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If one thing is for certain, it’s Google Ads’ perseverance for a better user experience.
Thanks to the innovation of AI, Google Ads has begun introducing more customized options for users.
Recently, Google included a workflow structure for uploading new campaigns. This structure guides users through the process, offering them options to select from along the way.
In this article, we’ll outline everything you need to know about Google Ads Campaign Types, from how to choose the right type for your ad, to what benefits you can gain from doing so.
So, you’ve begun setting up your Google Ads campaign. At this stage, you’ll be asked to select your goals. Then Google Ads will suggest the best 9 available campaign types for each goal. It will suggest one of the following:
Each campaign is designed to promote certain types of products or services. Google offers suggestions for various types of business ventures as well:
But how do these campaign types work? Furthermore, how can you use each type to achieve your campaign goals?
Out of all the Google Ads Campaign types, Search Network Ads is the most commonly used.
Through the campaign, ads are triggered to make an impression on search engines once a user searches for the keyword you’ve placed your bids on.
Search network campaigns encourage users to take action by calling your business or clicking on your ad. Targeted individuals are likely actively searching for services or products like yours.
Here are some goals you can achieve using this campaign type:
By using Search Network Ads, you’ll benefit from:
While using Google Display Network, Google will show your banner and image ad to your prospects while they’re visiting relevant sites.
This type of campaign is widely used with online shopping brands. So, if you run an online store for women’s wear, this campaign type will display your ads on similar online stores.
This is the best campaign type for:
Thanks to the increased popularity of infographics, this type of campaign is gaining traction.
By using display network campaigns, you’ll benefit from:
This type of Ads Campaign is shown above organic searches formatted with a title, product image, carousels, price, and store.
Out of all the Google Ads Campaign Types, this one focuses on the quality of your images. It’s the key to standing out from the competition to grab shoppers’ attention.
Use Shopping Ads campaigns to achieve:
By using shopping campaign types, you’ll benefit from:
This form of Google Ads Campaigns allows you to show video ads through popular video content sites such as YouTube as well as all across the Google Display Network.
This type of campaign is easy to set up and manage. It allows you to use videos from your YouTube account and follow the ad performance to tweak video marketing as you see fit.
According to Amazon and eBay, including a video ad to a product description increases the chances of a purchase by 35%.
You can run three types of video ads through this campaign:
Video Ads Campaigns are good if you’re looking to increase brand awareness or boost website traffic.
By using Video Ads Campaigns, you’ll benefit from:
These types of campaigns are used to increase traffic for your app.
App campaigns make it simple to promote apps. All you need to do is add a few lines of text, assets, and a bid — the rest is optimized to bring your ad to the right audience.
Google Ads also automates the bidding and targeting strategies to help you get the best value for each download. Through this campaign, you can optimize your target audience to find valuable users based on actions such as in-app conversations.
Your ads will appear across the Google search network as well as:
By using App Campaigns, you’ll benefit from:
Discovery ads are a versatile marketing tool visible to users of both Android and Apple devices, particularly within the Google app’s Discover feed. These ads employ sophisticated technology, leveraging scalable machine learning focused on user intent. By analyzing signals of customer intent alongside AI algorithms and your specified bidding and conversion objectives, Google dynamically tailors Discovery ads to individual end users.
These ads encompass various elements such as multiple images, compelling headlines, descriptive content, a logo, and a business name. Google utilizes these components to refine and optimize ad presentations across different advertising platforms. You can spot Discovery ads not only on Discover feeds but also on prominent spaces like YouTube’s homepage, Watch Next feed, and Gmail’s Promotions and Social tabs.
What sets Discovery ads apart is their placement in areas where users are actively exploring, making them particularly effective in driving conversions. The audience in these spaces is already engaged in browsing, positioning them closer to the purchasing decision, thereby increasing the potential for conversions.
Local Services Ads exist somewhat outside the core Google Ads hub but remain a crucial ad type within Google’s ecosystem. Specifically designed for businesses offering localized products and services, these campaigns are housed in the Local Services Ads hub, contingent upon meeting Google’s prerequisites like licensing, insurance, and background checks.
Within this framework, businesses can attain one of four distinct Google badge statuses:
Google Screened: Represented by a green checkmark, this signifies that the business has successfully passed Google’s rigorous background and license checks.
Google Guaranteed: Displayed as a white checkmark against a green backdrop, this badge indicates that businesses have completed the screening process, confirmed their location, and offer a $2,000 guarantee for satisfactory service.
License Verified by Google: Another green checkmark badge, specifically for healthcare providers who have met Google’s stringent qualification and license standards.
Pre-Badge: Businesses in the initial stages of Google’s screening process, yet to complete it, might advertise without a badge temporarily.
Local businesses opting for Local Services Ads, such as landscaping or tree service providers, can secure top placement in relevant search results on the Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP) and Google Maps.
These ads facilitate direct connections between users and businesses. Clicking on these ads allows users (in the U.S.) to directly call or message the business, generating highly targeted, ready-to-purchase leads for advertisers. Ensuring quality is paramount, as lower response rates or unfavorable user ratings can impact ad placements, benefiting users by prioritizing reputable businesses in their search results.
Performance Max ads represent the next frontier in Google’s advertising landscape, emerging strongly since its introduction in late 2021 and signaling Google’s vision for the future of ad offerings.
This innovative approach automates advertising campaigns across all Google Ads platforms, driving a notable shift towards promoting Performance Max over individual single-channel ad formats. Notably, Google has been transitioning certain automated ad types, such as Smart Shopping, to Performance Max campaigns throughout 2023.
What sets Performance Max campaigns apart is their comprehensive nature. They amalgamate advertiser objectives and resources with Google’s AI and machine learning models, optimizing ads across the entirety of Google’s diverse advertising channels. Advertisers prioritize conversion goals like sales, leads, and website traffic, assembling an asset group encompassing images, videos, headlines, descriptions, logos, and audience signals.
Google takes this assortment of assets and employs its algorithms to craft tailored ads for each channel. Advertisers relinquish the need to specify ad types; instead, they provide Google with the elements they desire in their ads, allowing Google’s algorithms to orchestrate the rest. Through the power of machine learning and automation, Google ensures these ads reach the most qualified users, progressively refining targeting over time.
Smart ads, akin to Performance Max ads, operate within certain confines yet offer valuable automation while requiring a bit more direct involvement. Instead of assembling all the individual elements into a complete ad campaign and generating an array of finished ads, Smart ads demand a slightly more hands-on approach while incorporating beneficial automated features and cross-channel dissemination.
Similar to initiating Search or Video ads, creating Smart ads involves providing original content, images, videos, audience preferences, keyword themes, and bidding specifications. Google takes this input and autonomously showcases these ads across various platforms, including search partner sites, the SERP, Maps, YouTube, and Gmail.
Smart ad campaigns serve as centralized platforms that enable advertisers to pursue specific objectives—such as boosting video views, driving website traffic, and cultivating localized leads—without the necessity of crafting separate campaigns for each associated channel.
Understanding the suitable Google Ad type involves analyzing your audience, campaign goals, product/service, budget, and testing different ad formats to see which resonates best with your audience and delivers desired results.
You can create 9 types of ads with Google Ads, including Search ads, Display ads, Shopping ads, Video ads, App ads, Discovery ads, Local Services Ads, Performance Max ads, Smart ads, and more, tailored to suit different platforms and audience preferences.
AI is driving the advertising game to a more advanced and optimized place, at a level where advertisers’ don’t need to be as involved.
We can see this through Google’s efforts to provide automated solutions for the common issues advertisers face, which means we have more Google Ads Campaign Types, and a higher level of optimization and service.
The campaign type you choose can make or break your advertising efforts. So, while you can choose any campaign type for your ads, it’s best to trust in the suggestions from Google Ads.
After all, Google knows best.
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