This guide walks you through the most common reasons campaigns stall and provides step-by-step solutions to help you quickly identify and fix issues on your own.
GUIDE:
Getting Started
If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Why isn’t my campaign spending?” or “Why isn’t my ad group running?” - you’re not alone.
This guide walks you through the most common reasons campaigns stall and provides step-by-step solutions to help you quickly identify and fix issues on your own.
- Check your impression caps. IIf your campaign or ad group has an impression cap, spend will stop as soon as that cap is reached — even if there’s budget remaining.
In Choozle and TTD, avoid using impression caps unless you have a specific contractual goal.
Tip: The goal of most campaigns should be to maximize impressions within your budget. If pacing seems slow, remove or increase the impression cap to allow more delivery flexibility.
- Check your targeting. Your targeting must make logical sense across all layers — audience, geolocation, and creative placement.
For example:
If you target a U.S.-based audience but restrict your geolocation to Puerto Rico, your campaign won’t deliver because the audience data and geo filters conflict. - Win rate.
Your win rate measures how often your bid wins an impression compared to how often it’s submitted.
A healthy win rate typically falls between 10–30%.-
Under 10%: Your bids are too low — increase your CPM range.
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Over 30%: You might be overpaying — lower your bids slightly.
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The Golden Rule
Audience Size and Bids Work Hand-in-Hand.
The smaller your audience, the higher your bids should be to win impressions.
Both Choozle and TTD operate on real-time bidding, where smaller audiences often require higher CPMs to compete effectively.
Review Ad Group Settings
Ad group configuration directly impacts delivery. Double-check the following:
➤ Geolocation
Too narrow of a location can limit reach.
Try expanding your radius or increasing bids to stay competitive.
➤ Targeting Tactics
Use one tactic per ad group for cleaner reporting and better optimization.
This also allows you to bid differently based on audience type or goal.
➤ Creatives
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Diversify creative sizes for better inventory access.
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Allow up to 48 hours for creative approvals to process.
Audience Size and Potential Reach
If your campaign isn’t spending, your audience might be too narrow.
✅ For Data Targeting:
Add more relevant 3rd-party or lookalike segments to expand reach.
✅ For Site Targeting:
Include at least 100–250 sites in your whitelist to increase delivery potential.
✅ For Keyword Targeting:
Start with 20–40 relevant keywords and monitor delivery before expanding.
Remember — even with access to ~98% of programmatic inventory, not all sites have available impressions at all times. Seasonality and timing matter.
Adjust Bids for Limited Audiences
For IP Targeting, CRM Targeting, or Retargeting, your audience pool is fixed.
In these cases, increase bids to stay competitive and ensure your limited audience sees your ads frequently enough to drive results.
Need Help?
If you have any additional questions please reach out to your Account Manager or Submit a Ticket.
