So, you’ve spent three days obsessing over the perfect copy, the creative looks incredible, and you finally hit that big blue "Publish" button. You wait. You refresh the dashboard. You refresh it again. Still, nothing is happening. You're sitting there wondering, when does ad start? Honestly, it's one of the most frustrating parts of digital marketing because the platforms—Google, Meta, TikTok—are notoriously vague about what’s actually happening behind the curtain.
Digital advertising isn't instantaneous. It’s a machine-learning process wrapped in a legal compliance check.
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The Gap Between "Active" and Actually Running
Most people think that once the status changes to "Active," the money starts flying out of the account. That's a myth. Just because Meta says your ad is active doesn't mean it’s actually appearing in anyone’s feed yet.
There is a massive difference between status and delivery.
When you ask when does ad start, you’re usually asking about the moment of first impression. For Google Search ads, this can happen within minutes of approval. However, for a complex YouTube video campaign or a high-res Instagram Story ad, there is often a "ramp-up" period. The system has to figure out which auction you can actually win. If your bid is too low or your audience is too narrow, your ad might "start" but never actually show.
The Review Process: Who is actually looking at your stuff?
Most ads are reviewed by AI. Google's automated systems or Meta's "Ad Review" bots scan your landing page and your creative for "policy violations." They’re looking for things like "get rich quick" schemes, too much skin, or misleading claims.
Sometimes, though, a human gets involved.
If you are in a "Special Ad Category"—think housing, credit, or employment—the wait time jumps. Instead of the standard 2 to 24 hours, you might be looking at two full business days. If you’re running ads for a political candidate or a high-stakes issue, the verification process alone can take a week before you’re even allowed to hit publish.
Why Your Ad Is Stuck in "Learning Phase"
You finally see the impressions tick up. One, five, fifty. You think you’re in the clear. But then you see that dreaded label: Learning.
In the world of modern programmatic buying, the question of when does ad start has a second layer. The "Learning Phase" is basically the algorithm's internship. It’s trying to figure out who is actually going to click. On Meta, this phase usually lasts until you hit 50 conversion events.
If you're wondering why your costs are sky-high in the first 48 hours, it's because the algorithm is intentionally "wasting" money to see who reacts. It's testing different pockets of your audience. If you touch the ad—change a comma, swap an image, or nudge the budget—the clock resets. You're back at square one.
Timing the Auction
The "start" of an ad is also tied to the time of day. If you launch a campaign at 9:00 PM on a Tuesday with a $100 daily budget, the platform has three hours to spend that money. This results in a "spending spree" where the algorithm bids aggressively just to hit your daily cap. It’s almost always better to schedule your ads to start at midnight the following day. This gives the system a full 24-hour cycle to distribute your budget efficiently.
Platform Specifics: Comparing the Big Players
Every platform has its own personality when it comes to timing.
- Google Ads: Search ads are the fastest. If you've been a long-time advertiser with a high trust score, your ads might go live in under an hour. Google Display and YouTube take longer because there are more "assets" to verify.
- Meta (Facebook/Instagram): They say 24 hours, but it’s usually 2 to 6. If you’re a new account, expect a manual review that could take the full day.
- TikTok: This is the Wild West. Sometimes ads start in 30 minutes; sometimes they sit in "Reviewing" for 48 hours with no explanation. TikTok is also much more sensitive to "creative fatigue," so an ad that starts strong might die within three days.
- LinkedIn: The slowest of them all. B2B moves at a snail's pace. Don't be surprised if it takes a full day for the "Active" status to translate into actual clicks.
The "Silent Failures" to Watch For
Sometimes the answer to when does ad start is "never," even if the dashboard says everything is fine.
One of the biggest culprits is the Billing Threshold. If your credit card has a temporary hold or your payment method failed six months ago on a different account, the platform might "shadowban" your delivery. You won’t get a red error message; you’ll just see zero impressions.
Another issue is the Landing Page Experience. If your ad points to a URL that redirects too many times or takes five seconds to load on a mobile device, Google might approve the ad but refuse to enter it into any auctions. You’ve "started," but you’re invisible.
The Role of Seasonality
During Black Friday or the lead-up to a major election, "when does ad start" becomes a moving target. The sheer volume of ads being submitted can overwhelm the automated review queues. In November, I've seen standard e-commerce ads take three days to clear a review that usually takes three hours. Plan for this. If you have a big sale starting Friday, your ads should be submitted by Tuesday at the latest.
Actionable Steps to Get Moving Faster
If you're staring at a stagnant dashboard, don't just sit there. There are specific levers you can pull to jumpstart the engine.
- Check the "Account Quality" tab: On Meta and Google, there is a specific section that lists "Policy Issues." Sometimes an ad is stuck because of a tiny violation you didn't get a notification for.
- Set a "Start Date" in the future: Instead of "Start Now," schedule the ad for 12 hours from now. This allows the review process to finish before the start time, so you hit the ground running at the exact minute you intended.
- Verify your domain: This is huge for Facebook. If your domain isn't verified in Business Manager, your ads might be throttled or stuck in a permanent review state.
- Broaden your targeting: If you’re trying to reach "Left-handed scuba divers who live in a specific zip code and like jazz," your ad might never start because the audience is too small to trigger an auction. Open it up to see if delivery begins.
- Watch the bid: If you are using "Manual Bidding" and you’re too stingy, the "start" will be a flatline. Switch to "Lowest Cost" or "Maximize Conversions" just to see if the ad can actually deliver, then rein it in once you see movement.
The reality of digital marketing in 2026 is that the human is the strategist, but the machine is the gatekeeper. You provide the fuel, but the algorithm decides when to turn the key. If you’ve followed the rules and your ad still hasn't started after 48 hours, it’s time to duplicate the campaign and try again—sometimes the "glitch" is real, and a fresh submission is the only way to bypass a stuck automated queue.