Not eligible, Paused or Rarely shown? Google Ads statuses that aren’t a suspension

Campaign suspended: the ad group isn’t running because your prepaid account balance has run out. Your campaign and the ad groups within it will resume after you add funds.

Google’s own explanation of the “Campaign suspended” reason for a Not Eligible ad group, from its Google Ads help page “About ad group status”, checked on 23 October 2026.

Not eligible, Paused and Rarely shown are statuses. Each one describes a single campaign, ad group, keyword or ad, and Google’s help pages pair each with a next step you take in the account. A suspension is different: it’s a decision about the whole account. Google’s own troubleshooting help gives the quickest test: if other campaigns in your account are running, you don’t have to check on the status of your Google Ads account.

Even Google’s tables use the word “suspended” for things that aren’t account suspensions. In the ad group table, “Campaign suspended” means a prepaid balance has run out. In the keyword table, a Display Network keyword can be temporarily suspended because it matches very few pages. Neither is a policy decision about you.

In our experience, people do sometimes contact us about a suspension when their ads aren’t actually suspended. This guide covers campaign, ad group, keyword and ad statuses. For the account-level states (disapproved, limited, warned, paused and suspended), see why your Google Ads account is suspended.

Checked against Google’s help pages on 23 October 2026. Google changes them without notice, so check the linked page before relying on a detail.

At a glance

• A status, not a verdict

  Statuses describe one campaign, ad group, keyword or ad, and Google gives each a next step in the account.

• Not eligible looks upward

  It usually means the campaign or ad group above it is paused, removed, ended or pending.

• Campaign suspended can mean money

  In Google’s ad group table, it means a prepaid balance has run out.

• Rarely shown is about Quality Score

  Google’s full label is “Rarely shown due to low Quality Score”.

• A real suspension tells you

  Google sends an in-account notification and an email naming the policies, and every ad in the account stops.

On this page10 sections

Status or suspension: five checks, from the top down

These checks come from Google’s own help pages. Work from the account down to the keyword.

1. Look for a notification at the top of the account.

   Google says suspended advertisers receive an in-account notification and an email notification, and that the email will identify all policies behind the suspension. Paused accounts get an in-account notification too. Google also offers a Suspended account tool to automatically check your account status.

2. See whether anything else is running.

   If other campaigns are serving, Google says you don’t have to check the account’s status. A suspension isn’t aimed at one campaign: Google says all ads in the suspended account will stop running.

3. Read the Status column at each level.

   Campaigns, ad groups, keywords and ads each have one. On the Ads page, Google says that if you hover over each status, you’ll see a more detailed explanation.

4. Check Billing.

   Google suggests looking at the Billing Summary or Transactions pages for declined payments or any outstanding balance, because ads can stop until the balance is paid.

5. Check Advertiser verification.

   Google says you can check your verification status by going to Advertiser verification.

Not eligible: something above it is switched off

Statuses pass downwards. Google’s example: if you pause a campaign, the ad groups within that campaign will inherit the same paused status, and so do their ads and keywords. So a Not eligible label usually points one level up.

• Campaign. Google says a campaign is Not eligible when it’s inactive because there are no ad groups, or when every ad group, ad or keyword in it is paused or deleted.
• Ad group. Google’s reasons include the campaign being paused, removed, ended, pending or “suspended” (see the next section), no ads or no keywords, and all ads in this ad group are disapproved.
• Ad. Google says an ad is not serving because the campaign has been paused, removed, ended or is pending, or because its ad group is paused, removed or incomplete.
• Keyword. Keywords are Not eligible when their campaign is paused, pending, removed or ended, or their ad group is paused or removed.

Most of these are fixed in the account: resume the campaign or ad group, change its dates, or add the missing ads or keywords. The one reason with a policy behind it is an ad group whose ads are all disapproved. Google says a disapproved ad cannot run because its content or its destination violates Google Ads policy. That’s a decision about the ads, not a suspension of the account. Our guide to the five enforcement states covers how a disapproved ad is fixed or appealed.

Campaign suspended: a prepaid balance, not a policy decision

In Google’s ad group status table, “Campaign suspended” is one of the Not Eligible reasons, and Google’s explanation is about money: your prepaid account balance has run out. Google says the campaign and its ad groups will resume after you add funds.

Google’s troubleshooting help gives the checks:

• Look for a balance. Check the Billing Summary or Transactions pages for declined payments or an outstanding balance. If you’ve just paid, Google says to allow 1–2 working days for it to process and for ad serving to resume.
• On monthly invoicing, look at the account budget. Google says all ads in your account stop running if total campaign costs reach the account budget before its end date.

That’s different from an account suspended for an unpaid balance, which Google lists among its billing and payment suspensions and which comes with a suspension notification. If that’s what you have, read Google Ads account suspended for an unpaid balance.

Searches reaching this site often still say “AdWords campaign suspended”. AdWords is Google Ads’ old name: Google announced that Google AdWords is becoming Google Ads.

Paused, and Paused (due to low activity)

A plain Paused status means someone switched that campaign, ad group, keyword or ad off. Google’s wording for a campaign is that your campaign is inactive because you paused it. Pausing stops the ads, and new costs, until you resume it.

Google also pauses things itself when they’ve had no impressions for a long time:

• Ad groups. Google may automatically pause ad groups that were created over 13 months ago and have 0 impressions over the past 13 months. They show the status “Paused (due to low activity)”.
• Keywords. The same applies to positive keywords that were created over 13 months ago and have had zero impressions in the past 13 months. Their status is Paused, with a secondary status of “Keyword paused due to low activity”.

You can turn them back on from the notification, from the Ad groups or Search keywords page, or in Google Ads Editor. Google strongly recommends that you only unpause ad groups that you believe will receive impressions in the coming weeks, because unpaused ad groups will be automatically paused again if they get no impressions for 3 months. The same three-month rule applies to keywords.

If nobody remembers pausing something, check the notifications and the change history. For low-activity keywords, Google says you’ll be notified in the account or you can view updates in your change history.

A paused account is a different thing. It’s covered under verification pauses below.

Rarely shown, and the other Eligible (limited) reasons

Eligible (limited) means it can run, but not as much as it could. Google gives four reasons at keyword level:

• Rarely shown due to low Quality Score. The keyword isn’t showing ads often due to a low Quality Score. Google’s next step is to improve ad relevance, landing page experience and expected click-through rate, or to replace the keyword with a more relevant one.
• Below first page bid estimate. The keyword is active, but it isn’t currently showing ads on the first page of Google search results, likely because of Ad Rank: bid and Quality Score.
• Low search volume. The keyword is associated with very little search traffic on our properties. Google says this status is unrelated to quality score, bid or creatives, so editing those won’t change it. One option Google gives is to wait for us to automatically check again in a week; others are a broader match type or a less specific keyword.
• Few page matches. A Display Network reason: the keyword matches very few pages. Google suggests adding a more relevant keyword.

Searches reaching this site sometimes call the first one rarely served. Google’s own status pages say Rarely shown.

Campaigns and ads have their own limited labels:

• Campaigns. A campaign is Eligible (limited) when it’s only showing ads occasionally due to budget constraints or a limited bid strategy. Google also uses the status Limited by budget.
• Ads. An ad is Eligible (limited) when it can run but not in all situations because of policy restrictions, such as trademark use or gambling content. Google’s definition says these ads comply with our policies but are limited in where and when they can show.

None of these is a suspension. They aren’t the Limited Ad Serving policy either, which has its own notice: see limited ad serving.

If every status says Eligible and ads still don’t show

Google’s troubleshooting page lists 10 common reasons why your ads don’t run or get low traffic. Besides account and billing problems, they include:

• date ranges, and campaign start and end dates;
• inactive ad groups, assets or ads, or policy issues;
• low Ad Strength, low bid targets and a low budget;
• targeting that’s too narrow, or overlaps with other campaigns;
• conversion tracking issues and auction dynamics.

New ads take a little time. Google says newly created or edited ads undergo a review lasting one to two days, and that if an ad has had no impressions after three working days, the campaign may still be in its bid strategy learning phase.

When it is a suspension, or a verification pause

A suspension covers the whole account. Google says that when it suspends an account, every ad in it stops, and suspended accounts are in read-only mode, with a few exceptions. The notification and the email name the policy. Some stops are temporary: for repeat violations, Google says temporary account holds will be applied for the first and second strikes. See temporary account holds.

A verification pause covers the whole account too, but it isn’t a policy verdict. Google says accounts may be paused or have spending limits imposed if they don’t complete required verification programmes. You can still access your paused account and any associated reports. Even before a pause, Google says that when your account is selected for verification, some of your ads may be restricted.

In our experience, sometimes the cause turns out to be a verification issue. For the notices, see Your verification deadline has passed and We couldn’t verify your business operations.

Don’t appeal a status

Google’s account appeal starts from the suspension notification: select the Contact us link in the notification at the top of your screen. A status has no such notification behind it. Its fix is the next step Google gives for that status: resume, change the dates, add funds, improve or replace the keyword, or fix the disapproved ad.

In our experience, people sometimes misread a status as a suspension and look for other routes, such as appealing or opening a new account. Don’t appeal a status, and don’t open a new account over one.

Frequently asked questions

Does “Not eligible” mean my Google Ads account is suspended?

No. Not eligible is a status on a campaign, ad group, ad or keyword. Google uses it when something above it is paused, removed, ended or pending, or when a campaign has no active ad groups, ads or keywords. A suspension stops every ad in the account and comes with an in-account notification and an email naming the policies.

What does “Campaign suspended” mean on an ad group?

In Google’s ad group status table, it means the ad group isn’t running because your prepaid account balance has run out. Google says the campaign and its ad groups resume after you add funds. It isn’t a policy suspension.

Why is my ad group “Paused (due to low activity)”?

Google may automatically pause ad groups that were created over 13 months ago and have had 0 impressions in the past 13 months. You can turn them back on, but Google pauses them again if they get no impressions for 3 months.

What does “Rarely shown” mean in Google Ads?

Google’s full label is “Rarely shown due to low Quality Score”, one of the Eligible (limited) reasons for a keyword. The keyword isn’t showing ads often because of a low Quality Score. Google suggests improving ad relevance, landing page experience and expected click-through rate, or replacing the keyword with a more relevant one.

Will raising my bid fix “Low search volume”?

No. Google says low search volume status is unrelated to Quality Score, bid or creatives, so editing those won’t change it. Google rechecks the keyword regularly. You can wait, broaden the match type or use a less specific keyword.

Can a verification issue stop my ads without a suspension?

Yes. Google can pause an account that doesn’t complete a required verification programme, and when an account is selected for verification, some of its ads may be restricted. Check the Advertiser verification page in your account.

How do I know if my Google Ads account is really suspended?

Google sends an in-account notification and an email that identifies every policy the account was suspended for, and all ads in the account stop. If other campaigns in the account are running, Google says you don’t have to check the account’s status.