some other account, one you previously had access to, or have just created by accident. Do not use it. Do not enter credit card details. If you have created any campaigns pause them immediately or you'll get billed.
 
Can't find your Ad Grant account? Try clicking on the profile icon in the top right: is there an option to switch to another account? Check you're logging in using the correct email address, the one you signed up for the Ad Grant with.
 
Can't get in at all? Try this form to regain access: https://support.google.com/grants/contact/grants_account_access_no_info.
Page views are not a useful or meaningful conversion. 

Looking at the website, let's see what you could be tracking instead:

  • join the team (but where's a signup form?)
  • donations (but there's no donate form)
  • contact form submissions (track this as a form_submit event in Google Analytics)

The website looks nice but doesn't effectively facilitate action. It lacks calls to action backed up by forms or actual actions to take. 

You haven't set up useful audience signals. That is essential. You don't need to use your own data. Did you check the built-in affinity and in-market and demographic audience targeting? Did you see the option to create your own audiences based on similar websites's urls? To make P-Max work you need to carefully define your ideal audience then use whichever Google Ads audience targeting methods allow you to do that most accurately.


Don't follow recommendations unless they make sense for your nonprofit's goals. "AI recommended" doesn't mean they're useful.

Here's a community guide that I wrote about how to fix low impressions in an Ad Grant account: https://support.google.com/grants/community-guide/242857282.
 
Check you're viewing the correct date range!
 
Some questions to help diagnose the problem:
 
1. How long ago were ads created?
 
2. What bidding strategy does the campaign use? 
 
3. Has conversion tracking has already been set up and if so, what actions are you tracking as goals?
  
4. Please give some examples of keywords you expect to get traffic.
 
5. Are ads approved, disapproved or approved(limited)?
 
6. What does the nonprofit do?
 
7. Where is the campaign geo-targeted?
 
8. What's the website address?
 
Go to create a new campaign. Do you see an option for Performance Max? If not, it should appear within the next few weeks, January at the latest. This is brand new in Ad Grants. It's a type of campaign that's keyword-less and instead about the audiences you want to target. I highly recommend you try it, my early results are promising and it seems to spend much more easily than a standard search campaign.

Login to your Google for Nonprofits dashboard at https://www.google.com/nonprofits/. You should see your Ad Grants Customer ID number.
 
Now login to Google Ads. Do you see the same Customer ID? If so, choose Billing from the menu at the top. Then Summary. Does it say "This account is not billed"? If so, it's your Ad Grant account, continue to use it. Set the daily total budget for your campaigns to $329. See https://support.google.com/grants/answer/9841727.
 
Or was it a different ID? That's some other account, one you previously had access to, or have just created by accident. Do not use it. Do not enter credit card details. If you have created any campaigns pause them immediately or you'll get billed.
 
Can't find your Ad Grant account? Try clicking on the profile icon in the top right: is there an option to switch to another account? Check you're logging in using the correct email address, the one you signed up for the Ad Grant with.
 
Can't get in at all? Try this form to regain access: https://support.google.com/grants/contact/grants_account_access_no_info.
Login to your Google for Nonprofits dashboard at https://www.google.com/nonprofits/. You should see your Ad Grants Customer ID number.
 
Now login to Google Ads. Do you see the same Customer ID? If so, choose Billing from the menu at the top. Then Summary. Does it say "This account is not billed"? If so, it's your Ad Grant account, continue to use it. Set the daily total budget for your campaigns to $329. See https://support.google.com/grants/answer/9841727.
 
Or was it a different ID? That's some other account, one you previously had access to, or have just created by accident. Do not use it. Do not enter credit card details. If you have created any campaigns pause them immediately or you'll get billed.
 
Can't find your Ad Grant account? Try clicking on the profile icon in the top right: is there an option to switch to another account? Check you're logging in using the correct email address, the one you signed up for the Ad Grant with.
 
Can't get in at all? Try this form to regain access: https://support.google.com/grants/contact/grants_account_access_no_info.
You can find a compliance guide here:

BUT it's outdated.

Ignore the >5% CTR rule because currently the Ad Grant program is seeing very low CTR and it's highly unlikely accounts will get suspended because of it.

Also ignore the instruction to create at least two ads per ad group. That's not been true for several years. Create one per ad group only in a Search campaign.

Consider the two sitelinks rule as an absolute minimum. Create more than that.

Be aware that until recently you could only create Search campaigns, but now also have the option to create Performance Max campaigns.
You should be getting clicks and conversions by now. I've built campaigns for child adoption in England and they worked ok.

Small geographical area can be a limitation, but I think you're across all of Wales so that shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Another problem is competition, not just from other nonprofits with Ad Grants, but also from private agencies spending real money. To compete with those you'd need to run paid ads too.

Those seem like sensible conversions to track.

I would also expect a keyword like that to get impressions. You'll need plenty of others.

Although grantees cannot normally use single word keywords, "adoption" is on the exemption list so you should use it. But check you don't get people looking for cat/pet/dog etc and add those words as negative keywords.

P-Max should be available. It's rolled out to all grant accounts by now. Please check again. Share a screenshot of where you're not seeing it.

When you do manage to create a P-Max campaign, you'll find a potentially valuable way to target your ideal audience: a built-in in-market audience called "adoption services". Use it!


You don't need to worry about that. Spend is automatically capped in an Ad Grant.

Just set each campaign's budget to $329.

Go to Billing > Summary and you should see the words "we don't bill you". That's how you know you won't get billed.
Google hasn't shared the reason. Maybe they don't want to.

CTR across my 21 grant accounts is an average 6%. It used to be 16%.

Regardless, I've stopped worrying about this. I very much doubt there will be suspensions, certainly haven't heard of any recently. This might be the new normal for many accounts.
People cards was shut down last year, so you can no longer do this. 
Recommended answer
@Kamal Allazov Ad Grant accounts do not enable users to change bids or increase the budget.
Here's a community guide that I wrote about how to fix low impressions in an Ad Grant account: https://support.google.com/grants/community-guide/242857282.
 
Some questions to help diagnose the problem:
 
1. How long ago were ads created?
 
2. What bidding strategy does the campaign use? This is key.
 
3. Has conversion tracking has already been set up and if so, what actions are you tracking as goals?
  
4. Please give some examples of keywords you expect to get traffic.
 
5. Are ads approved, disapproved or approved(limited)?
 
6. What does the nonprofit do?
 
7. Where is the campaign geo-targeted?
 
8. What's the website address?
 
Go to create a new campaign. Do you see an option for Performance Max? If not, it should appear within the next few weeks, January at the latest. This is brand new in Ad Grants. It's a type of campaign that's keyword-less and instead about the audiences you want to target. I highly recommend you try it, my early results are promising and it seems to spend much more easily than a standard search campaign.
Keyword volume estimates are not accurate for grant accounts.

Max conversions is correct.

5-15 keywords would be a reasonable number per ad group.

Do you need four campaigns? Could they be combined?

Here's a community guide that I wrote about how to fix low impressions in an Ad Grant account: https://support.google.com/grants/community-guide/242857282.
 
Some questions to help diagnose the problem:
 
1. How long ago were ads created?
 
3. What actions are you tracking as conversion goals?
  
4. Please give some examples of keywords you expect to get traffic.
 
5. Are ads approved, disapproved or approved(limited)?
 
6. What does the nonprofit do?
 
7. What's the website address?
 
Go to create a new campaign. Do you see an option for Performance Max? If not, it should appear within the next few weeks, January at the latest. This is brand new in Ad Grants. It's a type of campaign that's keyword-less and instead about the audiences you want to target. I highly recommend you try it, my early results are promising and it seems to spend much more easily than a standard search campaign.
Forgot to mention. If it's useful to get local visits, add a location asset and P-Max can put ads on Google Maps as well as in search results.
Here's a community guide that I wrote about how to fix low impressions in an Ad Grant account: https://support.google.com/grants/community-guide/242857282.
 
Check you're viewing the correct date range!
 
Some questions to help diagnose the problem:
 
1. How long ago were ads created?
 
2. What bidding strategy does the campaign use? 
 
3. Has conversion tracking has already been set up and if so, what actions are you tracking as goals?
  
4. Please give some examples of keywords you expect to get traffic.
 
5. Are ads approved, disapproved or approved(limited)?
 
6. What does the nonprofit do?
 
7. Where is the campaign geo-targeted?
 
8. What's the website address?
 
Go to create a new campaign. Do you see an option for Performance Max? If not, it should appear within the next few weeks, January at the latest. This is brand new in Ad Grants. It's a type of campaign that's keyword-less and instead about the audiences you want to target. I highly recommend you try it, my early results are promising and it seems to spend much more easily than a standard search campaign.
I'd expect some impressions by now.

What audience signals have you given the asset group in P-Max?

Each campaign should be set to $329. Not the total amount.

Most of the suggestions I'd make, are in the guide I shared.

Geographical area is not so big.

Would it be useful for ads to appear on Google Maps? If so, add a location extension.
@Steve G1122334455
Page views that don't represent an action taken, are weak conversions. Google Analytics enables you to track YouTube videos watched.

You could use Google Tag Manager. Personally I don't, because the built-in events tracking in Google Ads has mostly made GTM redundant for conversion tracking.
This is an unusual one.

If you host wikis, you're not fully responsible for writing the site content. I see categories for TV/entertainment/games/tech etc. Not related to nonprofit activities. If you have a grant you could use it to promote... potentially anything at all.

That could be problematic not just for getting an Ad Grant which is supposed to be used only to further your mission, but also for Google Ads policies since you wouldn't be able to prevent ad disapproval due to specific types of content on the site.

The site prominently mentions being nonprofit, but put a fuller, clearer statement in the footer to say which country and what registration number. 
Yes, use the link to the form I shared.
Ad Grants can be slow to get momentum so be prepared to be patient. Three days is nothing.

Provided meaningful conversion tracking is in place, Max conversions is the correct bidding strategy.

Campaign budget should be $329 per day.

Here's a community guide that I wrote about how to fix low impressions in an Ad Grant account: https://support.google.com/grants/community-guide/242857282.
 
Try Performance Max. This is brand new in Ad Grants. It's a type of campaign that's keyword-less and instead about defining the audience you want to target. I highly recommend you try it, it can sometimes spend more easily than a standard search campaign.

What does this nonprofit do and where do you geo-target?
I can no longer find it, but there used to be a rule about not using competitor keywords in an Ad Grant account. Regardless, consider whether it's a wise move. You are likely to get spotted doing it and this can spark arguments. I've seen nonprofits shamed on social media for bidding on other nonprofits' brand names.

Technically you're allowed to do it in a paid account. You can use anyone's brand as a keyword. If they are not trademarked you can even use it in ad text, but I would advise against doing that.
1 upvote
Recommended answer
Ad Grants3/12/2025
What about it? Could you please ask a proper question?
Google Business Profile3/12/2025
I moved your question to the Google Business Profile forum so they can advise you.
The policy you quoted probably wouldn't apply. But there is a separate policy that might prevent you advertising.

Read the Google Ads policy about advertising addiction services, checking what's allowed in your country. Note that you need to purchase LegitScript certification in order to run addiction ads, and it's not cheap.

Ad Grants are occasionally given to nonprofits that cannot actually use them, so check the rules first.
Ad Grants3/12/2025
Read the policy about advertising addiction services, checking what's allowed in your country. Note that you need to purchase LegitScript certification in order to run addiction ads.

Ad Grants are occasionally given to nonprofits that cannot actually use them, so check the rules first.
To add to what Rob said. Be aware that Ad Grants are occasionally given to nonprofits that cannot actually use them. So do carefully read the policy he shared with you. There are no exemptions for nonprofits.
The rule only affects hospitals and clinics that are in practice more like statutory services. You are probably eligible. Apply and find out.
Login to your Google for Nonprofits dashboard at https://www.google.com/nonprofits/. You should see your Ad Grants Customer ID number.
 
Now login to Google Ads. Do you see the same Customer ID? If so, choose Billing from the menu at the top. Then Summary. Does it say "This account is not billed"? If so, it's your Ad Grant account, continue to use it. Set the daily total budget for your campaigns to $329. See https://support.google.com/grants/answer/9841727.
 
Or was it a different ID? That's some other account, one you previously had access to, or have just created by accident. Do not use it. Do not enter credit card details. If you have created any campaigns pause them immediately or you'll get billed. That is likely to be what happened in your case.
 
Can't find your Ad Grant account? Try clicking on the profile icon in the top right: is there an option to switch to another account? Check you're logging in using the correct email address, the one you signed up for the Ad Grant with.
 
Can't get in at all? Try this form to regain access: https://support.google.com/grants/contact/grants_account_access_no_info.

If you do not want or need a paid account, cancel it.
You have misunderstood how it works. There is no misalignment.

It's not been called AdWords since many years ago. It's now called Google Ads.

A nonprofit is allowed to have one Google Ad Grant account, and one regular paid Google Ads account. They will have different customer id numbers.

The Ad Grant account is not billed and you do not add a payment method. You can only use it to put ads in Google search results and Google Maps.

Whereas a paid account need a credit card to be added and is billed. You can run any type of ad.

Some nonprofits only want a grant account, some also want to run ads in a paid account.
But are you saying that there is no way to start Google Ad Grant if there is still this account? 
No, I didn't say that. You just need to login to the grant account instead of this.

Ideally use the same email login for both accounts so you can simply switch between them.

And I need to remove it?
Not if you actually do plan to run paid ads. But if you don't, cancel it. When I say there's no such thing as a test account, what I mean is that if you run ads in it you'll get billed in real life.
There's no such thing as a test account. If you don't need it, cancel it.

Login to your Google for Nonprofits dashboard at https://www.google.com/nonprofits/. You should see your Ad Grants Customer ID number.
 
Now login to Google Ads. Do you see the same Customer ID? If so, choose Billing from the menu at the top. Then Summary. Does it say "This account is not billed"? If so, it's your Ad Grant account, continue to use it. Set the daily total budget for your campaigns to $329. See https://support.google.com/grants/answer/9841727.
 
Or was it a different ID? That's some other account, one you previously had access to, or have just created by accident. Do not use it. Do not enter credit card details. If you have created any campaigns pause them immediately or you'll get billed.
 
Can't find your Ad Grant account? Try clicking on the profile icon in the top right: is there an option to switch to another account? Check you're logging in using the correct email address, the one you signed up for the Ad Grant with.
 
Can't get in at all? Try this form to regain access: https://support.google.com/grants/contact/grants_account_access_no_info.

Can you please share a link to the video?

And the website address?

Let's take a look.
No. Only Search or P Max campaigns.
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This is a one page website? Those typically get rejected.
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Support wouldn't know. They're just bluffing.

Promo codes don't even work in Ad Grant accounts.

This is a known issue affecting a small minority of grant accounts since a couple of weeks ago. It happened on one of my accounts and I was able to confirm with the Ad Grants team that it's a glitch.

Nothing you can do about it. Google should resolve it in time.

Do double check that in Billing > Settings it says "we don't bill you".
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Pages don't get blocked. I think you're saying that your Google Ads account has been suspended due to the Circumventing systems policy.

Circumventing systems is a major problem, means that Google thinks you're trying to trick it in some way.
 
Most common reason is creating more than one Google Ads account. Have you done that? 
 
But it could also happen if Google thinks you're using deceptive techniques on your website. See https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/6020954. Have you done anything similar to what's described there?
 
Do not appeal the decision until you know what caused the suspension, can explain it to Google, and tell them how you fixed it. Typically you get a single chance at appeal.

You may be required to do advertiser verification.
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Here's a community guide that I wrote about how to fix low impressions in an Ad Grant account: https://support.google.com/grants/community-guide/242857282.
 
Check you're viewing the correct date range!
 
Some questions to help diagnose the problem:
 
1. How long ago were ads created?
 
2. What bidding strategy does the campaign use? 
 
3. Has conversion tracking has already been set up and if so, what actions are you tracking as goals?
  
4. Please give some examples of keywords you expect to get traffic.
 
5. Are ads approved, disapproved or approved(limited)?
 
6. What does the nonprofit do?
 
7. Where is the campaign geo-targeted?
 
8. What's the website address?
 
Go to create a new campaign. Do you see an option for Performance Max? If not, it should appear within the next few weeks, January at the latest. This is brand new in Ad Grants. It's a type of campaign that's keyword-less and instead about the audiences you want to target. I highly recommend you try it, my early results are promising and it seems to spend much more easily than a standard search campaign.
Google Business Profile3/6/2025
Moving your question to the Google Business Profile forum so they can advise you.
Could you please share a screenshot of a graph of the last 180 days showing these four metrics:
-Cost
-CTR
-CPC
-Conversion rate

That might give us some clues.

Which bidding strategy do your campaigns use? This is key to continued success.

And what is the website address? Let's take a look. 

Before the drop in Impressions, was anything major changed on the account?

"Ads optimization score is 100%."
Opti-score is fairly meaningless.

"Keyword score is not that relevant in my case as it is the Google Ads Grant account"
Keyword quality score is actually very important, perhaps more so in grants accounts. Could you please check the keywords report and see whether you're mostly getting high or low quality scores?
Please disregard what @Ankit Bhandari told you. This is an Ad Grant account, free ads for nonprofits. You cannot raise bids. Impression share will always be <10%. No point duplicating the campaign. Payment profile is irrelevant for Ad Grants.
"Also I thought that daily spending can fluctuate slightly but the total monthly spend should not exceed the daily budget multiplied by the number of days in the month."

Only in a paid Google Ads account, would that be correct.
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Only a week ago? Nothing to worry about. This is an Ad Grant so don't expect results as fast as a paid account. But within a couple of weeks I'd expect clicks, first conversions within a few weeks.

You might not have any clicks, but any impressions yet?

What audience signals have you given the P-Max campaign?

Did you choose url expansion in P-Max? Worth trying.

You absolutely ought to be able to get traffic for this website with that geographical reach. I've seen a similar nonprofit max out their daily budget almost every day.

What do you mean by your page being blocked? What is the url?

This is the Google Ads forum, is your question about ads? If so, which named policy is given as the reason for the account suspension?
Since a couple of weeks ago some Ad Grant accounts have been over-spending. It's happened to two accounts that I manage. I asked the Ad Grants team about it and they confirmed it was a glitch, so it's a known issue and I would expect it to be resolved soon.

Meanwhile, enjoy a bit of extra spend. You won't get billed. And you're not breaking any rules.

Just to correct something that @Alex Sparks said: it's not true that $329 is an average daily spend: it's actually the maximum daily cap. But I think you already knew that!
2 upvotes
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Moving your question to the Google Business Profile forum so they can advise you.
Google Search3/5/2025
No-one will call you. This is a user forum.

Do you mean that Google has indexed an old page on your website and still has it listed in search results, despite the page being removed or updated?

What's the url?
I don't disagree. I wish it would reopen and admit a few more agencies. There's enough demand, and I know some that ought to be listed.

The way it worked is there were at least three rounds of applications over several years, with different criteria each time. But none added in the last few years. There appears to be no plan to reopen it any time soon... but who knows?
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That program has not opened to new applications in several years, and I've heard no news since.

There are agencies specializing in Ad Grants that thrive despite not being listed.
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