Custom-dimension templates let you associate feed data with a custom dimension and thereby keep that custom-dimension data current with your inventory.
For example, if your business is an airline, you might have custom dimensions for "origin_city" and "destination_city" for each route, along with the secondary dimension "airport" for each city. As your feed data changes, you can automatically update secondary-dimension values associated with your custom dimensions (e.g., the airport code for a city), as well as any template-generated entities like campaigns and ad groups that are based on those custom dimensions. Updates occur with each evaluation of the template.
Custom-dimension templates also accommodate dynamic values, for example, the number of seats left on a flight, which would let you automatically modify campaign-related entities like changing the ticket price you advertise based on the number of seats available or stop running ads when there are no seats left.
Create a custom-dimension template
- Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
- Navigate to the relevant sub-manager account.
- From the page menu, under “Tools & settings”, click the Templates drop-down.
- Click Templates.
- Click the plus button
- Click + Custom dimension template.
- Follow the instructions in the sections below, starting with Campaign template pre-stage.
Click Continue to complete each stage and proceed to the next one.
Flights feed table
In this example, the "Flights" feed table contains the following columns of product data supplied by a new Search Ads 360 customer, Example Airways.
Example Airways operates two brands. Albatross Flights sells transatlantic tickets between the US and European destinations, while Golden Eagle Flights markets route tickets within Europe.
The example feed table only contains information for one route for each brand to ease understanding.
| Feed column name | Column description | Column value example 1 | Column value example 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| "product_id" | Flight origin airport international air transport association (IATA) code –destination airport IATA code | CDignoredLHR | SEA-CDG |
| "brand" | The brand name for the flight | Golden Eagle Flights | Albatross Flights |
| "availability" | Flight ticket availability | Available | Not available |
| "seats_left" | Number of unsold seats on the flight | 11 | 0 |
| "origin_iata" | Flight origin airport’s IATA code | CDG | SEA |
| "origin_name" | Flight departure location | Paris | Seattle |
| "origin_country" | Flight origin country’s name | France | USA |
| "destination _iata" |
Flight destination airport´s IATA code | LHR | CDG |
| "destination_name" | Flight destination´s name | London | Paris |
| "destination_country" | Flight destination country’s name | UK | France |
| "price_usd" | The flight price in US dollars | 400 | 900 |
Click the headings below to learn about each stage in the template creation flow, including stage settings and dynamic content examples.
Custom-dimension template pre-stage
| Stage | Panel | Settings and descriptions |
|---|---|---|
| "Pre-stage" | "New custom-dimension template" |
|
Stage 1: Custom-dimension template settings
| Stage | Panel | Settings and descriptions |
|---|---|---|
|
Stage 1 |
"Template name"
|
|
Stage 2: Campaign settings
| Stage | Panel | Applies to | Settings and descriptions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage 2 "Custom-dimension settings" |
|
All account types |
Enter a text value or formula. Add text or a formula to map your source to values of the custom dimension you chose in the pre-stage. Custom-dimension values are updated throughout the day each time Search Ads 360 evaluates the template. Campaign entities based on those custom-dimension values are also updated. Example
f:"productID" |
|
"Secondary-dimension update"
|
Select one or more secondary dimensions and then enter a text or dynamic value for each one. Example
Using the example columns in the "Flights" feed table above: If your secondary dimension is availability, then you might use the dynamic value If your feed table had data for hotels, for example, you might have a secondary dimension like "availability%" and have the value dynamically calculated from other feed columns like "availability" (number of unsold room) and "capacity" (total number of rooms in the hotel), e.g.: Secondary dimension: Dynamic value: |