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Ad Scripts

What are ad scripts?

Ad scripts are snippets of code written in JavaScript that allow you to automate and customize various aspects of your Google Ads campaigns.

You can apply the scripts at the account, campaign, ad group, or ad level. They can perform various tasks to help you optimize your campaigns, save time, and improve performance.

You can also use them to interact with the Google Ads API, access campaign data, make real-time adjustments, and perform complex calculations.

When to use ad scripts

Here are some common use cases for ad scripts in Google Ads:

  1. Adjusting bids based on various factors, such as performance metrics, time of day, and more. This helps you optimize your bidding strategy without manual intervention.
  2. Dynamically insert information like prices, promotions, or location-specific details into your ads. 
  3. They can help control your budget by pausing or activating campaigns based on predefined rules, ensuring you stay within your desired spending limits.
  4. Automatically monitor key performance metrics and send you alerts or notifications when specific conditions are met, helping you stay on top of your campaign's performance.
  5. Add or remove keywords or negative keywords based on performance, ensuring your ads show for relevant search queries.
  6. Automate A/B testing of ad copy by creating scripts that rotate different ad variations and analyze their performance.
  7. Some scripts can pull data from your competitors' ads and provide insights into their strategies.
  8. Monitor Quality Scores and suggest optimizations to improve your ad rank and cost-per-click.

How does it work?

To use ad scripts in Google Ads, you need to have some knowledge of JavaScript and be familiar with the Google Ads API.

You'll write or customize the scripts based on your campaign goals and requirements. These scripts are executed periodically (often daily) or triggered by specific events, ensuring your campaigns always align with your objectives.

Remember that these snippets of code can be powerful tools, but they require careful implementation and testing to avoid unintended consequences.

We recommend that you have a good understanding of both Google Ads and JavaScript before utilizing scripts in your campaigns.

What are some benefits of using Google Ads scripts?

Some benefits of using Google Ads scripts include:

  1. Time-saving: Scripts automate tedious processes in PPC account maintenance, saving time for advertisers. 
  2. Improved efficiency: They can automate tasks and schedule them to run at specific times, allowing for more effective use of time and improved efficiency in managing PPC accounts.
  3. Customizability: The code is highly customizable, allowing advertisers to tailor scripts to their specific needs and goals. 
  4. Optimization and performance: Scripts can help optimize campaigns by adjusting bids based on various factors, performing A/B testing of ad copy, monitoring performance metrics, and suggesting optimizations to improve ad rank and cost-per-click.
  5. Reporting and insights: Scripts can generate reports, pull data, and provide insights into campaign performance, allowing advertisers to make data-driven decisions.
  6. Cost savings: By automating bidding strategies and optimizing campaigns, scripts can help decrease costs in the long term and improve ROI.
  7. Easy implementation: There are numerous free scripts available online that can be easily copied and pasted into Google Ads accounts, making it accessible even for those with limited technical knowledge

Ad script example

Here is an example of a script to create a keyword in an existing ad group.

Example Google Ads Script

FAQs

Are there any limitations or restrictions on the use of ad scripts in Google Ads?

Yes, there are some limitations that you need to consider:

  • Each Google Ads account has a limit of 250 authorized scripts. If you exceed this limit, one of the previously authorized scripts will be deauthorized temporarily
  • Google Ads scripts have a maximum execution time of 30 minutes. If a script exceeds this limit, it will be canceled. But, any changes made before the cancellation will still be applied
  • There are certain limits on the number of results and IDs that can be handled by scripts. For example, a single iterator can return at most 50,000 results, and a single selector can handle at most 10,000 IDs. Exceeding these limits may result in runtime errors.

Are there any costs associated with using Google Ads scripts?

There are no costs associated with using Google Ads scripts. The scripts are free to use and are included as a feature within the Google Ads platform.

Related Terms

Remarketing

What is remarketing? Remarketing, also called retargeting, is a digital marketing approach that engages audiences who previously interacted with a brand to encourage specific actions.

Ad Variations

What are ad variations? Ad variations are different versions of your ads that you create to test and optimize your campaigns, which can help you

Activity rate by channel

What is ‘Activity rate by channel’? Activity rate by channel measures how often users engage with your ads across different advertising channels. This metric considers actions

Abandonment-rate

What is Abandonment-rate? Abondment-rate is the percentage of users who click on a Google Ads ad but then leave the landing page without completing the

Brand-Focused Shopping Campaign

What are Brand-Focused Shopping Campaigns? Brand-Focused Shopping Campaigns are a type of Google Shopping campaign that targets users who are searching for your brand or

Negative Dynamic Ad Targets

What are Negative Dynamic Ad Targets? Negative Dynamic Ad Targets are exclusions in Google Ads that advertisers can set up to block specific web pages

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