It looks like the Google Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool accessible over here has a bug where some people are able to see data for specific ads, apparently from the Google auction process. For those experiencing the issue, the tool shows the ad and then shows the formats available, the ad score, the bid ECPM, Fmt ECPM, the number of rejections and potentially more — for all of the ads (regardless of advertiser) on the simulated search results page.
Screenshot. We have received multiple screenshots from readers but @SulekshVS shared a screenshot publicly on Twitter:
Tool is currently down. Now when I try to access the tool, the tool returns a sorry message saying “We’re sorry…”. Here is a screenshot of that message:
The data. I am not exactly sure what all the data points mean in this layout but I know it should not be shown there. You can all speculate or take educated guesses on what the data means.
Google is aware. Google did respond about the concern on Twitter saying they will investigate the issue:
Why should you care? The bug impacts the usability of this tool and advertisers may be justifiably concerned when data about their campaigns is shown somewhere it shouldn’t be displayed.
About The Author
Barry Schwartz is Search Engine Land’s News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on SEM topics.