Google Ads settings: the six to check

Four settings arrive already chosen in a new Search campaign: search partners are ticked, location options are set to Presence or interest, every keyword is broad match, and Google writes assets below your ads. Two more are worth checking beside them: the Display Network box under Networks, and auto apply, which lets Google apply its recommendations on its own once it is turned on. Find them in campaign settings, Keywords, Assets and Recommendations, and decide each one on purpose.

None of them is hidden, and none of them is wrong. Each one decides where your money goes. This guide takes the six in the order you meet them, from Networks to auto apply.

The six settings

The six in one pass

• Segment by network, and judge search partners and the Display Network by their results.
• Choose between Presence and Presence or interest on purpose.
• Know which keywords are broad, and how their campaigns bid.
• Read the assets Google wrote for you.
• Check who turned on auto apply, and what it may change.

One question for a campaign you already run

Segment it by network for the last 30 days. What did search partners cost, and what did they bring?

The film, as text

Chapter 5 of the course, word for word, as it is spoken in the film above. The account in the film is an example.

Some of your Google Ads settings were chosen before you started. When you make a search campaign, Google fills in defaults. Where your ads can show. Who counts as being in your area. How far a keyword reaches. And text it writes for you. In this chapter, we find each one in your account, read what Google says it does, and decide whether to keep it. Search partners. The Display Network. Location. Match type. The assets Google writes. And one more to check: auto apply.

This is chapter five of a free course on running Google Ads yourself. Chapter four blocked the searches you don't want. This one is about the settings you never chose. Every rule here is quoted from Google's own help pages.

Step one. Search partners. In Google's words, when you create a campaign for the Search Network, search partners are included by default. Search partners are other sites that show your search ads. Google lists site directory pages, product detail pages, and YouTube search results and Watch pages. And Google adds a note: clicks from these sites may not always reflect highly targeted traffic. To check, open your campaigns, select the segment icon, then Network, with search partners. Google Search and search partners each get a row of their own. In this example, search partners cost three hundred and twelve dollars, and brought one customer. Google Search brought thirty one. If partners spend and bring nothing, open the campaign's settings, then Networks, and untick Include Google search partners.

Step two. The Display Network. Under Networks, a search campaign has a second box. In Google's words: check the box for Display Network to extend your reach beyond search results to other sites. Since October twenty twenty six, each network also has a priority. In Google's words, by default, all channels are set to High priority. And Google offers a middle way: you can use low priority for channels you value less, instead of opting out. So read the Display Network row in the same segment. If it spends without results, set it to Low, or untick the box.

Step three. Who counts as being in your area. You target Denver. In Google's words, by default, location targeting includes both physical locations and locations of interest. So someone in Miami, searching for leather couches in Denver, can see your ad. For a shop people visit in person, that may not be the customer you want. To change it, open the Settings tab, expand Locations, and select Location options. Choose Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations. Then Save. Google's own warning: most campaigns will notice a decrease in impressions when switching away from the default targeting option. Google says travel, real estate and education advertisers found more conversions with interest included. For a shop people visit in one city, presence is the one to test.

Step four. The match type. In Google's words, broad match is the default match type that all your keywords are assigned. Type a keyword in plain text, and it's broad. Broad match ads may show on searches that are related to your keyword, which can include searches that don't contain the direct meaning of your keywords. Google pairs it with one condition. In Google's words, it's critical to use Smart Bidding with broad match. So open Keywords. Read the match type beside each keyword, and the bid strategy of its campaign. Broad on manual bids is the pair to change: put the keyword in quotes for phrase match, or square brackets for exact. Chapter four's search terms report shows you what broad has been matching.

Step five. The assets Google writes for you. In Google's words, when an asset is predicted to improve your ad's performance, Google Ads automatically creates and displays it below your ad. These are account level automated assets: dynamic sitelinks, dynamic callouts, structured snippets, seller ratings, and location assets, which can include a call button. Clicks on them are paid clicks. Google's example: you're charged when someone clicks on a call button that's automatically created. And if you haven't added your locations, Google Ads may match your business to known locations on its own, based on things like your landing pages. To check them, open Assets, then the three dot menu, then Account level automated assets. To turn one off, open the menu again, select Advanced settings, and choose which asset to turn off. Read what Google wrote for you. If a callout promises something you don't offer, turn that one off.

Step six. Auto apply recommendations. In Google's words, when you turn on Automatically apply recommendations, the recommendations will apply regularly. Among the recommendations it can apply: Add broad match keywords. Expand your reach with Google search partners. And Use Display expansion. Whether or not you remember turning it on, check. Open Recommendations, then Auto-apply settings: the History tab shows when it was turned on, and Change history shows who. If something is on that you never chose, turn it off, or keep only the ones you would approve every time.

The settings you never chose. Segment by network, and judge partners and Display by their results. Choose presence or interest on purpose. Know which keywords are broad, and how they're bid. Read the assets Google wrote. And check who turned on auto apply.

Here's a question you can answer right now, if you already run a campaign. Segment your campaign by network for the last thirty days. What did search partners cost, and what did they bring?

Next chapter, the last one: the weekly checklist. Everything in this course, as one routine for every week.

And if you'd rather not check these settings by hand, Admiral reads your account and puts each fix in front of you. Each fix waits for your yes. Autopilot, if you switch it on, only pauses and blocks, under a daily cap. Start free at meetadmiral.com.