How to Fix Google Ad Services

Seeing an error or a sudden performance drop in your Google Ads account can be incredibly stressful, especially when it directly impacts your leads and sales. This guide will walk you through the most common Google Ad services issues - from broken conversion tracking to mysterious billing problems - and provide a clear, step-by-step process to diagnose and fix them.

What Exactly Are Google Ad Services?

First, let’s clear up a common point of confusion. "Google Ad Services" isn't a single product. It’s an umbrella term that refers to the entire ecosystem of tools and processes needed to run ad campaigns on Google. This includes:

The Google Ads platform itself: Where you build and manage campaigns.
Conversion tracking scripts: The code (like the Google Tag or Google Tag Manager snippets) that connects your website to your ads account.
Backend billing and payment systems: The part of your account that handles charging your payment method.
Ad review and policy enforcement: The automated and manual systems that check your ads for compliance.

When something "breaks," it can be happening in any one of these areas. The key is to know where to look first.

Common Problems and Where to Look First

Before diving into specific fixes, you need to identify the symptom. Most issues fall into one of four categories. Pinpointing the right category will save you from going down a rabbit hole of irrelevant settings.

Conversion Tracking Issues: Your ads are running, but you're not seeing conversions get recorded, or the data seems inaccurate. This is often a technical issue on your website. Where to look: Tools & Settings > Measurement > Conversions in Google Ads, Google Tag Assistant, and your Google Analytics 4 goals.
Billing & Account Problems: Your ads have stopped running entirely, and you see a red banner at the top of your Google Ads account. This almost always points to a payment failure or an account-level suspension. Where to look: Tools & Settings > Billing > Summary and your email for any account notifications.
Ad or Keyword Disapprovals: Specific ads, assets, or keywords are marked as "Disapproved" or "Limited." This is a policy issue. Where to look: The "Status" column for your ads and the Tools & Settings > Policy Manager.
Performance Dips: Your ads are running, tracking works, and there are no policy issues, but your clicks, impressions, or conversions have suddenly dropped off a cliff. This is a performance optimization issue. Where to look: Auction insights, search term reports, and campaign history.

Step-by-Step Guide to Fixing Your Google Ads

Once you’ve identified the general area of the problem, you can start troubleshooting. Let’s tackle each category one by one.

1. How to Fix Conversion Tracking Issues

Inaccurate conversion tracking makes it impossible to know if your ads are actually working. Here’s how to fix it.

Check Your Tag Installation

The first step is to confirm that Google's tracking code is even installed correctly on your website. The easiest way to do this is with the free Google Tag Assistant Companion Chrome extension.

Install the extension and navigate to your website.
Click the extension icon and enable it for your domain.
Now, navigate to the page where a conversion happens (e.g., the "thank you" page after a form submission).
Check the Tag Assistant. It should show that your Google Tag or specific conversion event tags are firing successfully. If you see errors or no tags at all, the code is either missing or incorrectly installed on that page. You'll need to work with your web developer to add the right tracking snippet to the website's code.

Verify Your Conversion Action Settings

Sometimes the tag is fine, but the way you've set up the conversion action in Google Ads is wrong. Go to Tools & Settings > Conversions.

Check the Status: Look at the "Tracking status" column. If it says "Inactive" or "No recent conversions," it means Google hasn't recorded any conversions for that action recently. If you know conversions have happened, this points to a technical problem. If it says "Recording conversions," it's working technically.
Review the Source: Ensure the conversion source matches your setup (e.g., "Website" for online actions, "Google Analytics 4" if you're importing goals). Using the wrong source is a common mistake.
Match the Goal: If you're using GA4 to track events, make sure the event you marked as a "conversion" in GA4 is exactly the same one you're importing into Google Ads. The names must match perfectly.

Address Consent Mode and Enhanced Conversions

With increasing data privacy regulations, you need to be using Consent Mode. This adjusts how your Google tags behave based on the consent choices of your users (like those cookie banners you see everywhere). Work with your developer to ensure your cookie banner is properly integrated with Google’s Consent Mode v2. Without it, you could be losing valuable conversion data from half of your users.

Similarly, enable Enhanced Conversions. This feature securely uses hashed customer data (like email addresses from form fills) to more accurately connect conversions back to ad clicks, especially when cookies aren't available. You can enable it under Tools & Settings > Conversions > Settings.

2. How to Resolve Billing and Account Issues

A billing problem can shut down all your campaigns instantly. These fixes are usually straightforward.

Fixing a Failed Payment

If your primary payment method is declined, Google will stop running your ads. To fix this:

Go to Tools & Settings > Billing > Payment methods.
You can either fix the issue with your primary card (e.g., update the expiration date, ensure there are sufficient funds) or add a new credit card or bank account.
It's highly recommended to add a backup payment method. If your primary card ever fails, Google will automatically try the backup, preventing any ad downtime.

Dealing with an Account Suspension

An account suspension is serious, and it’s usually for violating a major policy like "Circumventing systems" or "Unacceptable business practices."

Read the Notification: First, carefully read the email or the red banner in your account. Google will tell you exactly which policy was violated. Don't guess.
Review Your Entire Site and Funnel: Go through your entire website, landing pages, and business model. Are you making unrealistic claims? Is your pricing unclear? Do you have a privacy policy and contact information easily accessible? The problem is often on your website, not just your ads.
File a Detailed Appeal: Once you've identified and fixed the issue, file an appeal through the link provided. Be specific in your appeal. Detail the exact problem you found and the precise steps you took to correct it. A generic "I fixed the issue" appeal will almost always be denied.

3. How to Handle Ad Disapprovals

Ad disapprovals usually happen for more minor infractions than an account suspension. They are easier to fix but can still be frustrating.

Understand the Policy

When an ad is disapproved, hover over the "Disapproved" status in the status column. Google will give you the policy name. Click the link to read the full policy documentation. Don't skim it. Common ones include "Misleading content," "Trademark in ad text," or issues with ad copy like excessive capitalization or gimmickry.

Edit and Resubmit

Most of the time, the fix is simple. Just edit the ad text, headline, or imagery to comply with the policy and then resave it. This automatically submits the new version for review.

What to Do If You Disagree

If you genuinely believe the automated system made a mistake and your ad does comply with the policy, you can submit an appeal. Look for a link to appeal the decision within the ad's status or in the Policy Manager. Explain clearly and concisely why you believe your ad meets the guidelines.

4. How to Fix Sudden Performance Dips

If everything is technically sound but your performance has fallen, it's time to play detective.

Analyze the Search Terms Report

Go to the Keywords > Search terms report for your campaign. This shows you the actual Google searches that triggered your ads. Are you starting to pay for irrelevant traffic? If so, add those unrelated terms as negative keywords to stop wasting your budget.

Check Auction Insights

The "Auction insights" report shows you which competitors are showing up for the same keywords as you. You can find this for campaigns, ad groups, or specific keywords. Has a new competitor entered the auction and started bidding aggressively? Are your existing competitors suddenly getting a much higher impression share? Sometimes, a performance dip isn't your fault but a result of increased competition raising costs or pushing you down the page.

Review Your Change History

The "Change history" tool is your best friend. It shows every single change made to the account. Did performance tank right after you changed your bidding strategy or updated your ad copy? Change history helps you correlate actions with performance drops so you can revert any problematic changes.

Final Thoughts

Troubleshooting Google Ads always follows a similar process: start by diagnosing where the problem is - technical tracking, billing, policy, or performance. From there, you can follow a methodical checklist to identify and resolve the issue, getting your campaigns back on track.

Of course, spotting these issues requires constantly analyzing your data from Google Ads and Google Analytics. When you combine that with data from your e-commerce platform or CRM, you get the full story. As we built Graphed, we focused on making this easy. By connecting your Google Ads, GA4, Shopify, and Salesforce accounts, you can see in real-time which campaigns are actually driving revenue and where your ROAS sits, all without Frankensteining together spreadsheets every week.