Why Ads Sometimes Don't Show Up At AdSense?

There were reports that claimed about 38.3 million websites around the world were running Google ads in 2021. That is close to about half of all the wobsites online. The report added that AdSense and other ads are a core part of the company’s financial strategy, accounting for nearly US$ 20 billion and 13 percent of the company’s entire revenue.

However, as a blogger who is using Google AdSense, it is sometimes frusttrating when the ads are not showing up. This year, this happens more frequently to it can be extremely frustrating for publishers and their income. Unfortunately, this happens to AdSense publishers frequently in 2024.

What are some of the most common reasons why your ads may not be showing? It could be be because there are just as too many ads running, long activation periods, missing ads.txt files, or enabled ad blockers. We will discuss them more later.

What Is Google AdSense?
Google AdSense is Google’s ad placement engine to display ads on websites. Website owners, publishers, and bloggers place an ad code on their site and Google’s ad serving technology shows ads. AdSense publishers can monetize their site through a revenue-sharing agreement with Google.

As a publisher, you provide a place for ads to show and the traffic to see them. Google sells the ad space to advertisers who make and pay for ads to promote a product. Google also processes the sales and handles the billing.

When publishers use AdSense for display, Google keeps nearly a third of the revenue generated by your website’s traffic. Publishers keep 68 percent of the ad payout. However, the amount you wind up getting paid will vary greatly based on a few factors, like how much advertisers are willing to pay, the clickthrough rate (CTR), and how much traffic you bring to the table.

You can also add AdSense to your site search pages by enabling the Google search engine on your site and adding it. The revenue share for an AdSense publisher for search is 51 percent.

There are two basic ad units with AdSense. Auto ads will populate your site automatically based on where Google believes they will perform best in accordance with your site layout. Oppositely, manual ad units are ads publishers create and place where they want ads to show on their website.

Common Reasons AdSense Ads Won’t Show
There are a few common reasons why website publishers experience trouble getting their Google AdSense ads to show.

It takes a while to set up your ads, place the code, and make sure everything has been configured properly. So, when the lengthy process is finally complete and your ads still aren’t showing up, it’s not a pleasant experience.

Let’s walk through some of the most common reasons for ads not showing up:

1. Not Enough Time Has Passed Yet
   When you set up your website for AdSense, Google must first scan your site and learn about it to show the most relevant ads. This applies equally to new accounts or new sites added to existing accounts.
   Due to this step in the activation process, it could be a few days before display ads begin to show up on your homepage or elsewhere. Typically, mobile ads show up first before displaying as desktop versions. Waiting for the activation process can be inconvenient and time-consuming, but there are a few tactics that may potentially assist in shortening your wait time.
   Ensuring that all the details in your Google AdSense account, such as your payment information, are set up correctly is crucial to initiating the processing of your website. Additionally, the more established your Google AdSense account is and the more traffic you have to your website, the more data that will be available. This can expedite the analysis and populate your AdSense ads more quickly.
   Turning on auto ads can also shorten the time for ads to display. If you use auto ads, Google will analyze your site and determine where to display ads for you.
2. Your Ad Blocker is Enabled
   If you are currently using an ad blocker within your internet browser, this may the reason your AdSense ads are not showing when you test them out on your personal device. Ad blockers prevent the appearance of any ads, including your own, regardless of if your ads are showing up for other people.
   By turning off or disabling your ad blocker and reloading the webpage, you should be able to view any AdSense advertisements you are running. However, it is important to note that some antivirus software may also have adblocker options built-in and could be another source of conflict when unable to see your ads.
3. Your Ads.txt File is Missing
   Ad networks requires an Authorized Digital Seller file (known as the ads.txt) to show ads on your website. AdSense provides a personalized ads.txt file you can download from your account which will include your publisher ID. When it’s time to verify, a company checks for correct formating and that an ads.txt file exists.
   You’ll want to check to make sure the publisher ID is correct. In your AdSense account, click Sites and then Add your publisher ID to these ad.txt files. You can copy and paste to input your publisher ID into the file.
   Ads.txt has an added complication in that it must be formatted in a specific way, and must be uploaded to the root directory of your website. To ensure it’s correct, append your website’s address with /ads.txt in your web browser to verify the AdSense code. For example, if your website URL is www.example.com, type www.example.com/ads.txt into your web browser. If the ads.txt file appears in your web browser, then you’ve uploaded the file correctly.
   If you’re using WordPress for your website, you can install the ads.txt plug and click Setting>Ad.txt on the left panel. Copy and paste your details and save.
4. You Have Too Many Ads Running
   Google recommends users limit the number of ads they have running on any particular web page. This regulation is not without reason, seeing as ad clutter can also cause users to leave your site. You can be penalized by AdSense for running too many ads on your site, which in turn prevents AdSense ads from showing.
   If you are using auto ads and manual AdSense ad placements on your site, the auto ads may not show.