Change history

When results move suddenly, the first question is what changed. Change history answers it: a budget cut, a paused keyword, a new bid strategy, a recommendation Google applied.

It is also the record of who did what, which matters when several people or an agency work on one account.

1. Open Change history from the Campaigns menu, or search for it.
2. Pick a date range and filter by campaign, change type or user.
3. Filter on changes made by Google to see auto-applied recommendations.
4. Open a line to see the value before and after.

Conversions drop by a third on a Tuesday. Change history shows that on Monday someone switched a campaign from Maximize conversions to Target CPA with a strict target. The cause is found in a minute.

• Looking at results charts without checking what changed on those dates.
• Not noting why a change was made, so the history says what but never why.
• Missing changes made by Google because the filter shows only users.

The audit checks Oppy runs on this, each with its own page.

• Google is applying its own recommendations
• Who can change this account
• Keywords that used to convert and are switched off

• Auto-applied recommendations: Google's recommendations applied to the account without anyone approving each one, once the account subscribed to them.
• Experiment: A split test in Google Ads that runs a change on part of a campaign's traffic beside the original, so you can see whether the change worked rather than whether numbers moved afterwards.
• Manager account (MCC): A Google Ads account that holds other accounts, used by agencies and large advertisers to manage many accounts from one login.