Google has announced they will start to delete canceled accounts after 6 months of inactivity. Obviously, in many scenarios it would be best to avoid Google Ads account deletion.
Here’s a link to coverage from Search Engine Land. Interestingly, Google’s support article about the change was recently removed. I don’t know whether this means Google has reversed course on this, but nothing has been announced to that effect.
The move does make sense for Google, as it’ll allow them to clear out dead accounts and free up overhead.
But this could cause huge headaches for advertisers that suspend Google Ads for long time with plans to resume campaigns in the future. Up until now, Google would “cancel” inactive accounts which simply meant they were put in stasis. These accounts could easily be restored in a few seconds by their owners.
But with this shift, Google may permanently delete your account, meaning you’ll lose all of your campaigns, historical data, conversion tracking setup, remarketing lists, and so on.
Google will email you a notice 30-days before permanent deletion, but who’s going to notice those among the dozens of random emails Google Ads sends out every month?
What’s an Inactive Account?
Google deems an account inactive whenever there are no actively running campaigns. Google may, at its discretion, cancel inactive accounts. For accounts that are usually active, this typically doesn’t happen until quite a few months of inactivity. But for accounts that run ads infrequently, Google often cancels them within just weeks after all campaigns are paused.
What’s a Canceled Account?
Simply put, a canceled account is simply an inactive account that Google has marked as canceled. If you use a Manager Account, canceled accounts may no longer appear if the default list of accounts. You can display these by setting the account status filter to include “canceled” accounts. When you log into a canceled account you will be prompted to restore it, which literally takes seconds. You will then be able to use the account normally.
What’s a Deleted Account?
A deleted account is an account that has been completely removed and no longer exists. There is no way to access the old account or restore it. If you ever want to review old campaigns or launch new campaigns you should try to avoid having your account deleted.
How to Prevent Deletion
Restoring your “canceled” account before deletion is quick and easy. If you do not plan to use your account in the short term I recommend creating a recurring calendar reminder that runs every 3-months to log in and check the status of the account. If the account is “canceled” you should restore it.
This will prevent deletion from happening.
Also, you should read any emails you receive from Google Ads. I know there are a lot of them and most are not worth reading… but missing a 30-day warning about deletion could cost you.
Backing Up Your Account
Just in case you forget to restore you cancelled account in time, it’s a good idea to have a “backup” of sorts. While you cannot save things like your remarketing lists or conversion tracking setup, you can save your historical data and campaigns by syncing your account with Google Ads Editor.
In case of a catastrophe, this will facilitate uploading the old campaigns into a new ads account. Not ideal but way better than nothing.
This is actually a good idea even for active accounts, say, in case you get hacked or accidentally delete a campaign.
Does This Create an Opportunity?
While strictly speaking, somebody creating a replacement for deleted ads account is not a net new Google Ads advertiser, Google may consider them so. As such, advertisers that launch replacement accounts might qualify for Google Ads promos. For example, as of right now as a Premier Google Partner, we can offer up to US$6,000 ads credit for our new Google Ads clients. That’s not a small sum of money.
Summary
For advertisers that pause Google Ads for months at a time, there’s a very real chance that Google may cancel and then eventually delete your ads account. This would obviously be pretty bad if you want to resume advertising at some point.
Fortunately, there are some simple steps you can take to prevent Google Ads account deletion as well as backing up your campaigns, just in case.
