Your keyword status lets you know whether your keywords are active or not. If your keyword isn’t resulting in any of your ads being shown, then we’ll tell you what the problem is.
This article explains the different keyword status types and what they mean.
Types of keyword statuses
Below are the different status types:
| Status type | Examples: |
| Statuses that you control | Campaign paused; Removed |
| Statuses related to where your keyword is in our approval process | Eligible |
| Statuses that are impacted on by other factors | Low search volume; Below first page bid estimate |
What they mean
Your keyword status tells you whether your keyword is causing ads to show to your target customers. In general, your keyword will be in one of three general states:
- Showing ads
- Not showing ads because you paused or removed a keyword, ad group or campaign
- Not showing ads because there is a problem with your account or keyword
Here are the different types of keyword statuses and what they mean:
| Keyword status |
What it means |
Next step |
| Campaign paused | Keywords are inactive because you paused your campaign. If your campaign is paused, then keywords in that campaign will also stop showing ads. | Find out how to resume your campaign. |
| Campaign pending | Keywords are inactive because your campaign is scheduled to begin on a future date and isn't yet showing ads. | Find out how to change your campaign’s start date. |
| Campaign removed | Keywords are inactive because you removed the campaign that contains these keywords. | Find out how to re-enable your campaign. |
| Campaign ended | Keywords are inactive because your campaign is past its scheduled end date and has become inactive. | Find out how to change your campaign’s end date. |
| Ad group paused | Keywords are inactive because you paused your ad group. If you pause your ad group, then the keywords in that ad group will stop showing ads. | Find out how to resume your ad group. |
| Ad group removed | Keywords are inactive because you removed your ad group. If you remove your ad group, then the keywords in that ad group will stop showing ads. | Find out how to re-enable your ad group. |
| Paused | Keyword is inactive because you paused it. Pausing a keyword means that it won't show ads or accumulate new costs until restarted. | Find out how to enable your keyword. |
| Removed | Keyword is inactive because you removed it. Removing a keyword means that it won't show ads. | Find out how to add keywords. |
| Approved | Keyword has been reviewed and is eligible to show its ads. | No action needed. |
| Eligible | Keyword is active and can show ads. In some cases, your keyword might be marked as Eligible even though it isn't currently showing your ad. That's because your ad's appearance for an eligible keyword can be affected by your bid, Quality Score or other factors. | No action needed. |
| Under review | Keyword is not triggering ads and will not show its ads until it's been approved. | Wait for one working day to check the status of your keyword. |
| Below first page bid estimate (Google Ads only) | Keyword is active and can show ads. However, your keyword isn't currently showing ads on the first page of Google search results. | Find out about getting your ad to show on the first page of Google search results. |
| Disapproved | Keyword is inactive and isn't showing ads. A disapproved keyword usually means there's an issue with one or more advertising policies, such as a destination or final URL policy. |
Review the relevant platform's advertising policies to see if the keyword violates a policy. In Google Ads accounts, you can hover over the status bubble for more details.Learn about advertising policies for Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising. |
| Low search volume | Keyword isn't eligible to show because it's associated with very little search traffic. This means that your keyword might not be relevant to people's searches, or maybe it's too specific or unusual. | If the number of searches for these keywords increases, your keywords may be reactivated and could start triggering your ads to show again. |
| Rarely shown due to low quality score (Google Ads only) | Keyword isn't eligible to show ads due to a low Quality Score. | You should consider removing this keyword and adding a more relevant keyword to your account. Other factors, such as your landing page, could also affect your Quality Score. Learn more about Quality Score. |
| Few page matches (Google Ads only) | The keyword is temporarily suspended because it matches very few pages, indicating that the phrase isn't common in Google Display Network content. | Consider adding a more relevant keyword to your account. |
| Not posted to external account | The keyword’s ad (or new ad version) hasn't been posted to the external account yet. | Refresh the page. If this status still appears after a few minutes, view and fix post errors. |
Try optimising your account by improving your ads and keywords.