Use explanations to diagnose changes in your ad performance

Campaign performance changes over time. To be able to adjust its settings correctly, you need to know why these changes are occurring. So far, the analysis of these causes has been really time consuming. But that’s over – now you can get explanations for changes in your campaigns and ads with just one click. The explanations are a new update for Google Ads. We are speaking of detailed statistics for the changes in your Google Ads account. They give you a comprehensive picture of your campaign’s performance and its better and weaker moments. Based on the historical data, they’ll show you where and why your campaign might be experiencing poor performance. The following factors are considered:

• bid changes,
• bid modifier changes,
• budget changes,
• budget allocation,
• budget exhaustion rate,
• eligibility,
• change history,
• targeting changes,
• auction competitions and search interest.

Save time and get the most precise data

The biggest advantage of the explanations is undoubtedly the saving of time. Instead of looking for problems, you can find them with just one click. Therefore, you can fully devote to deleting these issues and optimizing your campaigns. Plus, you no longer have to click through between different periods, because you can find everything you need in one place. (See below for instructions on how to access the explanations.) The statistics that Google provides to you are based on historical data processed by machine learning. They are precise and can help you get a comprehensive picture of how your campaigns are performing. A slight disadvantage is that they will be triggered only when they have enough data and changes to analyze.

How to access the explanations?

In your Google Ads account, click the Search Campaigns link in the left menu. Select Campaigns or Ad groups, depending on what you want to observe. In the top right corner, click the down arrow next to the date range. In the range, select the dates you want to compare. In the “Compare” section, select the previous period, which must be the same length. Click Apply to confirm your selection. Once you’ve set the desired period, you’ll see numeric data and percentage changes in the metrics columns. If it is a significant change (i.e. one that can be explained), it will be marked in blue. When you click this highlighted change, you will see an explanation panel on the right side of the screen that lists the causes of this significant change. Click Next for more details about changing performance.

Currently available only in beta

So far, explanations are only available in the beta version for search ad campaigns using manual bidding or enhanced CPC. They only work with historical data during the last 90 days and only in case of major changes. This means that even though you can see the changes in larger timeframes, the explanations won’t be shown. However, Google has not ruled out this to be the final stage of this feature, so it may change as it progresses.