On September 2nd, 2020 Google Ads announced that Advertisers on the platform will begin losing the visibility of search queries that trigger ad clicks if Google determines the term as not "significant".

This change is troubling for Google Ads customers as it substantially hinders visibility on what terms are being purchased and what specific queries advertisements are displayed next to. 

Google Ads has cited that any clicks for terms that don't meet a "significant" threshold will be hidden to advertisers saying:

“In order to maintain our standards of privacy and strengthen our protections around user data, we have made changes to our Search Terms Report to only include terms that a significant number of users searched for." 

This is not acceptable.

• We need to know exactly what we are paying for.
  As Google Ads customers, we request full visibility on what terms we are advertising on.
• No Data? No Impressions or Clicks.
  If we cannot see what a search term is, we do not want to appear for that query, receive that traffic, or pay for that click.

If Google Ads won't show advertisers keyword data for insignificant clicks, we ask for the ability to opt-out of showing ads on all queries not deemed to be "significant".

The digital advertising community is particularly worried about:

• Over recent months, the "close variant" matching has gotten progressively more generous. Without the ability to refine terms, advertisers' spending will increase and become less effective.
• Visibility on potential sensitive/problematic queries a brand is matched to and advertising on.
• The ability to opt-out of showing up for terms that are violating "standards of privacy" and "user data" standards. If these terms are removed for user protection, the ability for advertisers to opt-out is also critical.
• To fully view the matching between Broad/BroadMatch Modified/Phrase/Exact so advertisers can better allocate spends.

Simply put: If the data isn't significant to show, advertisers need the ability to opt-out from receiving these clicks.

We have no problem with removing the specific search queries as long as we as advertisers can also remove ourselves from showing up for, and paying for, insignificant clicks.

We urge other advertisers to stand up to Google Ads and help maintain visibility for advertisers. 

Thank you for your consideration & support,

The Marketing O'Clock Team

Greg Finn
Christine Zirnheld
Mark Saltarelli
Jessica Budde