Google Ads Preview Tool: Check Your Ad Safely

The Google Ads preview tool is called Ad preview and diagnosis. Find it under Tools, then Troubleshooting. Type a keyword, set the location, language and device, and press Preview. It shows if your ad can appear and why not, without adding impressions. It checks Search ads. For Shopping and PMax, read the Issues column on the Products page.

You searched for your own product on Google. Your ad was not there. So you searched again. And again.

Stop. Every one of those searches can hurt you. Google built a free tool for exactly this job.

This guide shows you how to use it, how to read what it says, and what to do when the ad you are missing is a Shopping or Performance Max ad.

What the Google Ads Preview Tool Is

Google's name for it is Ad preview and diagnosis. Google says it "helps you understand why your ad or ad asset might not be appearing."

It does two jobs:

1. Preview. It shows you a Google results page for a search you pick, as a buyer in a place you pick would see it.
2. Diagnosis. If your ad is not on that page, it tells you the reason.

It is free, and it lives inside your Google Ads account. People also call it the Google Ads ad preview tool or the preview and diagnosis tool. Same thing.

Why You Should Never Google Your Own Ad

It feels natural. You want to see your ad, so you search for it. Here is why Google tells you not to.

• It lowers your click rate. Each search shows you the ad, and you do not click. Google's own help page says you "accumulate impressions without clicks, which can lower your clickthrough rate."
• Google stops showing it to you. Search for it again and again without a click, and Google decides you are not interested. Its help page says the system "stops showing you ads that it thinks you aren't interested in." So you think the ad is broken when it is not.
• One search proves nothing. It is one place, one device, one moment. Your ad can miss your search and still show to other buyers.

The preview tool fixes all three. Google says using it "avoids accumulating ad impressions and impacting your performance statistics." No real ad shows to a real buyer, so nobody clicks and there is nothing to pay for.

How to Open the Ad Preview and Diagnosis Tool

1. Sign in to your Google Ads account.
2. Open the Tools menu.
3. Open Troubleshooting.
4. Select Ad preview and diagnosis.

Google moves its menus every so often, so the names can shift a little. The tool itself has kept the name Ad preview and diagnosis.

Set Location, Language and Device First

This is the step people skip, and skipping it makes the preview lie.

1. Type a keyword. Use one from your campaign, or one close to it.
2. Set the location. Pick where your buyers are, not where you are.
3. Set the language. Match the language your campaign targets.
4. Set the device. Pick a device, like mobile or desktop.
5. Press Preview.

Google's help page is clear on this: change the location, language and device "as needed." If your campaign targets them, set them, or the preview checks the wrong search.

Here is the store version. You live in Vienna. You sell to Texas. Your campaign only targets the US. A plain Google search from your sofa can never show your ad, because you are not in the US. Set the location to Texas in the tool and you see what a Texas buyer sees.

Google added an Audience option to the tool in a 2018 update, so you can also preview as a member of an audience list. Menus change, so check it in your own account.

How to Read the Result

• Your ad is highlighted in green. Google says that means your ad is eligible to show on the first page for that search. Good.
• Your ad is missing. The tool gives you a reason. Read it before you change anything.
• The reason is your budget. In the same 2018 update, Google said you can select "Edit budget" and fix it right from the tool.
• You want a second opinion. Use "Share this search" to save the search or send the link to someone.

One warning from Google: the results "may change over time." For example, your ad can stop showing once your campaign reaches its average daily budget. So a missing ad at 6pm can be a spent budget, not a broken ad.

Why the Tool Says Your Ad Is Not Showing

Google's help page lists these reasons.

• A better match won. The tool may say there is "a more relevant candidate available." Another ad or keyword in your own account was a better fit for that search.
• The ad group is off. Google says paused or disabled ad groups do not show in the tool. Check that it is on.
• An ad group without keywords won. That covers Dynamic Search Ads, AI Max ad groups, and Performance Max asset groups without keywords or search themes. Google says these can win the auction even when a keyword ad group fits.
• The campaign is still learning. If you just switched to Maximize Clicks or Smart Bidding, Google may still be adjusting to the new bid strategy.
• The keyword is too small. Keywords with little search history may not trigger a preview. Keyword Planner can show you bigger ones.
• The account cannot serve. Ads do not run while your account is in billing checks or suspended for security reasons. Check this first.

Google's older help page adds three more. The ad itself is paused or not approved. Your targeting does not match the place or language you set. Or your Ad Rank (the score from your bid and ad quality) is too low, so your ad lands on a later page.

If the tool does not settle it, work through why Google Ads are not working. It has one list for ads with no impressions and one for ads with clicks but no sales.

What the Tool Cannot Show You

Know the limits, so you do not chase a ghost.

• Search only. Google says the tool "only finds ads on the Google Search Network." It cannot find your Display ad.
• Page 1 only, mostly. Ads that show on page 2 or later "may not appear" in the tool.
• Age targeting. Google says the tool does not work with age-targeted campaigns for keyword checks.
• Some gender targeting. Some gender-targeted ads cannot be checked at all.

Shopping and Performance Max Ads Not Showing

Google's help page for the preview tool talks about search results. It never names Shopping. So if your missing ad is a product ad, do not lean on this tool for the answer.

Google gives you a better place to look for Shopping and Performance Max (PMax):

1. In Google Ads, open Campaigns, then Overview.
2. Set the Workspace filter to Shopping campaigns or Performance Max campaigns.
3. Pick the campaign.
4. Open Products, then Products again.
5. Read the Issues column, next to Product status.

That column names the problem for each product. Google sorts them into two groups:

One catch for PMax. Google says these product issues show up "only if a Google Merchant Center account is linked to the campaign." No link, no list.

Want to see what your PMax ads look like? That is a different screen. Open the PMax campaign, go to the Asset groups tab, select View asset details, then the Combinations tab, then Preview Ads. Google says you can see them on "Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Discover, and more."

Still stuck? Read the 6 checks for Google Shopping ads that are not showing. If Merchant Center itself shows no products, start with why Merchant Center shows 0 products. If the ads show but PMax will not spend, see why Performance Max is not spending its budget.

Preview Tool vs Anonymous Tool vs Mockup Generators

Three things share almost the same name. They do different jobs.

A mockup generator is fine for a draft. But it knows nothing about your bids, your budget or the auction. It can never tell you why an ad is missing.

If what you really want is to see a rival's ads, that is a different tool again. Use the Google Ads Transparency Center. And the preview tool is a good last step in a competitor analysis, to see who shows up next to you.

Where Scaley Fits

The preview tool answers one search at a time. It does not tell you which products quietly stopped getting impressions last week, or why spend moved.

Scaley Media Buyer connects to your Google Ads account read-only. Ask it "why did my impressions drop, I didn't change anything" and it answers from your live campaign, product and search term data. It does not run the preview tool, it does not fix Merchant Center, and it cannot change a setting.

Rather not connect anything? Take a screenshot of the tool's result and drop it into Scaley Consultant. Ask what it means and what to check next.

Every tier starts with a 3-day free trial. Card required. Cancel anytime. All prices are on the pricing page.

Where These Facts Come From

Checked on 2026-11-12:

• Google Ads Help, answer 148778 - what the tool does, the Troubleshooting menu, no impressions or stats impact, Share this search, results that change over time, and the list of reasons an ad may not show (a more relevant candidate, paused ad groups, ad groups without keywords, learning period, low search volume, billing checks and security suspension). The page body does not name Shopping.
• Google Ads Help, answer 1704363 - the steps (keyword, location, language, device, Preview, green highlight), the limits (Search Network only, no Display, page 2 and later, age and gender targeting), and why searching your own ad hurts.
• Google Ads Help, answer 1704360 - the Tools, Troubleshooting, Ad preview and diagnosis path, own searches lowering clickthrough rate, and the older reasons (paused ad, targeting, Ad Rank).
• Google Ads Help, answer 9172579 - the October 26, 2018 update with the Audience option and Edit budget.
• Google Ads Help, answer 12409964 - the Products page path, the Issues column, the issue types, and the Merchant Center link rule for Performance Max.
• Google Ads Help, answer 13872527 - the Asset groups, View asset details, Combinations and Preview Ads steps, and the networks listed.
• Anonymous Ad Preview Tool, Google - the public page loads without signing in (HTTP 200, page title "Anonymous Ad Preview Tool"). The in-account tool link, ads.google.com/aw/diagnostic/AdPreview, sends you to the Google sign-in page.
• Relevant Audience report on the reCAPTCHA bug - dated August 5, 2026, citing Search Engine Roundtable on August 4, 2026. No Google statement.