1) Diagnose what “low engagement” actually means (and where it’s breaking)
Engagement is different by campaign type, so start by choosing the right yardstick
Before you “fix” low engagement, make sure you’re measuring the right thing for the campaign you’re running. In Search, engagement usually shows up as click-through rate (CTR) and then the quality of the session after the click. In Video, the health metric is typically view rate first (how compelling the video is to viewers), with CTR as a secondary indicator when website traffic matters. In Performance Max, engagement is often a mix of CTR plus asset-group level conversion contribution, because the system blends placements and formats behind the scenes.
Once you name the metric, you can identify whether the issue is (a) weak creative that people ignore, (b) weak targeting that puts good creative in front of the wrong people, or (c) a landing page mismatch that causes people to bounce immediately after a click.
Make sure you’re not judging too early (especially with automation)
If you’re using automated targeting expansion (common in Display and conversion-focused video formats), you need to give the system enough time and conversion data to learn. As a rule of thumb, don’t call it “low engagement” after a couple of days of noise. For newer campaigns using optimized targeting, I generally wait until you have meaningful conversion volume (often around 50 conversions) or at least two weeks of steady delivery before making hard decisions. For established campaigns, still give changes a minimum of two weeks before you evaluate performance trends.
Separate “low engagement” from “low visibility”
I’ve audited plenty of accounts where “engagement is low” was really “we’re barely entering auctions.” If impressions are inconsistent, CTR and view rate will look unstable and misleading. Confirm you have stable impression volume first, then diagnose engagement.
2) Fix engagement by tightening relevance (targeting that matches intent)
Search campaigns: use intent alignment as your north star
When Search engagement is low, the root cause is usually one of three quality issues: expected CTR, ad relevance, or landing page experience. These three components are the practical framework I use because they force you to answer the right question: “Are we showing the right message to the right person, and then delivering what we promised?”
To lift engagement quickly, restructure around tighter keyword themes. If you have ad groups with mixed intent (informational + transactional terms together), your ad copy can’t match both, so CTR suffers and the traffic that does click is less qualified. Splitting those themes into cleaner ad groups makes it much easier to write ads that mirror real search intent and send users to the most relevant page.
Performance Max: guide the system with audience signals (without boxing it in)
Performance Max can show ads beyond the audiences you suggest, but audience signals still matter because they give the system a smarter starting point. If engagement is low, it’s often because the system doesn’t have enough clear signals about who your best customers are, so it explores too broadly early on.
In practice, the strongest audience signal inputs usually come from your own data (past website visitors, app users, customer lists, and past video viewers), layered with custom segments that reflect real intent. When building custom segments, think in terms of what people would search or browse right before they buy, not broad top-of-funnel interests. This tends to improve both traffic quality and creative resonance because the system can better connect your assets to higher-intent patterns.
Display / Demand Gen / conversion-focused video: be intentional about optimized targeting
Optimized targeting is designed to help the system find additional converters beyond your manually selected audiences. That’s powerful, but it can also lower “engagement rate” if your conversion goal is vague, your conversion tracking is thin, or your creative is generic. If you’re optimizing for conversions, optimized targeting generally performs best when paired with conversion-focused bidding (for example, Maximize Conversions or Target CPA), because the system has clear feedback on what “good traffic” looks like.
If engagement is low and conversions are also weak, don’t just shut off expansion immediately. First, make sure your conversion goal is meaningful (not page views) and your creative is specific. If engagement is low but conversions are strong, you may simply be seeing broader reach doing its job, and you should judge success by the goal you selected, not just CTR.
3) Fix engagement with creative that earns attention (and is built for the format)
Search: make Ad Strength work for you (without turning your ads into fluff)
In Search, low engagement is often a symptom of underbuilt responsive search ads. Strong RSAs usually have enough unique, non-repetitive inputs for the system to assemble combinations that match different intents. As a practical standard, aim to build toward “Good” or “Excellent” Ad Strength in every ad group, not as a vanity score, but because it forces you to add variety, relevance, and useful extensions.
Focus on writing more headlines and descriptions (up to the maximum allowed), adding genuinely unique angles (benefits, proof points, offers, pain points, use cases), and weaving in the language people actually search. If you’re pinning many headlines, be aware that heavy pinning reduces the number of combinations that can show, which can limit performance. Use pinning only where you must (for compliance or brand requirements), and consider pinning multiple options to the same position rather than locking a single line in place.
Also treat extensions as engagement multipliers, not optional extras. Sitelinks in particular can contribute to stronger ad presentations and can be part of achieving higher Ad Strength ratings when implemented in sufficient quantity and quality.
Performance Max: improve asset variety first, then refresh strategically
For Performance Max, engagement problems are frequently creative problems in disguise. Asset groups with thin coverage (not enough headlines, descriptions, images, logos, or optional supporting assets) tend to plateau quickly. Your first job is to build breadth and depth so the system has enough ingredients to find winners. After you’ve reached strong asset coverage, use asset reporting to identify what’s underperforming and refresh with new angles instead of swapping randomly.
If you’re stuck, consider generating additional text, image, and video variations to increase variety, then curate ruthlessly so the final set is on-brand and offer-focused. The goal isn’t “more assets.” The goal is “more distinct reasons to choose you,” expressed in multiple formats.
Video: improve view rate first, then CTR (and use the right campaign type for the job)
For Video, view rate is the cleanest read on whether the creative is compelling. If view rate is low, start with the first five seconds. Weak hooks, slow intros, and unclear value props get skipped. Shorter edits typically improve view rate, and even minor intro/CTA tweaks can materially change outcomes. I also recommend rotating multiple creatives to reduce ad fatigue, and producing in multiple aspect ratios (including vertical and square) so the ad feels native on mobile placements.
If the goal is site traffic and action, consider running conversion-focused video formats designed to drive clicks over time, not just views. This often improves CTR and downstream actions because the format emphasizes stronger calls-to-action and conversion intent.
4) Fix post-click engagement (because ads can’t “outperform” a mismatch)
Landing page experience is part of engagement, not a separate problem
You can raise CTR and still feel like “engagement is low” if the landing page doesn’t match the promise of the ad. Make sure the offer, pricing cues, availability, and next step are immediately obvious above the fold. Keep messaging consistent from keyword → ad copy → landing page headline, and remove distractions that don’t help the user complete the action you’re optimizing for.
When Search engagement is low, this is especially important because landing page experience is one of the core drivers of overall performance. If users click and immediately back out, you’ll struggle to scale efficiently no matter how much you adjust bids.
Use conversion signals that reflect meaningful engagement
If your primary conversion is too shallow (for example, a basic page view), automated systems will “learn” toward cheap traffic that looks engaged on the surface but doesn’t create customers. Align conversion goals with outcomes that represent real intent (qualified lead submissions, purchases, booked calls, key funnel milestones). Better signals usually lead to better targeting decisions, which then lifts both engagement quality and conversion performance.
5) A fast, high-impact checklist to turn low engagement around
- Confirm you’re measuring the right engagement metric for the campaign type (CTR for Search, view rate for Video, asset group contribution for Performance Max).
- Verify stable delivery first (consistent impressions). If impressions are erratic, fix reach/eligibility before judging engagement.
- Search: tighten ad groups by intent, rewrite ads to match real queries, and improve the weak Quality Score component (expected CTR, ad relevance, or landing page experience).
- RSAs: build toward strong Ad Strength with maximum variety (more unique headlines/descriptions), minimize unnecessary pinning, and strengthen sitelinks and other assets.
- Performance Max: add stronger audience signals (especially first-party lists and intent-based custom segments), then improve asset variety and review asset/asset group reporting before making big structural changes.
- Display / conversion video / Demand Gen: if using optimized targeting, pair it with conversion-focused bidding and give it enough time to learn before judging it; evaluate expansion performance separately from your base signals.
- Video: cut a shorter version, improve the first five seconds, rotate multiple creatives, and publish multiple aspect ratios (including vertical) to lift view rate and reduce fatigue.
- Landing page: tighten message match and make the next step obvious immediately to prevent “clicks with no real engagement.”
Let AI handle
the Google Ads grunt work
| Section | What “low engagement” means here | Key checks & diagnostics | Recommended actions | Relevant Google Ads documentation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Diagnose “low engagement” correctly |
Engagement is campaign‑type specific: • Search: primarily CTR + post‑click session quality • Video: view rate first, CTR second (if site traffic matters) • Performance Max: CTR plus each asset group’s conversion contribution |
• Confirm you’re looking at the right primary metric for each campaign type. • Separate issues caused by weak creative, weak targeting, or landing‑page mismatch. • Check if the problem is actually low visibility (low/unstable impressions) rather than low engagement. |
• Define a clear engagement KPI per campaign type before making changes. • If impressions are unstable, address eligibility, bids, budget, or coverage before judging engagement. |
• About conversion measurement (for tying engagement to meaningful actions) • Using Quality Score to improve your performance (explains CTR, ad relevance, landing page experience) |
| 1. Give automation time to learn | Automated systems (e.g., optimized targeting, conversion‑based bidding) need data before engagement stabilizes. |
• For new campaigns using automated expansion, avoid judging performance after just a few days. • Use a rough threshold like ~50 conversions or at least two weeks of steady delivery before making big changes. |
• Limit early reactive edits to major issues (e.g., incorrect URLs, policy violations). • Make changes in batches, then allow another learning window before re‑evaluating. |
• About optimized targeting • About conversion measurement |
| 2. Tighten relevance – Search | Low Search engagement often points to problems in expected CTR, ad relevance, or landing page experience. |
• Identify which Quality Score component is weakest for your main keywords (expected CTR, ad relevance, landing page experience). • Look for mixed‑intent ad groups (informational + transactional) where one ad can’t match all queries well. |
• Restructure into tighter, intent‑based ad groups so ads can closely mirror real search intent. • Align keyword themes → ad copy → landing page so the user gets exactly what was promised in the ad. |
• Using Quality Score to improve your performance • Create effective Search ads |
| 2. Tighten relevance – Performance Max | Low engagement in Performance Max is often a signal gap: the system lacks clear guidance on who your best customers are. |
• Review which audience signals are in each asset group (if any). • Check asset group reporting to see which groups meaningfully contribute conversions vs. just impressions. |
• Add strong first‑party audience signals (site visitors, app users, customer lists, past video viewers). • Build intent‑based custom segments focused on what people search or browse right before buying (not broad interests). • Use asset‑group reporting to iterate on audience + creative combinations that actually drive conversions. |
• About audience signals for Performance Max campaigns • About Performance Max campaigns |
| 2. Tighten relevance – Display, Demand Gen, conversion‑focused Video | Optimized targeting expands beyond your chosen audiences to find more converters, which can lower “engagement rate” if goals or signals are weak. |
• Check whether optimized targeting is on and what bidding strategy you’re using. • Compare performance of expansion vs. base audience segments (where possible). • Review whether the primary conversion event is meaningful or too shallow (e.g., page views). |
• Pair optimized targeting with conversion‑focused bidding (Maximize Conversions, Target CPA) so the system learns what “good traffic” is. • If engagement and conversions are both weak, clarify conversion goals and strengthen creative before disabling expansion. • If engagement seems lower but conversions are strong, keep the expansion and judge success primarily on your conversion goal. |
• About optimized targeting • Updating your conversion goals • Types of recommendations (see creative and targeting recommendations) |
| 3. Creative built for format – Search / RSAs | Underbuilt responsive search ads (few, repetitive assets and heavy pinning) limit combinations and reduce engagement. |
• Check Ad Strength for each RSA and asset coverage (number of unique headlines/descriptions). • Review pinning usage across headlines and descriptions. • Audit sitelinks and other assets that can make ads more engaging. |
• Aim for “Good” or “Excellent” Ad Strength in each ad group, using many unique, non‑repetitive headlines and descriptions. • Minimize unnecessary pinning; where required, pin several options to the same position rather than locking one line. • Treat sitelinks and other assets as engagement multipliers; build out high‑quality variants. |
• About Ad strength for responsive search ads • Create effective Search ads • Creative Performance Best Practices |
| 3. Creative built for format – Performance Max | Engagement issues in Performance Max are often creative issues: thin or repetitive assets in asset groups. |
• Use asset coverage and asset‑group reporting to find gaps (too few headlines, descriptions, images, logos, or videos). • Identify underperforming assets and asset groups rather than judging the whole campaign at once. |
• Expand asset variety across all required formats before making structural changes (more distinct reasons to choose you). • Refresh underperforming assets with new angles instead of random swaps. • Consider using AI‑assisted generation to brainstorm new variations, then curate strictly for brand and offer fit. |
• About Performance Max campaigns • How to build a Performance Max asset group using generative AI • Improve Ad strength of your Performance Max campaigns |
| 3. Creative built for format – Video | For Video, view rate is the core engagement metric. Weak hooks and slow intros depress view rate; fatigue reduces performance over time. |
• Monitor view rate by creative and placement; identify low‑view‑rate videos. • Look closely at the first 5 seconds, the main value proposition, and the call‑to‑action. • Check if you’re only using one orientation (e.g., horizontal) in mobile‑heavy inventory. |
• Test shorter edits with stronger hooks and clearer early value props. • Rotate multiple creatives to avoid fatigue. • Produce multiple aspect ratios (including vertical and square) to feel native on mobile and Shorts‑style placements. • For traffic goals, favor conversion‑focused video formats that are designed to drive clicks and actions. |
• Creative Performance Best Practices (includes video creative guidance) |
| 4. Fix post‑click engagement – Landing page | Ads can have strong CTR but still feel like “low engagement” if users bounce quickly due to landing‑page mismatch or friction. |
• Compare the promise in the keyword and ad (offer, pricing, product) to what users see above the fold on the landing page. • Review clarity of the primary action and distractions around it. • Check landing page performance and mobile friendliness in Google Ads reporting. |
• Tighten message match from keyword → ad → headline/hero on the page. • Make offer, pricing cues, availability, and next step obvious immediately above the fold. • Remove or downplay elements that don’t help users complete the main action. |
• About the Landing Pages report in Google Ads • Optimize your landing pages for conversions |
| 4. Fix post‑click engagement – Conversion signals | Shallow conversions (e.g., basic page views) teach automated bidding to chase cheap but low‑value traffic that only appears engaged. |
• Audit which conversion actions are included as primary goals for each campaign. • Identify whether the main conversion reflects genuine intent (qualified lead, purchase, key funnel step) or a surface interaction. |
• Align conversion goals with outcomes that represent real business value and intent. • Promote high‑value actions to primary conversions so bidding and targeting optimize toward them. • Use analytics or offline imports where needed to track deeper funnel milestones and qualified leads. |
• About conversion goals • Updating your conversion goals • Create Google Ads conversions based on Google Analytics key events |
| 5. Fast turnaround checklist | A practical sequence to diagnose and fix low engagement across campaign types. |
• Confirm the right engagement metric per campaign type. • Verify stable impressions and delivery. • Identify the weakest link: targeting, creative, or landing page/goal setup. |
• Search: tighten keyword themes, rewrite ads to match real queries, and improve weak Quality Score components. • RSAs: increase unique headlines/descriptions, reduce unnecessary pinning, and build strong sitelinks and assets. • Performance Max: strengthen audience signals, improve asset variety, and use asset/asset‑group reporting to guide changes. • Display / Demand Gen / conversion Video: pair optimized targeting with conversion‑based bidding and give it time to learn. • Video: shorten and strengthen the first 5 seconds, rotate creatives, and use multiple aspect ratios. • Landing page: improve message match and clarity of the next step to avoid “clicks with no real engagement.” |
• Using Quality Score to improve your performance • Create effective Search ads • About Performance Max campaigns • About optimized targeting • About conversion goals |
If low audience engagement is dragging down your campaigns, it usually helps to first confirm you’re judging engagement by the right metric for each campaign type (CTR and session quality for Search, view rate for Video, and asset-group contribution plus CTR for Performance Max), then isolate whether the real issue is visibility, relevance (targeting and intent), creative fit for the format, or a post-click mismatch on the landing page and conversion goals. If you’d like a more systematic way to work through those checks without constantly living in spreadsheets, Blobr connects to your Google Ads account and uses specialized AI agents to spot where engagement is breaking down and suggest concrete fixes—like improving ad and keyword relevance or tightening message match with the Campaign Landing Page Optimizer and Keyword Landing Optimizer agents—while keeping you in control of what runs and where.
1) Diagnose what “low engagement” actually means (and where it’s breaking)
Engagement is different by campaign type, so start by choosing the right yardstick
Before you “fix” low engagement, make sure you’re measuring the right thing for the campaign you’re running. In Search, engagement usually shows up as click-through rate (CTR) and then the quality of the session after the click. In Video, the health metric is typically view rate first (how compelling the video is to viewers), with CTR as a secondary indicator when website traffic matters. In Performance Max, engagement is often a mix of CTR plus asset-group level conversion contribution, because the system blends placements and formats behind the scenes.
Once you name the metric, you can identify whether the issue is (a) weak creative that people ignore, (b) weak targeting that puts good creative in front of the wrong people, or (c) a landing page mismatch that causes people to bounce immediately after a click.
Make sure you’re not judging too early (especially with automation)
If you’re using automated targeting expansion (common in Display and conversion-focused video formats), you need to give the system enough time and conversion data to learn. As a rule of thumb, don’t call it “low engagement” after a couple of days of noise. For newer campaigns using optimized targeting, I generally wait until you have meaningful conversion volume (often around 50 conversions) or at least two weeks of steady delivery before making hard decisions. For established campaigns, still give changes a minimum of two weeks before you evaluate performance trends.
Separate “low engagement” from “low visibility”
I’ve audited plenty of accounts where “engagement is low” was really “we’re barely entering auctions.” If impressions are inconsistent, CTR and view rate will look unstable and misleading. Confirm you have stable impression volume first, then diagnose engagement.
2) Fix engagement by tightening relevance (targeting that matches intent)
Search campaigns: use intent alignment as your north star
When Search engagement is low, the root cause is usually one of three quality issues: expected CTR, ad relevance, or landing page experience. These three components are the practical framework I use because they force you to answer the right question: “Are we showing the right message to the right person, and then delivering what we promised?”
To lift engagement quickly, restructure around tighter keyword themes. If you have ad groups with mixed intent (informational + transactional terms together), your ad copy can’t match both, so CTR suffers and the traffic that does click is less qualified. Splitting those themes into cleaner ad groups makes it much easier to write ads that mirror real search intent and send users to the most relevant page.
Performance Max: guide the system with audience signals (without boxing it in)
Performance Max can show ads beyond the audiences you suggest, but audience signals still matter because they give the system a smarter starting point. If engagement is low, it’s often because the system doesn’t have enough clear signals about who your best customers are, so it explores too broadly early on.
In practice, the strongest audience signal inputs usually come from your own data (past website visitors, app users, customer lists, and past video viewers), layered with custom segments that reflect real intent. When building custom segments, think in terms of what people would search or browse right before they buy, not broad top-of-funnel interests. This tends to improve both traffic quality and creative resonance because the system can better connect your assets to higher-intent patterns.
Display / Demand Gen / conversion-focused video: be intentional about optimized targeting
Optimized targeting is designed to help the system find additional converters beyond your manually selected audiences. That’s powerful, but it can also lower “engagement rate” if your conversion goal is vague, your conversion tracking is thin, or your creative is generic. If you’re optimizing for conversions, optimized targeting generally performs best when paired with conversion-focused bidding (for example, Maximize Conversions or Target CPA), because the system has clear feedback on what “good traffic” looks like.
If engagement is low and conversions are also weak, don’t just shut off expansion immediately. First, make sure your conversion goal is meaningful (not page views) and your creative is specific. If engagement is low but conversions are strong, you may simply be seeing broader reach doing its job, and you should judge success by the goal you selected, not just CTR.
3) Fix engagement with creative that earns attention (and is built for the format)
Search: make Ad Strength work for you (without turning your ads into fluff)
In Search, low engagement is often a symptom of underbuilt responsive search ads. Strong RSAs usually have enough unique, non-repetitive inputs for the system to assemble combinations that match different intents. As a practical standard, aim to build toward “Good” or “Excellent” Ad Strength in every ad group, not as a vanity score, but because it forces you to add variety, relevance, and useful extensions.
Focus on writing more headlines and descriptions (up to the maximum allowed), adding genuinely unique angles (benefits, proof points, offers, pain points, use cases), and weaving in the language people actually search. If you’re pinning many headlines, be aware that heavy pinning reduces the number of combinations that can show, which can limit performance. Use pinning only where you must (for compliance or brand requirements), and consider pinning multiple options to the same position rather than locking a single line in place.
Also treat extensions as engagement multipliers, not optional extras. Sitelinks in particular can contribute to stronger ad presentations and can be part of achieving higher Ad Strength ratings when implemented in sufficient quantity and quality.
Performance Max: improve asset variety first, then refresh strategically
For Performance Max, engagement problems are frequently creative problems in disguise. Asset groups with thin coverage (not enough headlines, descriptions, images, logos, or optional supporting assets) tend to plateau quickly. Your first job is to build breadth and depth so the system has enough ingredients to find winners. After you’ve reached strong asset coverage, use asset reporting to identify what’s underperforming and refresh with new angles instead of swapping randomly.
If you’re stuck, consider generating additional text, image, and video variations to increase variety, then curate ruthlessly so the final set is on-brand and offer-focused. The goal isn’t “more assets.” The goal is “more distinct reasons to choose you,” expressed in multiple formats.
Video: improve view rate first, then CTR (and use the right campaign type for the job)
For Video, view rate is the cleanest read on whether the creative is compelling. If view rate is low, start with the first five seconds. Weak hooks, slow intros, and unclear value props get skipped. Shorter edits typically improve view rate, and even minor intro/CTA tweaks can materially change outcomes. I also recommend rotating multiple creatives to reduce ad fatigue, and producing in multiple aspect ratios (including vertical and square) so the ad feels native on mobile placements.
If the goal is site traffic and action, consider running conversion-focused video formats designed to drive clicks over time, not just views. This often improves CTR and downstream actions because the format emphasizes stronger calls-to-action and conversion intent.
4) Fix post-click engagement (because ads can’t “outperform” a mismatch)
Landing page experience is part of engagement, not a separate problem
You can raise CTR and still feel like “engagement is low” if the landing page doesn’t match the promise of the ad. Make sure the offer, pricing cues, availability, and next step are immediately obvious above the fold. Keep messaging consistent from keyword → ad copy → landing page headline, and remove distractions that don’t help the user complete the action you’re optimizing for.
When Search engagement is low, this is especially important because landing page experience is one of the core drivers of overall performance. If users click and immediately back out, you’ll struggle to scale efficiently no matter how much you adjust bids.
Use conversion signals that reflect meaningful engagement
If your primary conversion is too shallow (for example, a basic page view), automated systems will “learn” toward cheap traffic that looks engaged on the surface but doesn’t create customers. Align conversion goals with outcomes that represent real intent (qualified lead submissions, purchases, booked calls, key funnel milestones). Better signals usually lead to better targeting decisions, which then lifts both engagement quality and conversion performance.
5) A fast, high-impact checklist to turn low engagement around
- Confirm you’re measuring the right engagement metric for the campaign type (CTR for Search, view rate for Video, asset group contribution for Performance Max).
- Verify stable delivery first (consistent impressions). If impressions are erratic, fix reach/eligibility before judging engagement.
- Search: tighten ad groups by intent, rewrite ads to match real queries, and improve the weak Quality Score component (expected CTR, ad relevance, or landing page experience).
- RSAs: build toward strong Ad Strength with maximum variety (more unique headlines/descriptions), minimize unnecessary pinning, and strengthen sitelinks and other assets.
- Performance Max: add stronger audience signals (especially first-party lists and intent-based custom segments), then improve asset variety and review asset/asset group reporting before making big structural changes.
- Display / conversion video / Demand Gen: if using optimized targeting, pair it with conversion-focused bidding and give it enough time to learn before judging it; evaluate expansion performance separately from your base signals.
- Video: cut a shorter version, improve the first five seconds, rotate multiple creatives, and publish multiple aspect ratios (including vertical) to lift view rate and reduce fatigue.
- Landing page: tighten message match and make the next step obvious immediately to prevent “clicks with no real engagement.”
