Question: Adwords ads are paused but why am I still being charged for clicks?
This was a question I myself have asked when I was new to my practice in pay-per-click management, specifically Adwords. I encountered this when a client requested to have a new campaign created that targeted the same keywords but wanted new ad copies and landing pages.
For four days my team was able to create a total of 12 landing pages and 12 ad copies. After adding in the keywords for the five adgroups I created, and having the ads approved by Adwords, I added ad extensions to enhance the ads. (Read a previous post to learn about Google Text Ads.
I then proceeded to pause the ads of the previous campaign (not the campaign itself) before running the new campaign. It was a Friday and I was confident there would be no ad spending over the weekend – and so I thought.
Come Monday, I checked on the new campaign only to find that there was some ad spending and there were clicks. I checked the ads, because I was sure I paused them. Yup, there was not any click on the ads. Now, why would Google charge me and report that there was a click when my ads were paused?
If you search for answers in Google to something that relates to this issue, what you would find are questions and answers in Google Adwords Forums and the Adwords Community. But do they really serve as definite answers to the question?
Top answers to “ads are paused but still being charged”
1) Concern/question: “Ok this is driving me crazy…. I’ve paused several adgroups……3 days later they are still getting traffic on the content network. Do you have to pause the keywords individualy as well? I guess paused doesn’t really mean paused.”
Answer/resolution: Technical issue on Google Adwords’ part
This is what I learned from this experience and I hope this would answer the question above.
2) Concern/question: “I really don’t know why my campaign still gets clicks after being paused. And cost still increases, too. I paused it and set up budget to $0 but it didn’t work. HELP MEEEEEEE! Thank u so much!!!
Answer/resolution: Non real-time reporting in Google Adwords
The problem with this is it doesn’t cover situations when the Adwords advertiser is still being charged after more than three hours have passed.
Let me add my experience as an answer or explanation.
3) Question: Adwords ads are paused but why am I still being charged for clicks?
In my own learning experience, after diagnosing and checking the ads and keywords and not finding any charges there, I finally turned to the different ad extensions. There, I found the culprit!
Answer/resolution: Pause or remove adextensions as well
Lesson: Pausing the ads nor the adgroups does not guarantee that ad extensions will not be triggered.
Now as to the rationality of this billing on the part of Google Adwords, that’s another question. The bright side is this doesn’t only happen with adwords.
It also happens in Facebook and Instagram.
I would suggest that if you encounter any similar situations as above that you contact Adwords Support right away. Just click on the gear on the top right portion of your Google Adwords account and then click “Help” and you can contact them via telephone, live chat or email.
Google Adwords Contact Information
Worldwide Phone Support number: 866-246-6453
Monday – Friday: 9 am – 8 pm EST
