Friday evening, Google Ads had a bug of some sorts that caused the cost per click (CPC) prices to skyrocket on many Shopping Ad campaigns. Google confirmed the issue on Saturday afternoon and resolved it going forward. The company promised to reach out to those impacted.
I covered this issue on Saturday at Search Engine Land as well but it is important that any of you who have shopping campaigns check your reports and campaigns to make sure all is good. Google may have to issue you a refund for the increases in your CPCs and traffic issues.
Google said on Twitter "The Google Ads system encountered an unexpected issue between 6pm PST on Friday Nov 12 - 3am PST Saturday, Nov 13 that affected Shopping Ads. We identified and fixed the issue. Everything is working as expected now."
The Google Ads system encountered an unexpected issue between 6pm PST on Friday Nov 12 - 3am PST Saturday, Nov 13 that affected Shopping Ads. We identified and fixed the issue. Everything is working as expected now.
— Google Ads (@GoogleAds) November 13, 2021
Google also said "impacted advertisers will be notified with more details." So if you were not notified, please do reach out to a Google Ads rep.
CPCs went over 200% the normal price for some!
!
— Mike Ryan (@mikeryanretail) November 13, 2021
Look at percent change on these different accounts https://t.co/WdmIwcMW9W pic.twitter.com/xqdhoWWVgS
Also in this Google Ads Help thread this advertiser said "Yesterday I had my best day in terms of sales with an average CPC of 0.35€ and 800€ of ad spend on the day. Today my average CPC has skyrocketed to 0.75€. It is only 4PM in France and Google spent more than 900€ while my daily budget is 800€."
Forum discussion at Twitter.
Update: Google is issuing credits and refunds for this bug - via Kirk Williams:
We're beginning to see refunds for the Nov 12 Google Shopping bidding glitch appear in accounts. Check yours: #ppcchat pic.twitter.com/tzbV7VHiDR
— Kirk Williams 🚴 (@PPCKirk) November 24, 2021
