Alert Severity Guide

The severity scale (1-10) tells you how urgently an alert needs attention. Understanding severity helps you prioritize fixes, allocate time effectively, and act on problems before they escalate. This guide breaks down each level with real examples and action timelines.

What You'll Learn

Time needed: 10 minutes to read

How Severity Is Calculated

The AI's Assessment Process

AI considers 4 factors:

1. Financial Impact

High impact = High severity
- Wasting $500/day → Severity 9
- Missing $50/day opportunity → Severity 5
- $5/day inefficiency → Severity 2

2. Urgency

Fast-growing problems = Higher severity
- Budget exhausted 3 days in a row → Severity 8
- CTR declining gradually over 30 days → Severity 5
- Static low Quality Score → Severity 3

3. Scope

More affected = Higher severity
- All campaigns stopped → Severity 10
- 1 of 10 campaigns affected → Severity 6
- 3 of 500 keywords underperforming → Severity 2

4. Business Context

Your goals matter
- If target CPA is $50, actual $51 → Severity 4
- If target CPA is $50, actual $80 → Severity 8
- If no target set → Default severity based on trend

[Screenshot: Severity calculation formula visualization] Four factors combine to determine priority

The Complete Severity Scale

Overview Chart

Severity 10 🔴 CRITICAL - Act now (within 1 hour) Severity 9 🔴 CRITICAL - Act today (within 4 hours) Severity 8 🟠 HIGH - Act today (before end of day) Severity 7 🟠 HIGH - Act today or tomorrow Severity 6 🟡 MEDIUM - Fix this week (1-3 days) Severity 5 🟡 MEDIUM - Fix this week (3-7 days) Severity 4 🟡 LOW - Address when convenient (this month) Severity 3 🟡 LOW - Consider in next optimization round Severity 2 🔵 INFO - Track but no urgency Severity 1 🔵 INFO - Context only, no action needed

Severity 10: CRITICAL 🔴

Characteristics

Impact: Campaigns completely stopped or major money being wasted Urgency: Immediate action required Timeline: Fix within 1 hour Color: Bright red

Real Examples

Example 1: All Campaigns Stopped

Severity: 10/10
Category: Technical Issues
Title: All active campaigns are paused

Your Google Ads account shows all 15 campaigns in PAUSED
status. No ads are currently running. This happened at
9:47 AM today.

Possible causes:
- Billing failure
- Policy violation suspension
- Manual pause (accidental?)

Action: Log into Google Ads immediately to diagnose and
restore campaigns.

Impact: $0 spend, $0 revenue until fixed

Example 2: Billing Failure

Severity: 10/10
Category: Technical Issues
Title: Payment method declined - campaigns will pause soon

Google Ads billing failed for payment method ending in 4523.
Campaigns will automatically pause within 24 hours if not
resolved.

Action: Update payment method in Google Ads billing settings
immediately.

Impact: All campaigns at risk of stopping

Example 3: Massive Budget Overspend

Severity: 10/10
Category: Budget Issues
Title: Account spent $4,500 in one day (450% over budget)

Yesterday's spend was $4,500 against a monthly budget of
$3,000. Daily budget limits appear to have failed or were
removed.

Action: Immediately verify budget settings in all campaigns
and pause overspending campaigns if needed.

Impact: Budget exhausted for entire month in one day

When you see severity 10: Drop everything and fix it now. These issues stop campaigns or waste massive amounts of money.

Severity 9: CRITICAL 🔴

Characteristics

Impact: Significant money being wasted or major performance failure Urgency: Same day action required Timeline: Fix within 4 hours Color: Red

Real Examples

Example 1: Disapproved Ads

Severity: 9/10
Category: Technical Issues
Title: 14 of 16 ads disapproved - only 2 ads running

Google disapproved 14 ads across 5 campaigns for
"Unacceptable business practices" policy violation.
Only 2 ads remain active.

Impact: Limited ad rotation severely restricting impression
share. Currently showing for only 12% of eligible searches.

Action: Review disapproved ads, identify policy violation,
create compliant replacement ads today.

Estimated loss: ~$800/day in missed revenue

Example 2: Conversion Tracking Broken

Severity: 9/10
Category: Conversion Tracking
Title: Zero conversions recorded in 5 days despite 1,200 clicks

Your campaigns generated 1,200 clicks in the last 5 days
with $2,400 spend, but zero conversions were recorded.

Historical average: 48 conversions per 1,200 clicks

This suggests conversion tracking is broken, not that
conversions stopped happening.

Action: Verify conversion tracking pixel on website. Check
Google Ads conversion tag status.

Impact: Can't optimize campaigns without conversion data.
Likely wasting ~$1,500 on inefficient keywords.

Example 3: Budget Exhaustion

Severity: 9/10
Category: Budget Issues
Title: Daily budget exhausted by 2 PM for 5 consecutive days

Campaign "Brand Keywords" has spent its full $100 daily
budget before 2 PM EST for 5 days straight.

You're missing 10 hours of daily traffic. Historical data
shows 45% of conversions happen between 6-11 PM.

Action: Increase daily budget to $180 or redistribute spend
from underperforming campaigns.

Estimated missed revenue: $400/day

When you see severity 9: Clear your schedule for the next few hours and fix this today. High financial impact.

Severity 8: HIGH 🟠

Characteristics

Impact: Meaningful money being wasted or performance declining Urgency: Same day action preferred Timeline: Fix before end of business day Color: Orange

Real Examples

Example 1: CPC Spike

Severity: 8/10
Category: Performance Problems
Title: Average CPC increased 78% in last 7 days

Your average CPC jumped from $4.20 to $7.50 in the past
week with no corresponding improvement in conversion rate
or Quality Score.

Affected campaigns: All search campaigns
Additional cost: ~$350/day vs previous week

Possible causes:
- Increased competition
- Bid strategy change
- Seasonal demand spike

Action: Review bid strategy, check competition, consider
lowering max CPC limits.

Impact: Budget exhausting faster, ROI declining

Example 2: Impression Share Plummet

Severity: 8/10
Category: Performance Problems
Title: Search impression share dropped from 68% to 31%

Your impression share on search network fell by more than
half in the past 10 days.

Primary cause: "Lost IS (rank)" increased to 52% (was 18%)

This means competitors are outbidding you or have better
Quality Scores.

Action: Increase bids by 25% on top keywords or improve
Quality Score through better ad relevance.

Impact: Losing ~$600/day in potential revenue

Example 3: Quality Score Degradation

Severity: 8/10
Category: Quality Score Problems
Title: 25 high-volume keywords dropped to QS 3-4

Your top 25 keywords (60% of total clicks) all saw Quality
Score drop from 7-8 to 3-4 in the past 2 weeks.

This is causing CPCs to increase by an average of $3.20 per
click on these keywords.

Root cause: Recent landing page redesign has poor mobile
experience rating.

Action: Fix landing page mobile experience or create new
mobile-specific landing pages.

Impact: Paying 2x more per click than necessary

When you see severity 8: Prioritize this over routine tasks. Fix today before it gets worse.

Severity 7: HIGH 🟠

Characteristics

Impact: Performance issues affecting ROI Urgency: Fix within 24 hours Timeline: Today or tomorrow Color: Orange

Real Examples

Example 1: Declining CTR

Severity: 7/10
Category: Performance Problems
Title: CTR declined 22% over past 14 days

Your click-through rate dropped from 3.8% to 2.96% in the
last two weeks across search campaigns.

This reduces Quality Score and increases CPC over time.

Possible causes:
- Ad copy fatigue (same ads running 6+ months)
- Competitor ads more compelling
- Seasonal shift in search behavior

Action: Refresh ad copy with new headlines and descriptions.
Test different value propositions.

Impact: Lower Quality Score will increase costs by ~15%

Example 2: Uneven Budget Pacing

Severity: 7/10
Category: Budget Issues
Title: Spending 85% of monthly budget in first 15 days

You've spent $2,550 of your $3,000 monthly budget with 15
days remaining in the month.

Current pace: Will exhaust budget by day 18
Optimal pace: $100/day for full month coverage

Action: Reduce daily budgets by 30% across all campaigns
to extend coverage through month end.

Impact: Campaigns will pause mid-month if not adjusted

Example 3: Geographic Inefficiency

Severity: 7/10
Category: Geographic Performance
Title: California has 3x better conversion rate than average

California traffic converts at 8.2% vs 2.7% average across
all other states, yet receives only 20% of budget.

Opportunity: Reallocating 40% more budget to California
could increase overall conversions by ~35%.

Action: Increase location bid adjustments for California
to +60% or create California-specific campaigns.

Impact: Missing $450/week in additional conversions

When you see severity 7: Schedule time today or first thing tomorrow to address this.

Severity 6: MEDIUM 🟡

Characteristics

Impact: Optimization opportunities or moderate inefficiencies Urgency: Fix this week Timeline: 1-3 days Color: Yellow

Real Examples

Example 1: Underperforming Ad Groups

Severity: 6/10
Category: Performance Problems
Title: 8 ad groups have zero conversions in 30 days

8 of your 45 ad groups generated 1,240 clicks but zero
conversions in the past month, wasting $1,850.

These ad groups have CTR of 2.1% (normal) but 0% conversion
rate (broken).

Possible issues:
- Wrong landing pages
- Poor keyword-to-page match
- Mobile usability problems

Action: Review each ad group's landing page relevance and
user experience. Pause worst performers.

Impact: Eliminating waste could save $450/week

Example 2: Search Term Waste

Severity: 6/10
Category: Strategy Recommendations
Title: 15 search terms cost $500+ with zero conversions

You're spending on search terms that don't convert:
- "free google ads" - $180 spent, 0 conversions
- "google ads tutorial" - $145 spent, 0 conversions
- "how to google ads" - $95 spent, 0 conversions
... (12 more)

Action: Add these as negative keywords to prevent future
waste.

Impact: Saves ~$500/month going forward

Example 3: Mobile vs Desktop Disparity

Severity: 6/10
Category: Strategy Recommendations
Title: Mobile CPA is $35 vs $68 on desktop

Your mobile campaigns convert at half the cost of desktop:
- Mobile: 4.2% conversion rate, $35 CPA
- Desktop: 2.1% conversion rate, $68 CPA

Yet you're allocating budget evenly across devices.

Action: Increase mobile bid adjustment to +40% to capture
more efficient traffic.

Impact: Could improve overall CPA by 18%

When you see severity 6: Add to this week's task list. Not urgent but worth addressing soon.

Severity 5: MEDIUM 🟡

Characteristics

Impact: Moderate optimization gains available Urgency: Fix within a week Timeline: 3-7 days Color: Yellow

Real Examples

Example 1: Ad Schedule Opportunity

Severity: 5/10
Category: Strategy Recommendations
Title: 72% of conversions happen Mon-Fri 9 AM-6 PM

Your conversion data shows strong time-of-day patterns:
- Mon-Fri 9 AM-6 PM: 72% of conversions, 3.8% conv rate
- Evenings/Weekends: 28% of conversions, 1.2% conv rate

Currently running ads 24/7 with no bid adjustments.

Action: Create ad schedule with +30% bid adjustment during
peak hours, -40% during off-peak.

Impact: Could improve ROI by 12-15%

Example 2: Keyword Expansion

Severity: 5/10
Category: Strategy Recommendations
Title: 5 search terms driving 30% of conversions aren't keywords

These search terms are converting well but aren't added as
keywords yet:
- "best google ads consultant near me" - 45 conversions
- "hire google ads expert" - 38 conversions
- "google ads management service" - 29 conversions

Action: Add these as exact match keywords with dedicated
ad groups for better control and Quality Score.

Impact: Better control over top converters, improved QS

Example 3: Extension Opportunity

Severity: 5/10
Category: Strategy Recommendations
Title: No sitelink extensions enabled

Your ads don't have sitelink extensions, which typically
improve CTR by 10-15%.

Competitors in your space all use sitelinks effectively.

Action: Create 4-6 sitelink extensions highlighting key
services/offers.

Impact: Expected CTR lift of 10% = ~80 more clicks/week

When you see severity 5: Put on this week's optimization list. Good improvements available.

Severity 4: LOW 🟡

Characteristics

Impact: Minor inefficiencies or small optimization gains Urgency: Address when convenient Timeline: This month Color: Light yellow

Real Examples

Example 1: Low-Volume Keyword Waste

Severity: 4/10
Category: Strategy Recommendations
Title: 40 keywords each spent $5-10 with zero conversions

You have many low-volume keywords that aren't converting:
- Individual spend: $5-12 each
- Total waste: ~$320 over 30 days
- Click volume: 1-3 clicks each

Action: Pause keywords with <5 clicks and 0 conversions in
30 days. They're too low volume to evaluate properly.

Impact: Small ongoing savings

Example 2: Old Ads

Severity: 4/10
Category: Strategy Recommendations
Title: 8 ads have been running unchanged for 6+ months

Your ad creative hasn't been refreshed in over 6 months.

While performance is stable, testing new messaging could
uncover wins. Ads go stale over time.

Action: Create 2-3 new ad variations per ad group to test
new angles.

Impact: Potential 5-10% CTR improvement

Example 3: Quality Score 5 Keywords

Severity: 4/10
Category: Quality Score Problems
Title: 30 keywords have Quality Score of 5

These keywords are "average" but could be better:
- QS 5 keywords: 30 total
- Collective clicks: ~800/month
- If improved to QS 7: Save ~$0.80/click

Action: Improve ad relevance and landing page experience
for these keywords.

Impact: Moderate cost savings if optimized

When you see severity 4: Batch these into monthly optimization sessions. Not urgent.

Severity 3: LOW 🟡

Characteristics

Impact: Very minor issues or distant opportunities Urgency: Consider in next optimization round Timeline: Next 1-2 months Color: Light yellow

Real Examples

Example 1: Small Geographic Variances

Severity: 3/10
Category: Geographic Performance
Title: Nevada has 15% higher conversion rate than average

Small sample size (only 25 conversions in 30 days) but
Nevada shows promise:
- Nevada: 4.2% conversion rate
- Average: 3.6% conversion rate

Not enough volume to confidently act on yet.

Action: Monitor for another 30-60 days. If pattern holds,
increase Nevada bids.

Impact: Minimal near-term impact

Example 2: Campaign Naming

Severity: 3/10
Category: Strategy Recommendations
Title: Campaign names don't follow consistent convention

Your campaigns use mixed naming styles:
- "Brand - Exact"
- "brand_broad"
- "Competitor_Campaign"
- "non_brand_test"

This makes reporting and organization harder.

Action: Standardize campaign naming convention for easier
management.

Impact: Organizational benefit only

Example 3: Unused Features

Severity: 3/10
Category: Strategy Recommendations
Title: No callout extensions in use

You could add callout extensions to highlight unique selling
points (free shipping, 24/7 support, etc.).

Minor CTR benefit expected (2-5%).

Action: Add callout extensions when creating next ad batch.

Impact: Small CTR improvement

When you see severity 3: Note for future reference. Very low priority.

Severity 2: INFO 🔵

Characteristics

Impact: Tracking information, no action needed Urgency: None Timeline: N/A Color: Blue

Real Examples

Example 1: Positive Trend

Severity: 2/10
Category: Performance Problems
Title: Conversion rate increased 12% this week

Your conversion rate improved from 3.2% to 3.6% in the past
7 days across all campaigns.

No specific change identified - could be seasonal, or recent
optimizations are working.

Action: None required. Continue monitoring.

Impact: Positive, no action needed

Example 2: Data Observation

Severity: 2/10
Category: Geographic Performance
Title: Wyoming has only 3 clicks in 30 days

Very low traffic from Wyoming. This is expected for small
population states.

Action: None. Just context.

Impact: None

Example 3: Seasonal Note

Severity: 2/10
Category: Strategy Recommendations
Title: November has historically highest conversion rate

Looking at historical data, November averages 15% higher
conversion rate than other months (likely holiday shopping).

Action: Plan to increase budgets in November if pattern
continues.

Impact: Future planning information

When you see severity 2: Read for context. No action required.

Severity 1: INFO 🔵

Characteristics

Impact: Context only Urgency: None Timeline: N/A Color: Light blue

Real Examples

Example 1: Account Milestone

Severity: 1/10
Category: Performance Problems
Title: Account generated 1,000th conversion this month

Congratulations! Your account just passed 1,000 total
conversions this month.

Historical average: ~850/month

Action: None - just a milestone notification

Impact: Positive context

Example 2: Sync Completed

Severity: 1/10
Category: Technical Issues
Title: Smart Sync completed successfully at 2:15 AM

Your daily sync finished on time with all data updated
successfully.

Action: None

Impact: Confirmation only

Example 3: General Observation

Severity: 1/10
Category: Strategy Recommendations
Title: Your account structure follows best practices

Your campaigns are well-organized with clear naming, proper
ad group themes, and good keyword grouping.

Action: Continue current organization approach

Impact: Positive reinforcement

When you see severity 1: Nice to know. No action needed.

How Business Context Affects Severity

Target CPA Impact

Scenario 1: Conservative Target

Your target CPA: $30
Actual CPA: $35

Alert severity: 7/10 (high)
Reason: 17% over target is significant deviation

Scenario 2: Flexible Target

Your target CPA: $100
Actual CPA: $105

Alert severity: 4/10 (low)
Reason: 5% over target is within acceptable range

Lesson: Same $5 difference, different severity based on your goals

Budget Size Impact

Scenario 1: Small Budget

Monthly budget: $500
Daily waste: $15

Alert severity: 8/10 (high)
Reason: $15/day waste = 90% of daily budget

Scenario 2: Large Budget

Monthly budget: $50,000
Daily waste: $15

Alert severity: 3/10 (low)
Reason: $15/day waste = 0.9% of daily budget

Lesson: Same $15 waste, different severity based on budget scale

Account Maturity Impact

Scenario 1: New Account (<30 days)

Issue: Low Quality Score on keywords

Alert severity: 5/10 (medium)
Reason: Expected for new accounts, not urgent

Scenario 2: Mature Account (1+ year)

Issue: Low Quality Score on keywords

Alert severity: 7/10 (high)
Reason: Unusual degradation for established account

Lesson: Same issue, different context changes severity

Interpreting Severity for Your Situation

Factor 1: Account Size

Small accounts ($500-$2,000/month):

Medium accounts ($2,000-$10,000/month):

Large accounts ($10,000+/month):

Factor 2: Agency vs In-House

Agency (managing 20+ clients):

In-House (1-5 accounts):

Factor 3: Client Expectations

High-touch clients:

Hands-off clients:

Tips & Best Practices

Don't Ignore Low Severity

Why they matter:

Strategy:

Severity Changes Over Time

Escalation:

Week 1: Severity 5 (Medium)
Week 2: Severity 7 (High) - issue worsening
Week 3: Severity 9 (Critical) - now urgent

Recommendation: Fix severity 5-6 alerts before they escalate

Context Is Key

Same alert, different severity:

Always read the full alert - severity number alone isn't enough

Use Severity to Delegate

If managing a team:

Common Questions

Q: Can I change alert severity manually? A: Not currently. Severity is AI-calculated. Future versions may allow manual overrides.

Q: Why does AI sometimes rate similar issues differently? A: Context matters. Same issue in different campaign sizes, budgets, or goals gets different severity.

Q: What if I think severity is wrong? A: Decline the alert with feedback. AI learns from this and adjusts future ratings.

Q: Is severity 10 always critical? A: Yes. Severity 10 means campaigns stopped or massive waste. Always investigate immediately.

Q: Should I fix all severity 7+ alerts same day? A: Ideally yes, but prioritize based on your capacity and account size. Large agencies may batch by client.

Q: Do alerts auto-escalate in severity if ignored? A: Yes, if the underlying issue worsens. A severity 5 alert today can become severity 8 tomorrow if the problem grows.

Next Steps

Use severity effectively with these guides:

Need to prioritize? Sort alerts by severity (high to low)

Confused about an alert's severity? Read the full explanation and financial impact

Want AI to adjust severity? Provide feedback via accept/decline actions

Last Updated: October 4, 2025