Let’s talk PMax search terms…
You are a PPC Pro, so you LOVE your keywords, right?
Keywords are _the_ most powerfull signal of intent.
Keywords are great to target.
AND keywords are great to UNtarget (exclude/negate).
Adding negative keywords to our accounts is one of the best ways to reduce wasted ad spend and increase profits.
Yet Google’s Performance Max is making it very, VERY difficult for us to exlude these non-converting search terms that just give donations to the Bank Of Nowhere (aka Google’s shareholders).
Performance Max is a black box.
Extremely little data about its performance is shared with us via the Google Ads interface.
Even a simple report like clicks and conversions for PMax search terms has long been unavailable for us.
No More!
Luckily for us, the Google Ads API allows us to pull some more data from the Google Ads platform.
And we can use a script to do some nice things with this data!
Imagine having a Google Ads Script that alerts you every week on search terms that have had a significant amount of clicks, but ZERO conversions.
Every week you’ll recieve an email with a link to a Google Sheet that list all these non-converting search terms. Ready for you to exlude them in your campaigns.
Neat right?
That script is right here, free for you to use ->
Script : Performance Max Non-Converting Search Terms Alerts
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.
The output will look something like this:
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.
Follow the instructions below to set and forget.
Happy scripting!
NB: If you like this script be sure to also check out my Google Ads Script – PMax Trending Search Categories and my script for Negative Keyword Suggestions
INSTRUCTIONS:
- See the script code below. Install the script in your account.
Don’t worry if you have never done this before. You do not need any coding skills. It is as simple as copy-paste. Simply follow these instructions on how to set up and schedule google ads scripts. - Create a new Google Sheet
(tip for chrome users: simply type ‘sheets.new’ in the address bar) - Add the complete URL of the spreadsheet to the script (line 35)
- Add your email address to the script (line 36)
- Add the name of your Google Ads account to the subject of emails (line 41)
- Set the values for LOOKBACK_WINDOW, MIN_CLICKS and CONVERSION_THRESHOLD variables (lines 43,44,45)
- Authorize and Preview
- Schedule to run weekly (I prefer Mondays at 6AM)
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/**
*
* PMax Non-Converting Search Term Alerts
*
* @author: Nils Rooijmans (c)
*
* INSTRUCTIONS:
*
* If you are new to scripts -> follow these instructions on how to copy-paste and install Google Ads Scripts:
* https://nilsrooijmans.com/how-to-set-up-and-run-google-ads-scripts/
*
* Next:
* 1. Create a new Google Sheet (tip for chrome users: simply type 'sheets.new' in the address bar)
* 2. Add the complete URL of the spreadsheet to the SPREADSHEET_URL below (line 35)
* 3. Add your email address to the script (line 36)
* 4. Add the name of your Google Ads account to the subject of emails (line 41)
* 5. Set the values for LOOKBACK_WINDOW, MIN_CLICKS and CONVERSION_THRESHOLD variables (lines 43,44,45)
* 6. Authorize and Preview
* 7. Schedule to run weekly (I prefer Mondays at 6AM)
*
* Version 0.9
*
* TODO's:
* - log gaql errors in sheet
* - add ignore list in sheet for search terms to ignore
* - add option to clear sheet after each run (right now all new alerts will be added on top of sheet)
*
* contact nils@nilsrooijmans.com for questions and the scalable paid version of the script with (semi)automatic negative keyword management
*/
/*** [REQUIRED] ADD YOUR SETTINGS HERE ***/
var SPREADSHEET_URL = ""; // insert a new blank spreadsheet url between the quotes, be sure to add the complete url of the spreadsheet
var EMAIL_ADDRESSES = ""; // insert email addresses of people that want to get the alerts between the quotes, seperate multipe email addresses by a comma
/*** [OPTIONAL] YOU MIGHT WANT TO CHANGE SOME CONFIGURATIONS HERE ***/
var EMAIL_SUBJECT = "[GAds Script][account name] - PMax Alert - You've got {nr_of_alerts} Non-Converting Search Terms"; // subject of emails, you might want to include your account name here. Don't replace the {nr_of_alerts} part.
var LOOKBACK_WINDOW = 90; // number of days before today, for which search term data is analysed
var MIN_CLICKS = 100; // ignore search terms with less clicks during the lookback window
var CONVERSION_THRESHOLD = 0.5; // alert when search term has had less conversions than the threshold
/*** DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE ***/
function main() {
console.log(`Let's get rolling...`);
var sheet = prepareOutputSheet();
var campaignIds = getCampaignIds();
if (campaignIds.length == 0) {
console.log(`The account currently has zero Performance Max campaigns that are enabled. We're done here.`);
return;
}
console.log(`The account currently has ${campaignIds.length} Performance Max campaigns that are enabled`);
var startDate = getDate(LOOKBACK_WINDOW);
var endDate = getDate(1);
var searchTermAlerts = processCampaigns(campaignIds, startDate, endDate);
if (searchTermAlerts.length == 0) {
console.log(`The account has zero PMax search terms alerts. We're done here.`);
return;
}
var nrOfsearchTermAlerts = searchTermAlerts.length;
console.log(`The account has ${nrOfsearchTermAlerts} search terms alerts for Performance Max campaigns that are enabled`);
addOutputToSheet(searchTermAlerts, sheet);
sendEmail(nrOfsearchTermAlerts);
console.log(`\nWe're done. Here's the report: ${SPREADSHEET_URL}`);
}
function processCampaigns(campaignIds, startDate, endDate) {
var searchTermAlerts = [];
for (var i=0; i<campaignIds.length; i++) {
var campaignId = campaignIds[i];
var campaignSearchTermAlerts = getCampaignSearchTermAlerts(campaignId, startDate, endDate);
if (campaignSearchTermAlerts.length == 0) {
console.log(`Campaign id ${campaignId} has zero search terms alerts.`);
continue;
}
console.log(`Campaign id ${campaignId} has ${campaignSearchTermAlerts.length} search terms alerts.`);
for (var j=0; j<campaignSearchTermAlerts.length; j++) {
searchTermAlerts.push(campaignSearchTermAlerts[j]);
}
}
return searchTermAlerts;
}
function getCampaignSearchTermAlerts(campaignId, startDate, endDate) {
console.log(`\n--- Processing campaign id: ${campaignId} ---`);
var searchTermAlerts = [];
var date = new Date();
var campaignSearchTermInsightCategories = getCampaignSearchTermInsightCategories(campaignId, startDate, endDate);
for (var i=0; i<campaignSearchTermInsightCategories.length; i++) {
var campaignSearchTermInsight = campaignSearchTermInsightCategories[i];
var campaignSearchTermInsightTerms = getCampaignSearchTermInsightTerms(campaignSearchTermInsight, startDate, endDate);
for (var j=0; j<campaignSearchTermInsightTerms.length; j++) {
var campaignSearchTermInsightTerm = campaignSearchTermInsightTerms[j];
if(isAlert(campaignSearchTermInsightTerm)) {
searchTermAlerts.push(
[
date,
campaignSearchTermInsight.campaignName,
campaignSearchTermInsight.searchTermInsightCategory,
campaignSearchTermInsightTerm.searchTerm,
campaignSearchTermInsightTerm.impressions,
campaignSearchTermInsightTerm.clicks,
campaignSearchTermInsightTerm.conversions,
campaignSearchTermInsightTerm.conversionsValue
]
);
}
}
var secondsRemaining = AdsApp.getExecutionInfo().getRemainingTime();
//console.log(`*** We've got ${secondsRemaining} secs left on this run.`);
if (secondsRemaining<180) {
var timeOutWarning =
`### This Google Ads script ran out of time and only had ${secondsRemaining} sec left to generate the report. We've quit fetching search term data and prepared the report with the alerts if there are any.\n`+
`--> To process all search terms please consider upgrading to the paid version of this script, or increase MIN_CLICKS and decrease LOOKBACK_WINDOW in the settings of the script.`;
console.log(timeOutWarning);
var emailSubject = EMAIL_SUBJECT.replace(`You've got {nr_of_alerts} Non-Converting Search Terms` , `Non-Converting Search Terms Alert script ran out of time.`);
emailSubject = emailSubject.replace(`[GAds Script]`,`[WARNING]`);
MailApp.sendEmail(EMAIL_ADDRESSES, emailSubject, timeOutWarning);
break;
}
}
return searchTermAlerts;
function isAlert(campaignSearchTermInsightTerm) {
return (campaignSearchTermInsightTerm.clicks>MIN_CLICKS && campaignSearchTermInsightTerm.conversions<CONVERSION_THRESHOLD);
}
}
function getCampaignSearchTermInsightTerms(campaignSearchTermInsight, startDate, endDate) {
var campaignSearchTermInsightTerms = [];
var searchTermInsightCategoryId = campaignSearchTermInsight.searchTermInsightCategoryId;
var campaignId = campaignSearchTermInsight.campaignId;
var startTime = new Date().getTime();
console.log(` Fetching search term data for search term insight category : ${campaignSearchTermInsight.searchTermInsightCategory} at precisely ${startTime} `);
try {
var gaqlQuery= `
SELECT
segments.search_subcategory,
segments.search_term,
campaign_search_term_insight.id,
metrics.impressions,
metrics.clicks,
metrics.conversions,
metrics.conversions_value
FROM
campaign_search_term_insight
WHERE
segments.date BETWEEN ${startDate} AND ${endDate}
AND campaign_search_term_insight.campaign_id = ${campaignId}
AND campaign_search_term_insight.id = "${searchTermInsightCategoryId}"
`;
//console.log("gaqlQuery: "+gaqlQuery);
var results = AdsApp.search(gaqlQuery);
while (results.hasNext()) {
var result = results.next();
var searchSubcat = result.segments.searchSubcategory;
var searchTerm = result.segments.searchTerm;
var searchTermInsightCategoryId = result.campaignSearchTermInsight.id;
var impressions = result.metrics.impressions;
var clicks = result.metrics.clicks;
var conversions = result.metrics.conversions;
var conversionsValue = result.metrics.conversionsValue;
campaignSearchTermInsightTerms.push(
{
searchTermInsightCategoryId: searchTermInsightCategoryId,
searchTerm: searchTerm,
impressions: impressions,
clicks: clicks,
conversions: conversions,
conversionsValue: conversionsValue
}
);
}
} catch(e) {
console.log(`### ERROR fetching search term data for campaign_search_term_insight ${campaignSearchTermInsight.searchTermInsightCategory} with id: ${searchTermInsightCategoryId}, error code = ${e}`);
}
var endTime = new Date().getTime();
var duration = (endTime - startTime) / 1000;
console.log(` Finished fetching search term data for search term insight category : ${campaignSearchTermInsight.searchTermInsightCategory} at precisely ${endTime} --> it took ${duration} secs`);
if(duration>60) {
console.log(`### GODDAMN that last query took forever! ${duration} seconds !!! Let's hope the next one will go quicker.`);
// TODO: log slow queries in sheets
}
return removeDuplicates(campaignSearchTermInsightTerms, searchTermInsightCategoryId, searchTerm);
}
function getCampaignSearchTermInsightCategories(campaignId, startDate, endDate) {
var campaignSearchTermInsightCategories = [];
console.log(`Fetching search term insight category data for campaign : ${campaignId}`);
try {
var gaqlQuery= `
SELECT
campaign.name,
campaign.id,
campaign_search_term_insight.category_label,
campaign_search_term_insight.id,
metrics.clicks
FROM
campaign_search_term_insight
WHERE
segments.date BETWEEN ${startDate} AND ${endDate}
AND campaign_search_term_insight.campaign_id = ${campaignId}
AND metrics.clicks >= ${MIN_CLICKS}
`;
//console.log("gaqlQuery: "+gaqlQuery);
var results = AdsApp.search(gaqlQuery);
while (results.hasNext()) {
var result = results.next();
var campaignName = result.campaign.name;
var searchTermInsightCategory = result.campaignSearchTermInsight.categoryLabel;
var searchTermInsightCategoryId = result.campaignSearchTermInsight.id;
var clicks = result.metrics.clicks;
campaignSearchTermInsightCategories.push(
{
searchTermInsightCategoryId: searchTermInsightCategoryId,
campaignName: campaignName,
campaignId: campaignId,
searchTermInsightCategory: searchTermInsightCategory,
clicks: clicks
}
);
}
} catch(e) {
console.log(`### ERROR fetching search term insight category data for campaign : ${campaignId}, error code = ${e}`);
}
return campaignSearchTermInsightCategories;
}
// returns an array with campaign ids of all enabled performance max campaigns
function getCampaignIds() {
var campaignIds = [];
var gaqlQuery = "SELECT campaign.id FROM campaign WHERE campaign.advertising_channel_type = 'PERFORMANCE_MAX' AND campaign.status = 'ENABLED'";
var results = AdsApp.search(gaqlQuery);
while (results.hasNext()) {
var result = results.next();
var campaignId = result.campaign.id;
campaignIds.push(campaignId);
}
return campaignIds;
}
function getDate(days) {
return Utilities.formatDate(new Date(Date.now() - days * 86400000), AdsApp.currentAccount().getTimeZone(), "yyyyMMdd");
}
function removeDuplicates(arr, prop1, prop2) {
const unique = new Map();
arr.forEach((item) => {
const uniqueKey = `${item[prop1]}_${item[prop2]}`; // Creating a unique key
if (!unique.has(uniqueKey)) {
unique.set(uniqueKey, item); // Store item if unique
}
});
return Array.from(unique.values()); // Convert back to array
}
// prepare the report sheet
function prepareOutputSheet() {
var spreadsheet = SpreadsheetApp.openByUrl(SPREADSHEET_URL);
if (!spreadsheet) {
Logger.log("Cannot open new reporting spreadsheet") ;
return ;
}
var sheet = spreadsheet.getActiveSheet();
if (!sheet) {
Logger.log("Cannot open new reporting sheet") ;
return ;
}
// set width of columns
sheet.setColumnWidth(1, 100);
sheet.setColumnWidth(2, 300);
sheet.setColumnWidth(3, 300);
sheet.setColumnWidth(4, 300);
sheet.setColumnWidth(5, 100);
sheet.setColumnWidth(6, 100);
sheet.setColumnWidth(7, 100);
sheet.setColumnWidth(8, 100);
addHeaderToOutputSheet(sheet);
return sheet;
}
// add header to sheet
function addHeaderToOutputSheet(sheet) {
try {
var headerSheet = SpreadsheetApp.openByUrl("https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RGsjiIm2__JExPGbraDNshForuk-vv8RZW1xoC2mGVA/").getSheetByName('header_sheet');
} catch(e) {
console.log(`### There was an issue opening the header sheet. Please download the latest version of this script at https://nilsrooijmans.com\n${e}`);
throw `### There was an issue opening the header sheet. Please download the latest version of this script at https://nilsrooijmans.com\n${e}`;
}
var headerRange = headerSheet.getRange(1, 1, 2, headerSheet.getLastColumn());
var headerData = headerRange.getValues();
console.log("Adding header to the output sheet");
headerData[0][4] = `Current lookback window: ${LOOKBACK_WINDOW} DAYS`;
var range=sheet.getRange(1,1,2,headerData[1].length);
range.clear();
range.clearFormat();
range.setValues(headerData)
range.setFontWeight("bold");
range = sheet.getRange(1,1,1,1);
range.setFontColor('#007BFF')
sheet.setFrozenRows(2);
}
// add alerts to report sheet
function addOutputToSheet(output, sheet) {
if (!(output.length > 0)) return; // nothing to add to sheet
var numberOfRows=sheet.getLastRow() ;
sheet.insertRowsBefore(3, output.length); // add empty rows below header row
var startRow = 3;
var range=sheet.getRange(startRow, 1, output.length, output[0].length) ;
range.setValues(output) ;
console.log("Number of rows added to output sheet: "+output.length+"\n\n");
}
// sends the alert email
function sendEmail(number) {
var emailBody =
"\nNumber of non-converting search terms in your PMax campaigns: " + number + "\n" +
"See details: "+ SPREADSHEET_URL+ "\n---\n\n"+
"For more FREE Google Ads Scripts to improve your results and make your working day feel like a breeze, visit https://nilsrooijmans.com \n" +
"---\n" +
"This email is generated by a copy of the free Google Ads Script - PMax Non-Converting Search Term Alerts, (C) Nils Rooijmans \n" +
"---\n";
var emailSubject = EMAIL_SUBJECT.replace('{nr_of_alerts}' , number);
MailApp.sendEmail(EMAIL_ADDRESSES, emailSubject, emailBody);
Logger.log("Sending mail");
}
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