Do you have control over your Google Ads campaigns?

It can be overwhelming trying to keep up with the rapid pace at which Google introduces changes and new features in Google Ads.

You might find yourself asking: Do I truly have everything under control when it comes to my Google Ads campaigns?

Google’s ambition is to make it increasingly possible to set up your Google Ads account – that is, your objectives, focus, and daily budget – and then largely let the system manage your advertising. With a solid overview and a well-structured setup, this can work quite well.

However, many advertisers still prefer to retain some control over their Ads rather than letting Google take the lead. To maintain an overview, most people at least check their account to see which keywords are generating clicks and costs. This helps you keep some control over your budget.

Few, however, check the fundamental setup or look behind the numbers – but if you do, you might be surprised, even when things seem to be running smoothly.
Google is not always transparent about the changes it implements – changes that can significantly affect how your Google Ads account functions and performs.

So, if you are one of those who do not want to hand over the reins entirely to Google, here are a few tips on what to check to gain a bit more control over your Google Ads account.

It’s all about:

1. The budget
2. Controlling your keywords (= costs)
3. Preventing your account from automatically creating ads

1. The budget – do you have full control over how much Google Ads can spend each day?

When you create a new campaign, you need to specify the daily spend during setup. This is, of course, to ensure you do not forget to define your maximum amount in the process.

But in your eagerness to get several campaigns up and running, you might overlook the total possible daily spend across all your campaigns.

For example, if you set up new campaigns and take the easy route by copying an existing campaign, you can lose track. If the existing campaign has a daily spend of £1000, your new campaign will also add another £1000 to the daily limit.

Solution: Use shared budgets.

Fortunately, you can manage your spend quite accurately with the daily budget you set. It may vary from day to day, but Google is generally good at hitting the correct monthly spend.

However, Google can sometimes spend up to double your daily budget on certain days!
There is no need to panic though, as the system will balance out to the “agreed” spend overall.

But if you – or your manager – do not want to exceed the set amount on any single day, things become a bit more complex.

Solution: This can be handled with “automated rules” – and it is not as complicated as it sounds.

Read more about automated rules here: Get the most effectiveness out of automated rules on Google Ads

2. Do you have control over your keywords – which searches are actually triggering your ads?

A well-known trick to avoid very expensive keywords is to use long-tail keywords, for example, “VW Golf VII 1.6 TDi 110 BlueMotion” instead of just “VW Golf”. By doing this, you accept that there will be fewer searches, and you will need to find many long-tail keywords to generate enough traffic.

However, you will often encounter the issue of “Low search volume”, and you could risk your ads not being shown at all, even if the keyword perfectly matches what you offer.
To get a reasonable amount of traffic, it may be necessary to use broader keywords.

Luckily, you can still exercise some control over how broad, for example, “VW Golf” is. The so-called match types – exact, phrase, and broad match – give you more control, especially if you place them in their own ad groups or campaigns.

Exact match often converts better, so it is usually a good idea to keep them separate.
And this is where it gets interesting to see which searches users are actually using – the search terms.
If you have not separated the match types, it can be challenging to determine which keywords are actually being triggered by which search terms, as they are all lumped together. This is another good reason to at least split them into separate ad groups.

Solution: There is a small trick you can use to see which search terms are associated with specific keywords. When you tick a keyword, an option appears to view the search terms users have used:

NB: If you use the broadest match type (broad) – the one without a “+” in front of the keyword – you need to be even more aware of what searches are actually triggering your ads. For example, you could find brand searches ending up here and clouding your data.

“Exact keywords are just not as exact anymore…”

Unfortunately, you no longer have the same level of control over your exact keywords, as Google has relaxed the rules here as well; this can be both positive and negative.

The negative: Google will, to some extent, show your ads for similar searches – so-called “Exact match (close variant)”. For example, “VW Golf Van” might be considered a “close variant” of your keyword “VW Golf” – which may or may not be relevant. But it means more clicks (and therefore costs) and often a slightly lower conversion rate.

The positive: On the other hand, it can also result in more conversions.

Solution: Unfortunately, there is not one.

You simply cannot opt out of this.

Of course, you can regularly review the search terms report and exclude certain variants, but this is not what most would consider effective control.

That said, there actually is a “solution”, but it is a bit technical.
You can set up so-called scripts (advanced rules) that identify these “close variants”, and, for example, automatically pause them if they have not converted over a given period. You can find these scripts for free on reputable sites – but – once you activate them, there is “no way back”, so use an expert who knows what they are doing.

3. When your account starts creating things on its own

Yes, it sounds odd, but it can actually happen that the system creates a new ad automatically. You might be surprised the first time you see it:

We have not yet seen any major disasters as a result, but you do lose control over your ad copy.Solution: When automatic ads are created, you will be notified, and you can also disable this feature:

But if you do not regularly monitor your Google Ads account and have not switched this off, you could get an unpleasant surprise.

Those were my three tips on how to gain better insight and control over your Google Ads account. If you need advice on your Google Ads or assistance with campaign setup, do not hesitate to get in touch with us.

Contact us here – it is, of course, 100% obligation-free.

You can also explore Google Ads setup in greater depth in these blog posts:

6 things you should know about Google Ads
Introduction to Google Ads
Get more traffic with your branded keywords