When thinking about your assets (formerly known as ‘ad extensions’), did you know:
“The Google Ads system generally won’t allow ads in lower positions to get more incremental clicks from assets than the incremental clicks they’d get from moving up to a higher position.
To show ads in higher positions, generally you need to increase your ad quality, bid, or both.“
AND
“You will not be able to get a combination of assets which gives more expected click-through-rate (CTR) than the expected CTR of a higher ad position.“
Do you want to increase control and efficiency in your accounts?
If so, please join Daniel Alvarado (CEO of White Shark Media) and me on Thursday, April 25, at 11 AM EDT.
Discover how to regain control and improve your efficiency by strategically implementing Google Ads scripts.
This session is for you if you want to get inspired by many examples of the scripts I use in my accounts, or if you are a complete beginner and want to know how to get started with Google Ads scripts.
This session is NOT for you if you already are familiar with scripts, have them running in your account, and already have seen many examples (e.g., the ones in my list with over 400 scripts).
Interested to learn how 1,135 PPC specialists and their managers feel about their work, the ad platforms, priorities, campaign types, budget expectations, generative AI, tooling, and much more?
Today has been a lot of fun, mostly because of all the crazy responses I got to yesterday’s email (provided below for your convenience).
Many of you responded with some interesting quotes from people I’ve never heard of.
Some of you asked ChatGPT or some other LLM for the answer. This (surprisingly?) has proven to be a task that is still outside of LLMs’ league — none got it right.
And then, there were a few of you who got it right. Congrats to Ignasi Thio, Gabriel Bradly, Gideon Robert , Martin Mayer, and Lee Duncan for getting it right!
Johan Cruijf had famously said:
“Voetbal is een simpel spelletje, maar simpel voetballen blijkt erg moeilijk”
Just to show you an example of what I was talking about in the Google Ads context: what about automatically pausing your campaigns when your website is down? Simple task, right?
At least, it should be simple. However, how to actually do this within Google Ads isn’t that simple at all.
For this, you can email me at nils@nilsrooijmans.com. 🙂
– Nils
PS: For all Dutch responders, I’ve got something even better — free drinks at the next SEA Borrel (11 April, Amsterdam). Sign up here: https://seaborrel.nl
If so, adding new highly relevant keywords with clear intent might be the best way to scale your account.
Here’s my current favorite keyword research strategy to do just that: ask ChatGPT.
Don’t simply ask it for keywords based on a vague description of the thing you are selling. Ask it based on a list of existing search terms that already show great conversion value.
Don’t simply ask it for any keywords. Ask it for keywords that you aren’t already targeting in your account.
Here are my suggested steps:
1. Download a list of your search terms, sorted by conversions, in a CSV file (UTF-8) 2. Upload your CSV and ask ChatGPT for keyword suggestions
Here’s a sample prompt:
“You are a Google Ads professional with excellent keyword research skills. It is your job to generate ideas for new keywords with high conversion value to add to the Google Ads account.
Here’s a CSV file with a list of converting search terms at the top.
First, identify the central theme in the list of search terms with 1 or more conversions. Only look at the search terms that had at least 1 conversion to determine this central theme.
Next, suggest 10 new keywords that are closely related to this central theme and the meaning of the converting search terms in the CSV, and are not already in the complete list in the CSV, and will generate clicks with high conversion value.
Again, stay very close to the meaning of search terms that had at least 1 conversion, and do not wander off.“
Now, imagine having this process automated, with an automated email including 10 new keywords that aren’t already in your account, landing in your inbox every week or every month.
Interested? If so, email me at nils@nilsrooijmans.com.
You go first. I’ll let you answer and then I’ll give my take.
You think: “Profits?”
My take: No.
You: “Revenue?”
Me: No.
“Conversions?”
Nope.
“Clicks?”
Nope again.
…
It’s Spend.
PMax is designed to make Google money. BIG money. And thus, it maximizes your spend.
Now, don’t get me wrong — it won’t spend without returns. That would be foolish. Advertisers like you and me would jump ship and thus total ad spend would tank.
However, here’s the thing:PMax will spend as much as it can, as long as we think it delivers a decent return.
It is your job to judge this return, NOT Google’s.
If that’s true, how should we think about enhanced conversions, consent modeling, data-driven attribution, and the likes?
“I am a Google Ads advertiser, but I am not based in the EEA/UK. Am I still required to implement consent mode?”
The short answer: YES, if you are targeting people in the European Economic Area (EEA) and/or the UK. As for the longer answer…
“If your agreement with Google incorporates the ‘EU user consent policy’, or you otherwise use a Google product that incorporates this policy, you must ensure that certain disclosures are given to, and consents obtained from, end users in the European Economic Area along with the UK. If you fail to comply with this policy, we may limit or suspend your use of the Google product and/or terminate your agreement.”
What it does: The script checks for non-converting search terms in your PMax campaigns, logs them in a Google Sheet, and sends out an email alert if there are any. See screenshot below for an example.
(Click image to enlarge)
Why you care: PMax is a black box. Monitoring search term performance via the interface is next to impossible. This script will make sure you’ll be in the know when PMax is wasting your budget on search terms that don’t convert. You can add them as negatives to stop the waste.
Yesterday, I shared my biggest question regarding consent mode V2 and Google Ads:
“What percentage of my conversions are “tracked” thanks to this conversion modeling?”
(For your convenience, I’ve provided a link to my write-up below.)
In theory, we should be able to see the uplift in the Diagnostics tab of our conversion action inside Google Ads.
Unfortunately, I do not see any.
It appears I am not alone in this. Many of you responded with the same experience: zero, nothing, nada report on “impact results.”
At the same time, there were also quite a few responses that helped shed some light on the issue. (If you were one of those who shared some screenshots with me, thanks a ton!)
Here’s why many of us (myself included) haven’t been seeing consent mode impact results in any of our accounts: uplift data will only be shown for up to 4 weeks after the modeling start date!
Fellow member of the list Tomas Vlcko sent in this screenshot (shared with permission):
Here’s another thing that’s good to know:
“In order to be able to meet our rigorous confidence thresholds, you’ll need to meet the following quality checks:
1. You have correctly implemented consent mode or the IAB Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF v2.0).
2. You have a daily ad click threshold of 700 ad clicks over a 7-day period, per country and domain grouping.
Once the above criteria are met, our models enter training periods.”
Nadine Dankwardt also shared these amazing insights (shared with permission as well):
“Here’s a potential reason you do not see the report:
Modelled Data is too low to show (this could be esp. the case when you implemented the basic version). You could check your opt-out rates via your CMP: high opt-out rates could mean a higher potential of more modelled data. From my experience (V1): Although we had it installed in a country with high opt-out rates and very high volumes, it took very long, until the modelling started (more than half a year) … So better check your consent mode modelling table from time to time – it could start showing up anytime, and you might miss it, as you won`t get informed by our friends at Google…
Another reason: You had the V1 version installed and upgraded to V2 – results won`t shown up again for the V2 (as they were already shown for the V1)“
That explains it for me.
What remains now is the question: why the hell is Google hiding this data from us after 4 weeks?! We need this data to make proper adjustments to our smart bidding targets, right?
Thanks again to everyone who responded to my write-up from yesterday. Your replies were so bright, I had to wear sunglasses just to read them! (And that means a lot to me, given the current weather conditions in Amsterdam.)
With deadlines approaching and all the FUD, misconceptions, and fake news bombarding my timelines, I’m considering making an FAQ on the topic.
Here’s one of my personal first Qs:
What percentage of my conversions are “tracked” thanks to this conversion modeling?
Here’s what Google says:
“You can view the impact of consent mode on your conversion volume using the consent mode impact results. The impact metric shows changes in reported conversions due to conversion modeling for consent mode for your eligible domain and countries.”
However, this is what I get in each and every one of my accounts:
Please help me out here: Are you able to view your consent mode impact results? What am I doing wrong, if any?
Thanks a ton!
– Nils
PS: Want to get access to my FAQ on Consent Mode V2 for Google Ads advertisers once it is finished? If so, just send me an email at nils@nilsrooijmans.com.
Want to take back control of the PMax algorithm and reduce wasted ad spend?
Join me and hundreds other PPC freaks in two weeks at SMX Munchen!
I will be presenting my ‘PMax Scripts Library’ and how it prevents Google’s money grab.
Think: – stop Google from overspending your budget on clicks with below-average conversion value – prevent PMax from re-entering the learning phase when top sellers go out of stock – make sure PMax doesn’t take priority over your standard search ads – remove under-performing products from wasteful PMax explorations – exclude spammy placements (lead fraud, anyone?) – … and more
What it does: The script creates charts in a Google Sheet that visualise the share of Brand versus Non-Brand traffic in your PMax campaigns.
Why you’d care: PMax likes to go after warm traffic at the bottom of your funnel AND take credit for it. Brand traffic is about as hot as it gets when it comes to conversion value. Conversions from Branded searches inflate PMax performance and give it ample room to waste money on Non-Brand while still meeting your campaign target. So, learning what percentage of conversions comes via Brand may inform you on your next actions (e.g., excluding Brand traffic from PMax campaigns). This script will help you monitor PMax behavior and the effects of your actions.
NOTE: When you install the script, you’ll need to create a copy of the spreadsheet that is on line 38, and replace the URL with the URL of your copy of the spreadsheet.
– Nils
PS: In case it would help, below is an example from them that “shows a big drop in brand traffic after removing assets from PMax, followed by a spike when Google automatically added new assets, and then another drop after those were deleted.”
Here’s a question that popped up in the God Tier Ads community recently: “As far as I understood, it is only exact match keywords that take priority over PMax. Right?”
My answer: “Yes, exact match keywords take prioriy. BUT there’s more to the story…”
It is my current understanding that Performance Max takes preference if and only if:
1. You do not have a keyword in your search campaign whose keyword text exactly matches the search term from the user query and the campaign is not limited by other targeting and/or budget constraints (note that the keyword does not need to be an exact match type keyword)
AND
2. The user query is not matched to another matching keyword in your search campaigns that has a higher ad rank for that search.
(click image to enlarge)
As per Google:
“Performance Max ads are equivalent to keywords that don’t exactly match the search term or the spell-corrected search term for selection preference.” (*)
“If a keyword isn’t preferred based on the above rules, Performance Max ads are selected based on the highest Ad Rank in comparison to other keywords in the account.”
(*) The set of preferences detailed in the Google support doc determines which keyword/campaign is used to enter an ad into an auction. Once the ad enters the auction, it’s then compared with ads from other advertisers, and your cost-per-click is what’s minimally required to clear the Ad Rank thresholds and beat the Ad Rank of the competitor immediately below you, if any.
– Nils
PS:
If you join God Tier Ads, you’ll also become part of an online community of PPC freaks like Ed and me, where all members help you answer questions like the one above.
Use my discount code “NILS100” at checkout for $100 off. Pay once, get lifetime access to everything.
I’d still share these tips without the kickback… Ed’s pro tips have made me way more money than I’ll ever see from commissions, but a few extra bucks is nice!
