New Google Ads campaign with zero impressions: how long to wait, and what to check

Day 1: the review

Every new or edited ad is reviewed before it can show. Google says most ads are reviewed within one business day, and some take longer when the review is more complex. Editing the ad restarts the review, so changing things while you wait only delays it.

After 2 business days: check the statuses

If the ad is still under review after 2 full business days, Google advises checking its status. After a week in review, contact Google Ads support. If the review is done, go down the chain:

• Ad status: Eligible, Approved, or Disapproved? Eligible means the ad can run, not that it will.
• Campaign status: a paused campaign keeps eligible ads silent.
• Keyword status: "Low search volume" means almost nobody searches that phrase, so there is nothing to show on.
• Budget and bids: a very small budget with low manual bids can lose every auction.

What "Learning" means

A new bid strategy shows the status "Learning". It means Google is calibrating the bids, and performance can move around. Google's help says learning usually takes 1 to 2 conversion cycles, and depends on how many conversions come in. It is a reason to wait before judging results, not a reason for zero impressions.

"Conversion tracking isn't set up" when it is

A new tag often reports nothing until the first conversion arrives, and Google notes that reporting can take up to 24 to 48 hours. Test it yourself: complete your own form or purchase, then check the conversion action the next day. If it still shows no activity, the tag on the site and the one in Google Ads are not the same.

When the first data arrives

Once the campaign serves, the first thing worth reading is the search terms report: what people actually typed. Ads MCP connects your AI assistant to your Google Ads account in read only mode, so you can ask it which search terms spent money in the first days and whether any look wrong.