Did it work

Which changes are judged?

Changes that steer spend, by anyone: a campaign's budget, target CPA or ROAS, bid strategy or status; negatives added in Adintel, or to a campaign or ad group in Google Ads; a triage decision to exclude; ad groups, keywords, ads and asset groups paused or enabled. Changes to one campaign within three days of its first change are judged as one, from where the campaign started to where it ended up.

How is a change judged?

The 7, 14 and 30 days after its last change, against the same number of days before its first, with the change days left out. Only days old enough for their conversions to have come in count. Beside a change, a window still open says the day it will be judged; the Overview counts those as Too early. A budget, target or strategy change is never judged at 7 days. Google says a new budget or target never puts its bidding back into learning, but advises judging the change over two weeks, or two conversion cycles where those are longer; a new bid strategy does start learning, for up to its first 7 days. Until one of its windows is judged, such a change says why beside the day it will be judged. Each is first judged on its 14-day window, once that window's conversions have come in, even where two conversion cycles run longer, and whatever you set as the days a new target needs to settle. A window in which the campaign changed again gets no verdict, since it would be judging two settings at once.

What is it compared with?

The account's campaigns of the same type that spent in both windows and did not change. Every figure is read against how they moved, so a shift in demand across the account is not taken for the change's effect. When no campaign stayed unchanged and campaigns of the same type changed within three days of each other, they are judged together; otherwise the change is judged against itself, and the verdict says so. A campaign paused is read on the whole account, since its spend goes elsewhere; a campaign enabled is read against the rest of the account.

What do the verdicts mean?

Results are conversion value where the campaign records it, otherwise conversions, otherwise clicks; efficiency is ROAS, cost per conversion or cost per click. A move counts when it is 10% or more against the comparison.

• Spending more (a budget raised, a target loosened): Worked when results rose and efficiency met the target in force or, with no target, fell by less than 10%; Mixed when results rose but efficiency missed that; Did not work when results did not rise.
• A campaign enabled: worked when its efficiency is no more than 10% worse than the rest of the account's; mixed when it is worse; did not work when it brought no results.
• A target tightened: worked when efficiency reached the new target; mixed when it improved but missed it; did not work when it did not improve.
• Spending less (a budget cut, a pause): worked when efficiency improved or results fell by less than 10%; did not work when efficiency fell; otherwise mixed.
• A strategy switch: worked when results or efficiency rose and neither fell; did not work when both fell; otherwise mixed.

When is there not enough to say?

With fewer than 10 conversions on either side (10 clicks, for a verdict on clicks), a window reads Too thin to say. A small campaign gets honest silence rather than a guess.

How are negatives judged?

On the searches they stop, where they apply, provided those searches drew at least 10 clicks in the days before; below that, Too thin to say. Worked when 90% or more of those searches' spend stopped, mixed from 50%, did not work below that. A search still spending is named at any volume, with the reason: it ran outside where the negative applies, such as in another campaign or ad group, it is a variant the negative's match type does not block, or it is still served where the negative applies.

Why is a change not judged?

The Timeline says why beside each such change. An automated rule's or a script's routine edits, such as bids, are not judged one by one; a change made from Adintel and undone within the hour is not judged; keyword additions, bids and search themes are not judged yet; dismissing one of Google's recommendations changes nothing that serves.

What can I do about one that did not work?

Beside a budget, target, strategy or status change that did not work: Undo for a change Adintel made, put back for a budget or target Google's auto-apply changed, or, for a change a person made in Google Ads, a link to the campaign's controls on the Overview, where you type the new amount yourself. Changes judged together get a link to the Overview. Verdicts are worked out again each morning for 30 days after their window closes, as late conversions arrive.