If you find the "Draft" status terminology in adCenter a little confusing, you are not alone. What does "Draft" mean? Are the ads live or are they disapproved? The answer is neither.
The first step to setting your ads live is to identify the cause. "Draft" status means one of two things: a) your ad group is complete and you just need to submit it, or b) your ad group is missing either ads or keywords or both. To determine which scenario applies to you, simply go into the ad group and check for ads and keywords. If you have both you are in Scenario A, if you are missing keywords or ads then you are in Scenario B.
Now that we know the reason for the "Draft" status we can fix. Depending on what scenario applies to you, follow the instructions below to set your ads live:
Scenario A
You have all the information, now all you need to do is submit it. Click on the campaign that has the ad group(s) in "Draft" status. Click the box next to each ad group in draft and then click the "Submit" button at the top. You should see the status change to "Active" and your ads should go live shortly.
Scenario B
Click on the ad group that is in draft status and click the "Continue" arrows at the top of the page. When you reach a page that is missing information, the "Continue" arrow will be grayed out and you will need to add the ads or keywords before you can move to the next page.
![clip_image002[5]](http://community.microsoftadvertising.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/advertiser.metablogapi/8030.clip_5F00_image0025_5F00_thumb_5F00_0D03E212.jpg "clip_image002[5]")
After you have entered all the information you will be taken to the review page where you can look over all the information. Once you verify that everything is correct, hit the "Submit" button and return to the ad group page.
![clip_image002[7]](http://community.microsoftadvertising.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/advertiser.metablogapi/0028.clip_5F00_image0027_5F00_thumb_5F00_1EE075DF.jpg "clip_image002[7]")
The ad group status should be listed as "Active" now. If not, select the box next to the ad group name and click "Submit" (as in Scenario A).
For adCenter Desktop users:
Please note that when you create a new ad group you can choose whether you want your ad group loaded in "Active", "Draft" or "Paused" status. If you choose "Draft" you will need to submit the ad group separately for it to go live.
7/20/2009: Updated screenshots.