With TONs of scripts out there where do you even begin?!
Let me spare you the pain of endlessly searching for, installing and testing the best Google Ads scripts that came out in 2020. Here’s a list of my favorites.
Be sure to also check out my all-time list of over 300(!) Google Ads Scripts.
2020 is now more than halfway done. With the many challenging situations marketers had to face this year, doing repetitive work in ad campaigns shouldn’t be one of them.
That’s where these five Google Ads scripts come in. These scripts are my favorite ones published this year–and not just because they’re free and easy to use. They’re essential for optimizing campaigns in the face of tight budgets and ever-changing Google Ads policies.
Without further ado, here’s the five scripts:
1 – Disapproved Extensions Report
We already noticed Google is disapproving ads like crazy last months. But it’s not just ads that can get disapproved–extensions can also encounter this issue.
That’s where the Disapproved Extensions Report script comes in. This Google Ads script checks your account every hour to see if there are any disapproved extensions. If it does find anything, it will send you an email with a list of those disapproved extensions, broken down into specific types and with the specific reason for disapproval.
These are definitely an upgrade from Google’s current disapproval emails, as it is almost real time and offers more relevant information compiled in a single email.
2 – Minimize Spending on Close Variants for Phrase and BMM Keywords
With the year’s economic climate, it’s understandable why many advertisers want to stick to their budget as much as possible. Unfortunately, 2020 was also the year when Google decided that synonyms and implied words will also trigger phrase and broad match modifier (BMM) search terms. Due to this change, many fine-tuned campaigns that use BMM will lose their edge. After all, why bother with BMM to target only the keywords that really perform, if Google Ads will still include non-performing synonyms?
What can you do? There’s this script to the rescue.
This script created by our friends at Brainlabs will help rein in Google Ads from using the wrong close variants to your preferred search terms. It works by first downloading a search query report, checking the queries against the BMM or phrase keywords from other ad groups, then creating phrase negative keywords for the close variants of the terms in those ad groups. This helps minimize the chance that Google Ads will serve up your ads for closely related–but non-performing–keywords that slip through your BMM keyword list.
Take note that when attempting to run this script on larger accounts, the script may time out, as Google Ads can only run scripts for a maximum of 30 minutes. As such, you may need to adjust the script to run in subsections of your account by adding filters or using the impression threshold option.
3 – Stop Spending on Clicks After X Conversions
For some businesses–especially smaller ones–too many conversions for one Google Ads campaign can be a nightmare. Granted, it’s a problem a lot of people would rather have. But if a business can only accommodate so many orders or leads at a time, there should be a way to automatically pause a Google Ads campaign once a certain number of conversions is reached.
Thankfully, this script makes it possible. The script checks the number of conversions across your entire account every hour. If the script detects that you’ve already gotten a specific number of conversions–or more–then it will automatically pause and label those campaigns.
This is a definitely better option than trying to figure out the right budget to get a specific number of conversions per hour, or checking on your Google Ads account regularly throughout the day. The script also re-enables the paused campaigns at midnight, so after setting the script up, you can literally just leave it to run on its own.
The only limitation of this script is any form of lag when recording conversion values, especially if you’re importing conversions from other platforms such as Google Analytics. This means that if Google Ads encounters a delay in recording conversions, the script may also encounter delays when pausing the campaigns.
4 – Trending Search Terms
Considering how crazy 2020 has been so far, it’s important to constantly stay up-to-date with any dramatic changes in search behavior and search volume for specific search terms, especially new ones that might show up.
That’s what my trending search terms script aims to do, by exporting a Trending Search Terms report to Google Sheets. The report contains a list of search terms with a large increase or drop in impressions, when compared to the previous week and the previous year.
With this data in hand, you can easily see whether a specific search term needs to be negated or replaced since it’s not performing as well as it used to. Or if you should look into adding more keywords that are on the rise to your campaign.
5 – ETA vs RSA Query Report
One of the most heated debates in the world of PPC is whether specific automations, such as the use of Responsive Search Ads or Smart Bidding, really increase campaign performance. That’s especially since in reality, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, considering that there are so many factors that come into play when running a campaign.
Good thing this script created by Frederick Vallaeys allows you to accurately measure whether to push through with RSA on your specific ad accounts. It uses Campaign Experiments–a feature found on both Google and Microsoft (Bing) Ads–to create a detailed report comparing the performance of queries in ETAs versus RSAs.
The script, which exports the report into Google Sheets, shows the impressions, clicks, cost, conversions, and conversion value, split into individual queries. Based on the number of conversions, the script evaluates the RSA performance, displaying its recommendation at a the rightmost column. Sounds useful, right?
The only caveat here is that this script is designed only for use in individual Google Ads accounts–it won’t work with MCCs. And while this script does come with pre-made recommendations, it’s important to remember that this report should only be used as an aid in deciding whether to continue using RSAs.
A little automation definitely goes a long way with these five scripts. And it’s so easy to get started with using them, even if you don’t know how to write a single line of code. Just check out my guide to install and run any Google Ads Script (or sign up for a call with me) to unlock the full potential of your Google Ads account.
Be sure to check out our favorite Google Ads Scripts of the last years:
Join thousands of PPC geeks who already have access:
If the button above isn’t working for you, you can sign up here to get access.