On this page
The short answer
Some ad groups run the same ads for years. Oppy lists those whose every live ad was already showing a year ago. Their click rate also fell by a fifth or more against the same months last year.
Why it matters
An ad that has run for a year may have worn out with the people who see it often. A click rate falling on unchanged ads is the sign to test something new.
Comparing the same months a year apart keeps a quiet season from passing for a tired ad.
How Oppy decides
Google Ads gives no ad a creation date, so Oppy dates each ad by its first month with impressions. It reads the last 15 full months of Search ads.
An ad group is listed when all its live ads were already showing a year ago. Its click rate over the last three months must be a fifth or more below the same months last year.
The fall must also be too large to be chance, on 1,000 impressions or more in each period.
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, and filter to enabled ads in enabled campaigns.
- Segment by Time, then Month, over the last 15 months.
- In each ad group, check whether every enabled ad already had impressions a year ago.
- Compare the click rate of the last three months with the same three months a year earlier.
What to do about it
Write a new ad with another angle and run it beside the old ones. Keep the old ads live, so the test shows whether the message has worn out.
Read the result after a few weeks, then pause the ad that loses.
Other checks in this area
The checks next to this one in Ads and creative, each with its own page.