You're paying, and the phone isn't ringing. My take: it's usually one of a few boring causes, and Google publishes the list. When it isn't, the ads may be fine and the problem is the page people land on. Here's the checklist in the order that finds the problem fastest.
Google's own troubleshooting guide covers the mechanical causes: a billing or account hold, paused or inactive ads, a budget that's too low, ads that got disapproved, bids too low to win the auction, or targeting so narrow almost nobody qualifies. Check the status columns before you build theories. Two more things Google documents: Smart Bidding campaigns can show Learning for up to 7 days after big changes like a new bid strategy or adding or removing keywords. And if you keep searching for your own ad without clicking it, you might stop seeing it. Use the Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool instead.
My take: ads that run but bring nothing usually fail on the math, not the settings. Broad keywords spend money on searches from people who were never buying (“free,” “jobs,” “DIY”). The search terms report shows exactly what you paid for; read it and add negative keywords. A budget too small for your market buys almost no data: if clicks cost $30, $200 buys about six visitors. Tight and boring beats broad and hopeful: your services, your towns, and the searches where someone is ready to hire.
If ads bring clicks and the phone stays quiet, look at the page the click lands on before you blame the ads. A slow page, a homepage instead of a service page, no phone number you can see, no proof (reviews, photos, prices): people leave, and no bid strategy fixes that. Before raising your budget, fix that page. Before running ads at all, make sure the free basics work: your Google profile, your reviews, and a site that answers real questions. My take: paid traffic sent to a weak page just spends faster. If fixing those basics sounds like the harder problem, that's the one I can help with.
The ad shows for searches it shouldn't, or says nothing worth clicking. Read the search-terms report, add negative keywords, and rewrite the ad to name the service, the place, and a reason to pick you. Generic ads get generic ignoring.
Often the page they land on is losing them: slow load, wrong page, no phone number you can see, no proof. Send clicks to a service page with reviews, prices, and a tap-to-call number. The ad's job ends at the click; the page has to do the rest.
Google says Smart Bidding campaigns can show Learning for up to 7 days after big changes, and results can take 1 to 2 conversion cycles to settle. My take: give it a few weeks of steady settings, then judge on booked jobs per dollar, not impressions or clicks. No tracked conversions after real spend is an answer too.
If nobody reads the search terms report every month, you're likely paying for waste either way. Whoever runs your ads (you, me, anyone), hold them to one number: what a booked customer costs. My take: an account manager who can't answer that is decoration.
See also: How much do Google Ads cost? · Marketing budget for a small business · Google Ads vs Facebook Ads
Not sure if your Google Ads clicks land on a page that makes people call? Email alejandro@ojedaworks.com and I'll check for free.