What is a Google Search Ads?
A Google Search campaign is a type of paid advertisement that appears on search engine results pages (SERPs). These ads are triggered when someone types a query into Google or another search engine, and they typically appear above or below the organic search results. For example, when I typed ‘best CRM for small businesses,’ I got a result for Zoho, which is an example of a search ad. You can easily spot ads in Google search results by looking for the small “Sponsored results” label next to them. This label clearly shows which results are paid ads and which are organic listings
Why run Google Search Ads?
Unlike Facebook or Instagram ads, which interrupt users while they browse those platforms, search ads target people actively looking for a product or service, so their purchase intent is high. This intent-driven behavior significantly increases the chances of conversion because search ads meet users at the exact moment they are ready to buy or take action.
What is a Match types?
Match type refers to how your keywords match with users’ search queries. It determines whether you want your ads to appear only on the exact keyword (Exact match type) or allow some flexibility for Google to match related phrases (Phrase and Broad match types). Let’s discuss each of them in detail.
Exact Match: Google’s definition of this match type is: “Ads may show on searches that have the same meaning or intent as the keyword.” Let’s understand this with an example. If you have added ‘sofa online’ as a keyword in your campaign, your ad could show on searches like “buy sofa” or “sofa sale,” which all match the intent of buying a sofa online. The syntax for this match type is square brackets [ ], so you enclose the keyword inside these brackets to mark it as exact match.
Benefits:
Helps avoid irrelevant search terms.
Saves budget.
Drawbacks:
Limited search volume and reach.
Requires micromanaging.
May miss potential traffic from unknown search terms.
Phrase Match: Google’s definition is: “Ads may show on searches that include the meaning of your keyword. The meaning can be implied, and user searches can be a more specific form of the keyword.”
For example, if your keyword is “sofa online” under phrase match, your ad could show for searches like “sofa sale,” “buy sofa,” “olive sofa online,” “ergonomic sofa online,” or “sofa for living room.” The syntax is double quotation marks, so you put your keyword inside these quotes to trigger the campaign.
Benefits:
More reach than exact match.
Includes exact match keywords automatically, so no need to create separate exact match keywords.
Drawbacks:
May trigger some irrelevant search terms.
Broad Match: Google defines it as: “Ads may show on searches related to your keyword, which may not contain the direct meaning of your keywords.” For example, if you have “online sofa” as a keyword, your ads may appear on related searches like “modern sofa online,” “royal sofa online,” “premium sofa online,” “couches for living room,” or “living room furniture.” There is no special syntax—just type the keyword into your ad group.
Brand often avoid broad keywords because they can attract irrelevant traffic and increase ad spend without guaranteed conversions. However, with users increasingly searching using long-tail, brands are starting to reconsider broad match campaigns.
Benefits:
Covers the reach of exact and phrase match keywords in one.
Helps reach a broader audience.
Easier to set up.
Relies heavily on Google’s AI.
Drawbacks:
May show your ad on many irrelevant search terms, causing wasted budget.
Campaign Hierarchy Search Campaign in Google Ads
Lets discuss the basic hierarchy of a search campaign inside Google Ads platform. At the top level, you have the campaign itself, where you set your overall budget. Within this campaign, there are multiple ad groups, each focused on a specific product category (such as Sofas, Beds, and Tables). Inside each ad group, you define target relevant keywords and create ad copies tailored to that product. This structure helps you organize your ads for better control and allows for targeted messaging based on the product category.
The Three basic Campaign Structure
In this article, I won’t dive into the step-by-step process of setting up a search campaign on Google Ads. I’ll save that for a future blog. For now, let’s focus on how to create an ideal campaign and ad group structure for an online furniture brand called “Modernz Furniture,” which sells mid-range furniture online.
Imagine you own this business and you decide to run a search ads campaign on Google. The first thing you do is research what your potential customers are typing into Google when they’re looking for furniture. These search phrases, known as keywords, reveal what’s on your audience’s mind.
During your keyword research, you might notice that people are searching for terms like “sofa online.” Naturally, you’d want your ad to appear when someone types that phrase. That’s the essence of search advertising—showing your ad to people who are already looking for what you sell.
As you do the keyword research, you’ll realize there are usually three main categories of search terms:
Branded keywords: These include searches that mention your own brand name, such as “Modernz Furniture sofa.” Here the “Modernz furiture” is your brand name. People searching these terms already know about your brand.
Generic keywords: These are broader searches without any brand names, like “sofa online” or “buy wooden chairs.” They represent users who are exploring their options and haven’t settled on a brand yet.
Competitor keywords: These are searches that include your competitors’ names(Lets call it C1)—for example, “C1 sofa online.” People typing these queries are exploring other brands, giving you a chance to win them over.
Campaign Ad group structure for beginners
Based on the three keyword types—branded, generic, and competitor—you could create three basic types of campaigns: a branded campaign, a generic campaign, and a competitor campaign. However, that’s not ideal because it gives you less control over how your budget is spent. I’ll explain the flaw in this approach and why building a more advanced campaign structure is a smarter choice. It might take a bit more effort to understand, but it will deliver better results for your business or your client’s business—and make you happier too.
The Problem with the Three Basic Types of Campaign
We can create three basic campaign types: branded, generic, and competition campaigns. However, the problem with creating only these three campaigns is that budget setting is only available at the campaign level. When you create just these three basic campaigns and put all match types under a single ad group, it leads to inefficient budget allocation.
Since you cannot set a budget at the ad group level on Google Search Ads, a large portion of the budget will be spent on phrase and broad match types, which can trigger your ads on irrelevant search terms. This increases your cost per click (CPC) and overall cost per acquisition (CPA), as the CTR drops because fewer people find your ads relevant to their searches.
As your ad relevance decreases, your CTR also drops. Because CTR and relevance are interconnected, people clicking on your ads for unrelated searches will have a poor landing page experience that doesn’t match their intent. These factors—low relevance, poor CTR, and bad landing page experience—determine your Quality Score.
If your Quality Score drops, you will need to pay more to secure top ad positions, increasing your overall costs and CPC or CPA. To address this problem of broad and phrase match types consuming your budget on irrelevant searches, you should create separate campaigns for each match type. This approach results in nine campaigns: three for the brand with all match types, three for generic campaigns, and three for competition campaigns.
