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The short answer
An ad group can hold several ads and still test nothing, when Google shows one of them and the others get no impressions. Oppy lists the groups with two or more enabled ads, enough impressions recently, and exactly one ad serving.
Why it matters
The usual version of this check is ad fatigue: find ads whose click-through rate is falling and call them tired. On most accounts that is noise, because click-through moves with the queries, the competition and the season.
The question that can be answered is about the setup. When one ad takes every impression, the others are not losing a test, they are not in one. The account believes it is testing and learns nothing.
How Oppy decides
The check reads enabled ads in enabled groups of live campaigns over recent weeks.
Checks that weigh money or clicks judge what they find on your own account's numbers, not on one figure applied to every account, so what counts as a problem on a small account is not the same on a large one. Checks on settings read how the account is set up.
When there is too little to go on, the check says so instead of guessing. A finding always comes with the rows behind it, so you can read the evidence before you decide.
| This check | |
|---|---|
| Step of the audit | Ads |
| What it reads | Ads and their ratings |
| Needs trustworthy conversions | No. It does not wait for the tracking step. |
| What happens next | Reported in the audit with the rows behind it. The decision stays with you. |
Check it yourself in Google Ads
- In Google Ads, open Campaigns, then Ads, for the last 30 days.
- Filter to enabled ads in enabled campaigns and add the Ad group and Impressions columns.
- For each group with two or more ads, check whether more than one had impressions.
- Note the groups where one ad took everything and the group had plenty of impressions.
What to do about it
Look at why the other ads are not shown. Often they are much weaker, rated Poor, or very similar to the winner. Rewrite them with a clearly different message.
If the account uses ad rotation settings, check whether it is set to optimise. That is fine, but then Google picks the winner, and the others need to be good enough to get a chance.
Terms on this page
Other checks in this area
The checks next to this one in Ads and creative, each with its own page.