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Affiliates sometimes encounter a frustrating problem when working with Google Ads. Campaigns that were running smoothly with enough traffic one day can suddenly see a sharp decline in impressions the next (sometimes dropping to almost zero).

While some causes are reasonable and can be fixed quickly (like hitting budget limits or temporary technical issues), others can be confusing and need careful steps to resolve.

The expert team at YeezyPay, a service that offers reliable Google Ads agency accounts, notes that there are a bunch of “lesser-known” reasons why ad impressions can suddenly drop. And all of these reasons can be tackled with the right strategies.
So in this article, we will explain the “lesser-known” reasons that lead to drops in ad impressions on Google Ads, show you how to identify them, and outline steps that affiliates can take to get their campaigns back on track.

Account checks

The most common reason for a sudden drop in impressions is that Google is conducting a manual review of your account. During this period, a Google employee analyzes and checks your account details, and it’s normal for impressions to drop or get paused completely.

Reviews like this are often triggered by new rejected ads or ad campaigns in your account.



Also, Google periodically re-checks active ads to ensure they comply with its policies. Some ads may fail these re-checks due to issues like policy violations or discrepancies. When this happens, Google doesn’t just check the specific ad or campaign; it analyzes the entire ad account. As a result, all ads on the account may be paused, leading to a drop in impressions. A similar issue can occur when you launch new ads that remain in moderation for a long period. Prolonged moderation often indicates that Google is not only reviewing the new creative and its associated landing page but also the account and other active campaigns.

How to identify this situation? Start by checking if any of your ads are stuck in moderation. If none are, review all your current ads to see if any have been rejected. A rejected ad is likely the cause of the drop in impressions.

What to do? Delete any rejected ad creatives and pause the affected campaigns. Then, wait 1–2 days for Google to complete its review. After this period, duplicate the paused campaigns and relaunch them as new campaigns to regain impressions.

What not to do? Avoid rushing to launch multiple new campaigns in the same ad account or after creating a new ad account. Doing this triggers algorithms and increases the risk of account suspension. If your accounts frequently face bans and you lack a reliable system for creating new ones after suspensions, consider using trusted agency accounts from YeezyPay. These accounts are less likely to be banned, therefore providing a more stable advertising environment.

Low Quality Score

This issue is common in search advertising campaigns. Google’s Quality Score measures how your ad compares to competitors’ ads targeting the same keywords and audience. If competitors launch more effective ads for your target audience — perhaps with better ad copy, higher relevance, or stronger landing pages — the average Quality Score of ads for that audience rises. Consequently, your ad’s Quality Score may drop relative to this higher standard, therefore reducing your ad’s visibility in the auction and causing a decline in impressions.



This Quality Score drop also affects Performance Max (PMAX) campaigns, even though the score isn’t explicitly displayed for these campaigns. Google still calculates Quality Score internally and uses it to determine ad placement in auctions. You can detect a drop in your ad’s quality through indirect signs, such as an increase in Cost Per Click (CPC), unexpected budget overspending, or a decrease in Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).



What to do? For search campaigns, revise your ad headlines and text to make them more engaging and relevant to the audience’s search intent. Test new keywords by running ads on them to identify better-performing options. For Google Display Network (GDN), Performance Max, video ads, or App Campaigns, test new creatives while keeping the same targeting settings to increase engagement. Also, in all cases, try to review your landing page for issues like slower loading times or a malfunctioning order form, as these can lower Quality Score and reduce impressions.

What not to do? Don’t waste your time trying to increase the budget, as this won’t solve the problem. Spending more money may lead to higher costs and lower profitability without increasing impressions.

Competition in your target audience segment has increased

Even if your Quality Score remains stable, a drop in impressions can result from increased competition. When multiple competitors target the same keywords or audience segment and some offer higher bids, Google Ads prioritizes their ads, pushing yours to the background.

How to identify this situation? Monitor your Impression Share, which shows the percentage of possible impressions your ads are receiving. If this metric isn’t visible in your account statistics, enable it by going to the “Columns” section in your campaign settings and selecting the Impression Share column (sometimes listed as "Percentage of Impressions Received").



A very low Impression Share or a sharp drop compared to recent values indicates that competitors are outbidding or outperforming you. You can also look for indirect signs of increased competition, such as a drop in impressions while Click-Through Rate (CTR) and lead conversions remain steady, suggesting your product is still in demand among the target audience.

What to do? For search campaigns, consider increasing bids, but only for your most profitable keywords. High-quality ads and a trusted account can help regain impressions for these keywords. Additionally, try testing new keywords that competitors may not be targeting and run similar ads on them to capture untapped traffic. For other campaign types, like Performance Max or video ads, test new creatives or alternative targeting strategies.

What not to do? Once again, avoid increasing bids in this situation because it won’t restore impressions.

Conversion target not met.

Many experienced affiliates use Performance Max (PMAX) campaigns to maximize reach and conversions across Google platforms (Search, YouTube, etc.). These campaigns require setting a Target Cost Per Action (CPA), which is the desired cost per lead or conversion.

Once this has been set, Google will aim to deliver leads at this cost. But if the actual cost per lead is higher than the target — or if you get no conversions at all — the system may pause the ad or the entire campaign to avoid wasting your budget on the campaign since it's not effective in their eyes.



How to identify this situation? Compare your Target CPA with the actual cost per lead. If the actual cost is much higher or conversions are absent, this is likely why impressions have dropped.

What to Do? First, avoid setting an unrealistically low Target CPA. For example, if $50 per lead is acceptable, don’t set a target of $5–$10, as this may be unachievable in your niche.

Second, replace outdated or underperforming creatives, as users may have grown tired of them, leading to higher costs.

Third, if you’re using a new account, Google’s algorithms may lack enough data to optimize for your product. Start with search campaigns to collect initial conversion data, then transition to PMAX for broader reach.

Audience burnout

Audience burnout happens when most of your target audience has already purchased your product or service, leaving only uninterested users or those fatigued by your ads. This is common when targeting a very narrow audience segment or using low-frequency keywords, resulting in an exhausted audience pool.

How to Check? During campaign setup, Google displays the estimated audience size, which you can adjust by modifying targeting settings. This information is also available in campaign lists after setup.





If your audience reach is limited to a few thousand or tens of thousands of users, it’s likely to exhaust quickly. As users stop responding to your campaigns, Google’s algorithms detect this lack of engagement and reduce impressions.

What to Do? Plan campaigns to target the broadest possible audience within reasonable limits to avoid early burnout. If your current audience is exhausted, create a new campaign targeting different segments. A simple approach is to target a similar audience based on users who previously visited your landing page and performed desired actions, such as making a purchase or filling out a form.



Conclusion

Typically, a drop in impressions affects only a single ad or campaign, and standard solutions can resolve the issue — such as adjusting targeting settings, using new ad creatives, or testing different keywords. However, when all campaigns and ad creatives experience a simultaneous drop in impressions, the likely cause is a manual account review by Google. In such cases, not only individual campaigns but the entire advertising account may be at risk.

If you notice a synchronized drop in impressions across all your ads, be prepared with backup Google accounts to continue advertising. To avoid all this stress, it’s better to use trusted Google Ads agency accounts like those provided by YeezyPay. These accounts have high trust levels and are less likely to be suspended for minor issues. Therefore, they’ll provide a more reliable and stable environment for running your campaigns.