​Create exclusions for Dynamic Search Ads

Existing Dynamic Search Ad campaigns may be eligible to upgrade to Performance Max, bringing you additional templates and formats to reach new customers. Advertisers who upgrade DSA campaigns to Performance Max see an average increase of over 15% in conversions or conversion value at a similar cost per action (CPA) or return on ad spend (ROAS).

Your Dynamic search ads dynamically match your webpages to people's specific searches on Google. Set up exclusions to block pages on your site from generating ads—for instance, pages with sold out products. This article explains how to exclude specific webpages and search terms (negative keywords) you don't want used for generating or triggering your ads.

To learn more about targeting, start with About Dynamic Search Ads.

When to use

  • Exclude specific webpages. Creating exclusions for pages that contain words like "sold out" or "unavailable” is strongly recommended. This will prevent customers from viewing pages on your website that contain products they won't be able to buy.
  • Exclude specific searches on Google. You'd like to prevent your ad about electronic devices from showing to someone searching for a used camera or used television. You'd want to add used as a negative keyword since that person isn't likely to buy your new cameras and televisions.

Instructions to exclude specific webpages

  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. Navigate to a sub-manager account.
  3. From the page menu, click Campaigns.
  4. From the Campaign list, click on the campaign you want to exclude webpages from.
  5. From the page menu on the left, click on the Audiences & content drop down.
  6. Click Dynamic ad targets.
  7. Click the Negative dynamic ad targets tab at the top of the page.
  8. Click the plus button .
  9. Use the “Add to” dropdown menu to choose whether you want to add the negative dynamic ad targets to a campaign or an ad group.
  10. Click Select a campaign or Select an ad group and choose the campaign or ad group for the negative dynamic ad targets.
  11. Create one or more rules to exclude specific webpages. You can choose to exclude pages by category, page content, page title, or URL.
    • Use exact URLs: Enter or paste the exact URLs you want to exclude. Enter one URL per line.
      • Note: A URL with a capital letter (Example.com) is considered a different URL from one with a lowercase letter (example.com). So be sure to specify the exact URL.
    • Create rules to target webpage: Use the dropdown menu to select Page content, Page title, or URL, and then enter the conditions for the rule.
  12. Click Add to review the summary of rules.
  13. Click Save.

Instructions

How to access your negative keywords

To access your negative keywords, click Keywords in the page menu, then click Negative keywords.

How to access your negative keywords

  1. Navigate to a sub-manager or client account.
  2. From the page menu on the left, click Keywords.
  3. In the expanded menu, click Negative search keywords.

How to edit negative keywords

  1. Hover over the negative keyword you want to edit and click the pencil icon Pencil icon / edit icon.
  2. Edit your negative keyword. To change your negative keyword's match type, use the dropdown to select a new match type.
  3. Click Save.

How to remove your negative keywords

  1. Select the checkboxes next to the negative keywords you'd like to remove.
  2. Click Edit in the blue bar above the table, and then select Remove.

How to download your negative keywords

  1. Click the download icon above the table.
  2. Choose the download format for your report.

Category exclusions

When the Dynamic Search Ad system finds a new page on a website, it may find relevant queries and start serving before the system has had time to categorize the new page. After the page is categorized, it will stop serving in campaigns where that category is excluded. After it's categorized, the search terms report will still reflect the current category, even if that page wasn't classified as such at the time of serving.

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