Google Ads Change History Analyzer: see what came before a jump or drop
Line up your change history with daily results and see which change came before a jump or drop.
- Free to use
- Runs in your browser
- No sign-up
Your change timeline appears here
Add your change history and a daily report, or try the example: 60 days of a made-up gym in Pune with a budget cut, a target change and an auto-applied recommendation.
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About the Change History Analyzer
Add your Google Ads change history, as a file, copied rows or changes you type, and a daily performance report. The analyzer puts every change on a day-by-day timeline, compares cost, clicks, conversions and cost per conversion in the days before and after each important change, and marks changes made by Google, such as auto-applied recommendations, and changes made too close together to judge. Copy the summary or download the comparison as CSV. Both files stay in your browser.
How it works
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Step 1
In Google Ads, open Campaigns › Change history and pick the dates. Download the table if the page offers it, or copy the rows, or type the important changes. Then build a daily report in Report editor with Day (and Campaign) in the rows.
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Step 2
Drop both files here or paste them. Choose how many days before and after each change to compare, and pick one campaign if you like.
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Step 3
Start with the "do these first" list, read the before and after numbers for each change, then copy the summary or download the CSV.
How a change is judged
For each change the analyzer compares the days just before it with the days just after it, per day, and leaves out the day of the change itself. A change is compared with its own campaign when the daily report has a Campaign column, otherwise with the whole account. Budget, bidding, conversion goal, status and setting changes, changes made by Google and days with several changes of one kind count as important. The window, the categories and the 20% mark for a big move are our measure, not Google's.
Changes made by Google and changes made together
Change history also lists changes made by applying recommendations, by automated rules, through the Google Ads API and in Google Ads Editor. Changes whose User or Tool column points to auto-applied recommendations or Google's systems are marked as made by Google. When two important changes to the same campaign fall inside the same window, their numbers mix, so both are flagged. Google suggests judging a target change over one to two conversion cycles and not making several changes within one cycle.
What this tool cannot do
A change that came before a jump or drop did not necessarily cause it: festivals, competitors, tracking and seasons move results too. The tool only sees the changes and days in your files, and Google says not every account-level change appears in Change history. How auto-applied changes are labelled can differ, so check the User and Tool columns yourself. Recent conversions can still fill in. It does not sign in to Google Ads and cannot undo anything.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I find the change history in Google Ads?
Open the Campaigns menu and select Change history. Pick the dates in the upper right corner, and use the Views bar for all campaigns or one, or the filters for campaign, ad group, change type, user, tool and item changed. It lists changes to your account, campaigns and ad groups for the past two years, with the user who made each one.
How do I see changes made by auto-applied recommendations?
Changes made by applying recommendations, including auto-applied ones, appear in Change history. In Recommendations, the Auto-apply page has a History tab that shows which recommendations are applied automatically, when each was turned on and when it was last applied; select one and choose Disable to stop it. This tool marks a change as made by Google when its User or Tool column mentions auto-applied recommendations or a Google system.
How long should I wait before judging a change?
It depends on how long your customers take to convert. Google suggests judging a target change over one to two conversion cycles and not making several changes within one cycle. After changing conversion goals, Smart Bidding needs one to two conversion cycles to learn in most cases. Use the 14 or 28-day window here if your customers take weeks to decide.
Does changing a Target CPA restart the learning period?
Google says a change to the target does not put the bid strategy into learning or wipe what it has learned, but bids react straight away and a large change can cause swings for a conversion cycle or two. A new or reactivated strategy, a changed strategy setting, or campaigns, ad groups or keywords added or removed do show the "Learning" status.
Can I undo a change that hurt my results?
Change history can undo most types of changes made in the last 30 days; some cannot be undone, for example when a related item was removed. A recommendation applied in error can also be undone there within 30 days. Before you undo anything, check whether a festival, a tracking problem or a competitor explains the move; our Account Anomaly Checker helps with that.
Related reading
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