Some advertisers (and the marketing agencies managing their accounts) are flagging a serious Google Ads issue: keywords that were intentionally paused appear to be getting switched back on automatically—without anyone manually enabling them. In change history, these updates show up under a system-driven entry tied to “low activity” bulk changes, and they look like automated edits (often with an “Undo” option).

What makes this more concerning is that this same system has typically been used to pause inactive items—not reactivate them. So far, Google hasn’t clearly confirmed whether this is a bug, a test, or a new automation behavior, and it’s still unclear what triggers it or how widely it’s rolling out.

For tightly managed accounts, this can be a real headache: even a handful of quietly re-enabled keywords can change traffic, disrupt pacing, and push spend in the wrong direction. Until Google provides clarity, the safest move is to check change history more frequently and revert any unexpected keyword activations as soon as they appear.

As reported by Search Engine Land, the issue was first flagged by marketing consultant Francesco Cifardi on LinkedIn.

What “Paused” Really Means in Google Ads (and Why It Matters)

In Google Ads, the “paused” status has traditionally been a simple, reliable control: it lets you stop a keyword from running without deleting it. Here’s what that means in practice.

Core function

Temporary deactivation: Pausing a keyword prevents it from triggering your ads on searches. That keyword will generate no impressions, no clicks, and no spend until you manually enable it again. The key benefit is that you keep all historical data (quality score signals, CTR history, past performance) for later use.

Common use cases

• Budget and performance management: Pause underperforming or expensive keywords to shift spend to better performers, without losing the keyword permanently.

• Seasonal or timed control: Pause keywords during off-seasons or after promotions, then turn them back on when needed.

• Testing and optimization: Pause one group of keywords to isolate performance when testing ads, landing pages, or new keyword sets.

• Account hygiene: Keep campaigns clean by sidelining outdated or irrelevant keywords instead of deleting them (deleting removes data).

  
  

Key characteristics

• No impact while paused: Paused keywords don’t enter auctions, so they shouldn’t affect delivery, spend, or performance while inactive.

• Easy to reverse: You can re-enable anytime in Google Ads (Campaigns → Keywords → change status to Enabled).

• Data is preserved: Unlike deleted keywords, paused ones retain history and can pick up where they left off when reactivated.

  
  

A note on automation

Historically, Google’s systems might pause low-activity items to streamline accounts—but they wouldn’t normally reactivate paused keywords without user action. If you’re seeing unexpected reactivations, check Change history for system-driven edits and undo them quickly.