Waiting time for Image ad-approval in Google AdWords

[Bergman]

Hi everyone,
I wanted to check with you how long you usually have to wait to get an image-ad approved by Google (so that is starting to show on the content-network).

Last spring I think I usually had to wait 4-5 days, but over the summer the waiting time has grown, and now it is almost unbearable. For the image ads I have added the last weeks I have to wait over two weeks!

I mailed Google this morning and asked them if they were going to do anything about it, but I haven't got any answer yet.

Is it the same for everyone else?

Or is it due to that my ads are i Swedish, and Google have a shortage of reviewers that can approve Swedish ads?

[Bergman]

Hi,
no comments from the Forum, but late in the evening I got an answer from Google which I wanted to share with the rest of you.

I had asked them that if the waiting time was very long at the moment - the least they could do was to give some estimate about how long it would be - then you at least have some information to decide if you think it is worthwhile to make and publish an image ad.

Google customer support simply told me that even if they thought that this could be seen as a fair requirement, it was not doable with the current system. (I could not tell from their answer if it was the techical system, or their organization and processes.) They also told me that the problem at the moment was worse in the Nordic countries than anywhere else (due to lack of staff I suppose)

So this seems to something we have to live with for a forseeable future (sigh).
So watch out the next time you plan an important image-ad campaign. The waiting time with the current system is totally random and has no limits. (Keep your fingers crossed that you don't get the waiting times we have at the moment in Sweden. For one ad I have now waited 17 days!)