An owner types a service name into search, does not see their own ad and asks the contractor: “Is it running at all?” A screenshot of an empty results page becomes an argument. Yet the answer is not in search at all. It sits in the Google Ads account, and three metrics are enough to get it. Below: what they mean, where to open them, what to ask of whoever manages the account, and what Google does not promise.
We checked the names of the metrics and reports against Google Ads help on November 10, 2026. Whatever the help pages leave unsaid, we present as our own practice or as colleagues’ opinion, and we say so openly. The interface changes from time to time, so in your account the buttons may sit elsewhere.
Why a screenshot from search proves nothing
We have a separate article on this, “Can’t See Your Ad on Google? That Doesn’t Prove Anything”, so here is only the gist. You see results assembled for you: your city, your device, your past searches. And Google’s help advises not searching for your own ad at all: it lowers the reliability of the data on its performance, and if you search and never click, the ad may stop showing.
Colleagues add that impressions without clicks also spoil the ad’s own metrics. Google does not state this outright, so it is only practitioners’ opinion. But even without it the conclusion is the same: such a check brings no benefit, while the numbers in the account do exist.
Number 1. Impression share
The help defines it as the percentage of impressions your ads receive compared to the total they could have received. Formula: impressions divided by total eligible impressions. In simple terms: out of a hundred chances to show the ad, it appeared in, say, sixty. In the other forty nobody saw it.
A few things worth knowing.
- Google estimates the number of eligible impressions itself, taking into account targeting settings, approval statuses and quality. It is a calculation based on assumptions, not an exact counter, and the help says plainly that small fluctuations are no reason to act.
- The metric exists for campaigns, ad groups, product groups in Shopping campaigns and keywords.
- If you see a dash instead of a number, then according to the help there is too little data (low traffic or new keywords) or it is still processing for 24–48 hours. No need to worry yet.
- In the account: “Campaigns” → columns icon → “Competitive metrics” dropdown → “Search impr. share”. That is how the help names the column. The general name of the metric is “Impression share”.
Next to it, add two columns about losses: the budget one is named “Search lost IS (budget)” in the help, and its twin for rank carries the “(rank)” tag. The first shows how often the ad did not appear because the budget was too low, the second because of poor Ad Rank. The difference is fundamental: budget is solved with money, rank with work on the ad and the bid. The budget figure is available at the campaign level only.
Number 2. Are you at the top
Showing up does not mean being noticeable. An ad can sit at the bottom of the page, below the organic results, where a customer hardly ever scrolls. For this Google has two separate metrics described in the help:
- “Search (Top) IS” — the impressions you received at the top of the page, anywhere above the organic results, compared to the estimated number you were eligible to receive;
- “Search absolute top impression share” — the same for the highest spot, the very first ad above the organic results.
The same help page clears up a common mistake. Average position does not describe where the ad appears on the page: it reflects the order of your ad against other ads in the auction. Position 1 can go to an ad at the bottom if no ads were displayed above the organic results at all. So to judge the place on the page, look at these shares rather than at “average position”.
A practical takeaway from our experience: if overall impression share is good while the top figures are low, the ad appears often but below competitors. This is our reading of the two numbers together; the help has no official rule for such a case. Where these two columns live in the menu the help does not say, so look for them by name in the columns window. We did not check that path in a live account for this article.
One caveat from the help about impression share in general: data from search partner sites is not included in it, because those sites do not distinguish the top from the rest of the page.
Number 3. The Search terms report
The first two numbers answer “how much”. The third answers a different question: “for what”. The report shows which words people typed when they saw your ad and clicked it. The path in the help: “Campaigns” → in the “Insights and reports” sub-menu → “Search terms”.
How to work with it:
- Open the report for the last 30 days and sort by cost.
- Find terms unrelated to your business. If you sell computer glasses and the ad is shown for the search “swimming goggles”, that is money wasted. The help advises adding such words as negative keywords.
- Check whether the list contains what customers actually search for. If your main queries are missing, you are not being shown in those searches.
- Turn on the “Keyword” column, which is hidden by default: columns icon → “Attributes” → “Keyword”. Then you can see which exact word from your list triggered the impression.
There are two limits that few people remember. First, the report includes only terms used by a significant number of people: rare ones Google hides for data privacy standards, so the picture is incomplete. Second, conversions in the report and in search terms insights are processed differently, so the figures may differ slightly.
What to ask your contractor
Three requests that need no technical knowledge:
- Show impression share, lost impression share (budget) and (rank) for each campaign over the last two or three months. Not as one number but as a trend.
- Show the top figures: top impression share and absolute top impression share. Ask whether you are happy with the ad often landing lower.
- Send the Search terms report for the month and explain which words have already been added as negatives and why.
If the answer is “everything works” with no numbers, that is a warning sign. An honest contractor will show the figures and say what to do about them.
Which values should raise a flag
The honest thing to say is that there is no official “norm”. Google’s help names neither a good nor a bad level of impression share, and we will not invent thresholds. What we suggest watching, based on the help and our own practice:
- a large share lost to budget: money runs out before the day does, and customers searching in the evening do not see the ad;
- a large share lost to rank: the ad loses the auction, money will not help here, quality and bid are needed;
- a figure that changed sharply against the previous period without your intervention: the cause is worth finding out;
- in the Search terms report, a noticeable part of spend goes to words that have nothing to do with your business.
Small fluctuations, as a reminder, Google does not treat as a reason to act.
Summary
Googling yourself is fast, but it is like judging the weather by your own window. Three numbers from the account give a wider picture: impression share says how often the ad appears, the top figures say where, and the Search terms report explains what you are paying for. Open them today, and next time you feel like “just checking on Google”, open the account instead.
We wrote about three basic account checks in “Three Checks to See Whether Google Ads Is Wasting Your Money”, and about seeing competitors in the auction in the article on Auction Insights. How we run campaigns is in the sections on search advertising and Performance Max.
Not sure whether your ad is being seen? Want a free audit of your Google Ads account? Send us a request — we will look at your account and tell you what is going on with the numbers.