What Is Google Ads?
Google Ads is one of the most powerful platforms for paid advertising. Google Ads gives you access to users of the world’s two largest search engines—Google and YouTube, respectively—and a network of millions of websites to advertise on.
There are many types of Google ads, and not every type is right for every scenario. It’s best to begin by learning the necessary terminology and knowing the Google ads campaign types available to you and what you can realistically expect from them.
Why Advertise On Google?
Google is the most used search engine and receives over 5 billion search queries a day. That’s a lot of people looking for what you have to offer! Google Ads has been around for nearly two decades.
There are multiple ways to advertise on Google, including through a hand-holding process if you’re new to advertising or through an easy process if you have an existing Google Ad account.
Types Of Google Ad Campaigns & Their Best Practices
Now that you’re familiar with Google Ads basics let’s dive into the five Google ads campaign types and see how you can use them to advertise your business.
1. Google Search Ads
Google Search Ads are text ads that are displayed on Google results pages. You can enter multiple versions of headlines and ad copy for Google to select the best performers to display to users. With traditional ads, create one static version of your ad, using the same headline and description each time. Responsive search ads allow for a dynamic ad that is auto-tested until you arrive at the version that is best suited for your target audience- for Google, that means until you get the most clicks.
There are 3.5 billion searches on Google every day. Search ads let companies and products buy the top slot on Google.
What Are Search Ads Best For?
Search campaigns are most effective for brands, products, and categories that people are already familiar with. People who see your search ad are actively searching for goods or services that you offer. Search ads are effective because they enable businesses to capitalize on these active searches.
Search ads are especially effective when targeting people with high purchasing intent. This means that the searcher is more likely to buy what you’re selling than just being curious or doing research.
Search ads can also be captured from other ad channels, like Facebook Ads. This allows you to reach people who may not be actively searching for your products or services but are still interested in what you offer.
Paid Search ads increase your presence as people do these searches, increasing the likelihood of getting a sale instead of your competitors. This is especially important for businesses new to paid advertising, as it can be difficult to break into the search results without paying for ads.
Anatomy Of A Search Ad
A Search ad is all text. The ad includes the brand/product name for brand recognition and social proof. The ad repeats the keyword in the text. The ad explains the product and offers it for free or at a lower price. The ad qualifies traffic by discouraging people from clicking if the product is not relevant to them.
Types Of Search Ads
There are three types of search ads: responsive search ads, traditional search ads, and pay-per-click search ads.
Responsive search ads allow you to enter multiple headlines and ad copy versions. Google will then test different combinations and show the one that performs the best.
Traditional search ads are less flexible than responsive search ads, but they give you more control over where your ad appears on the page.
Pay-per-click ads let companies buy the top slot on Google. These ads are auction-based, so the amount you pay depends on how much competition there is for that keyword.
Responsive Search Ads
Responsive Search ads are a type of ad that allows you to insert multiple copy variations of all the variables we listed above. You don’t have to create separate ads for each variable. Instead, you can create one ad, and Google will automatically generate different versions based on your provided information.
The downside of using responsive ads is that they can appear in formats that don’t look good. For example, if you have a long headline, it might be truncated in the ad. However, you can use the “Headline Hijack” feature to make sure that your headline is always displayed in full.
You can use Responsive Search ads to target people searching for your products. This is a great way to increase your visibility and get more people to click on your ad.
Branded Search Ads
Branded Search ads are a type of search campaign targeting people already searching for your products. These ads give the searcher twice as many opportunities to go to your site. Branded Search ads can help you dominate WooCommerce or Shopify SEO and PPC pages, give you more control over your brand messaging, increase visibility and keep your competitors from bidding on your brand.
Call-Only Ads
Call-Only ads are ads that place a call directly to your business. They are typically used for older demographics. When a user clicks a call ad on mobile, the ad places a call directly to you from the SERP. From there, it’s up to you to convert those calls. If you include your searchers’ location in the copy, conversion rates go up.
Text Ads With Extensions
Text ads with extensions are a great way to increase your visibility on Google and other search engines. Ad extensions allow you to add more information to your ads, making them more relevant to potential customers. Extensions also increase the surface area of your ad, making it more likely that people will see and click on your ad.
We recommend using as many ad extensions as possible. They’ve almost always improved the performance of Search campaigns for our clients. Extensions can include things like your company’s address, phone number, or even links to specific pages on your website.
Dynamic Search Ads
Dynamic Search ads are a type of Google ad that allows you to promote your products or services on Google.com without having to create a traditional search ad. Google pulls content directly from your website to create your ad. This includes your product name, price, and image. The goal of your ad is to entice searchers enough to click by ensuring them that your product will solve their problem.
Dynamic Search ads are only worth it if your website changes often or has a confusing/poorly-structured/written website. This is because Google will pull the information for your ad from your website. If your website is constantly changing or is difficult to navigate, searchers may be less likely to click on your ad. Additionally, if your website copy is poorly written or does not match the searcher’s intent, they will also be less likely to click on your ad.
Dynamic Search ads work best for simple websites with copy and design you’re happy with. This is because you have less control over the ad creative when using Dynamic Search ads. You are limited to the product name, price, and image that are pulled from your website. Additionally, you are only allowed to use a maximum of two headlines and one description. This can limit how creative you can be with your ad.
2. Google Shopping Ads Campaign
Google Shopping ads are a type of ad that shows your products directly in Google search results. These ads are significantly more enticing than a simple text Search ad, and they’re available for two types of products: physical eCommerce products and single purchase software.
Shopping ads allow you to promote specific products and product lines. When you search for a particular product on Google, you’ll see ads for different brands pop up along the top and/or side.
3. Google Display Ads
Google Display Ads are either text or banner ads that are placed on other websites, apps, or videos on Youtube. These ad campaign types are not results from search queries on the Google search bar. It is important to keep them topically and contextually relevant so people will want to click on your ads. You get to choose the exact placement of your ads on these sites. What page should your ad appear on? Is a banner placement at the top or bottom of the page better? It is always better to increase the control you have over your ads.
4. Google Video Ads
Google Video Ads are a type of advertising campaign that is good for increasing brand awareness or boosting website traffic. They are easy to set up and manage. You can use videos from your YouTube account. Including a video ad in a product description increases the chances of a purchase by 35%. Video Ads also increase the chances of gaining popularity.
5. Google App Ads
Google App Ads are a type of Google Ad that is displayed on various platforms, including the Google Search Network, YouTube, Google Play, and the Google Display Network. You can create an ad campaign that encourages your audience to install your app or take certain actions within your app. App ads are set up using Google’s Universal App campaign option. According to Google, app ads drive 140% more conversions per dollar than other promotional products.
6. Google Maps Ads
Now in 2022 all of us are surveying our own experiences through Google Maps Ads. The good, the bad and the ugly shoals of information inundating the Internet these days can now conveniently be entrusted to yet another google advertising unit. “Gas-slurping albatross” ads plastered over dark strip malls were one such egregious example.
7. Smart Campaigns
What Is A Smart campaign?
A Smart campaign is an automated, simplified campaign builder that uses AI to decide everything from bidding strategies to keyword research, ad creation, targeting, network selection, and more.
By default, every campaign you create starts you off in “Smart Mode “. This means that the campaign will automatically be created using the best practices for that type of campaign.
Technically, every campaign you run in Smart Mode is a Smart campaign. However, you can also create a manual campaign by selecting the “Advanced Mode” option.
What Are Smart Campaigns Best For?
Smart campaigns are best for new advertisers who want a simplified option that helps them get started quickly. Smart campaigns are a good choice for businesses with a logical website and selling familiar, easy-to-understand products. Smart campaigns are a good way to test Google ads and find your ad performance baseline.
Smart Shopping campaigns make it easier for com brands to promote their products. Smart Shopping campaigns use machine learning to automatically show your ads across Google’s properties, including Search, Gmail, YouTube, and millions of websites and apps in the Google Display Network.
Types Of Smart Campaigns
Smart campaigns are a type of campaign automation that makes it easier to create and manage your campaigns. There are three types of smart campaigns:
1. Smart Search
This type of campaign automatically shows your ads on Google Search when people are looking for products or services like yours.
2. Smart Display:
This type of campaign automatically shows your ads on websites and apps across the web, reaching people where they browse.
3. Smart Shopping
This type of campaign automatically shows your product ads on Google Shopping, reaching people who are ready to buy.
Smart campaigns are a great way to simplify your campaign management and get more out of your advertising budget.
8. Google Discovery Ads
Google Discovery Ads are intended to show audiences what Google thinks they need, rather than waiting for people to search for it directly.
To do this, Google learns from user behaviour to anticipate their interests and serve relevant ads that look native to the platform they appear on. In reality, Discovery ads are hardly different from Display ads—they just show up in different places.
What Are They Best For?
Display ads are best for brand awareness, remarketing, and aesthetically pleasing marketing products. Display ads are less effective for targeting people who want to buy something immediately. For those types of products, search ads or YouTube ads are a better option.
Types Of Discovery Ads
Discovery ads are similar to Display ads but they appear on different content feeds. Discovery ads can appear on the home feed, the search feed, or the Explore feed. Discovery ads serve as a supplement to other campaigns. They are a good way to increase brand awareness and reach new audiences. Conversion rates for Discovery ads are higher than for Display ads.
Carousel Ads
Carousel ads are a mainstay in paid social. Carousel ads include a series of single images or graphics that users can click/tap through. Carousel ads allow a carousel of photos to be shown for a more interactive ad. The ability to feature multiple products, services, or images in a single ad unit is what makes carousel ads so effective.
Single Image Ads
Single image ads are a type of native ad that appears on content feeds. They are similar to responsive display ads, but with less text. Single-image ads are visual with minimal text. This makes them ideal for channels of their own that help advertisers access broad audiences with minimal effort.
9. Google Call Campaign
Create a call campaign to get clients to call you by clicking or touching your advertisement to increase phone calls to your company. To ensure that you don’t miss a chance to engage with your consumers, you may customize your adverts to only display when your company is open for calls.
This article provides information on call campaigns. Visit Create a call campaign for directions. Skip to About call extensions if you want to add phone numbers to current text adverts.
How They Work
Only mobile phones with the ability to make calls will see the ads prepared for call campaigns. These advertisements can be shown in a variety of ways. Your ads might not always be optimized for mobile to improve performance.
Extensions can expand your ad with more details and increase its prominence and visibility on the search results page. It is advised that you add all extensions that are pertinent to your business because there is no charge for doing so. Your extension’s clicks on your advertisement will also be charged. Go to About extensions to learn more about extensions.
10. Hotel Campaigns
You may compete for advertising that appears alongside hotel search results on Google Search and Maps by setting bids for hotel campaigns (see example).
You must use a pricing feed to offer room prices and availability to participate in hotel marketing (or work with an integration partner who provides the prices on your behalf). Additionally, hotel rooms must adhere to listing standards.
11. Local Ads Campaign
Local marketing initiatives are intended to assist companies in giving prospective clients the knowledge they require to choose the best time and method to visit their stores. Thanks to local campaigns that streamline the process, you can easily promote your stores on Google’s most popular properties, such as the Google Search Network, Maps, YouTube, Gmail, and the Google Display Network. The rest is already optimized to make it easier for clients to find you; just add a few lines of text, a budget, and some assets.
Campaign Targeting Types: Display Network
In-Market Audiences For Display
In-market audiences are people that are comparing or researching services and products across the web. They have already decided they are interested in what you are selling and are now in the process of evaluating their options.
In-market audiences are determined by the content of sites browsed and the proximity and frequency of visits. Google looks at over 100 factors to determine if someone is in-market for a product or service.
To learn more check out this article, In-Market Audiences for Display GuideIn-Market Audiences for Search. Similar to in-market audiences for Display, but applied when people search in Google.
Display Remarketing, In-market audiences, placements and more
Managed Placements
The Display Network contains a million websites where your ads can appear. You can hand-pick individual websites for your ad to appear on through managed placements. Managed placements are a type of targeting that allows you to target your ad placements on the Display Network specifically.
There are three types of managed placements:
- Website visitors: You can target people who have visited your website before.
- Website content: You can target people based on the content of the website they’re visiting.
- Website awareness, website influence, or website actions: You can target people based on their awareness of your website, their influence, or their actions on your website.
Contextual Keyword Targeting
Contextual keyword targeting allows you to target content with specific keywords that pertain to your business.
You could use contextual targeting to target content with certain branded keywords or keywords that pertain to your business.
The majority of a user’s time online is spent consuming and engaging with content, not searching on Google.
Because of that, getting in front of users as they engage with content relevant to your product or service is always a potentially viable approach to test and measure lift.
Step Up Your Marketing Campaign Now
Great job, you’ve learned everything you need to know about Google Ads to launch your first ad campaign! With a variety of campaign types available, you should be able to select the best ad format for your company. Here are a few key takeaways to consider when creating your first ad:
Finally, using Google Analytics to see how well your ads are performing is highly recommended. If you don’t yet have Google Analytics or are completely lost when you open it, check out our super simple Google Analytics for Shopify stores guide.
Are Google Ads Worth It?
Yes. Google is one of the most visited websites in the world, and its advertisements can reach up to 90% of its users. With the right keywords and targeting, you can reach millions of shoppers looking for products in your store.
Partner with Ubique Digital Solutions to achieve the best ours to use the different Google Ads Types. UDS is a digital solutions agency that helps you create the best marketing campaigns for your business. Don’t wait and get in touch with them. Boost your company’s performance with UDS’s high-quality services.
