Common ways to use automated rules

Automated rules allow you to schedule your ads to:

  • Appear at specific times of the day
  • Adjust bids by time of day, seasonal factors or other dynamic conditions
  • Control your budget and costs by showing ads only at the times you choose

To get started, think about the tasks you perform frequently in your account and write down the steps you take. Then structure your rules to have these actions performed automatically for you.

This article provides several examples of popular rules. You can use your personal performance goals and expertise about your business to choose specific metrics and actions that make sense for you.

Once you've created rules, make sure to monitor their performance frequently and refine them to get the desired results.

Bulk actions are owned by the manager account or sub-manager account that you're directly signed into. You can't make a client account the owner of a rule you create for that account. Learn more.

Instructions

Schedule ads

Turn on or off several special ads for a promotional event

Say you have several promotional ads containing the phrase "Memorial Day specials" and you want to run them over Memorial Day weekend. First, create these ads in advance and keep them paused. Then create two one-time rules: the first to enable these ads at the start of Memorial Day weekend (for example, May 28, approximately 5 PM) and the second to pause the ads at the end of the holiday weekend (May 30, approximately 11 PM).

Rule 1

  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. Navigate to a Google Ads client account.
  3. From the page menu, click Ads.
  4. Click the more options icon above the table and select Create an automated rule.
  5. Name your rule.
  6. In the "Action" section, click the arrow Down arrow icon and select Enable ads.
  7. (Optional) In the "Apply to" section, select the scope of the rule.
    By default, the rule will apply to all ads in the account unless you select a different option in the "Apply to" section.

  8. Specify the criteria for the rule in the "Conditions" section.

    1. Click Add condition.
    2. Click Attributes and select Ad text.
      The rule applies to All but removed ads. If you want the rule to apply to all ads or to removed ads, click the button and then select one of the options.
    3. In the “Value” field, enter “Memorial Day specials”, then click Apply.
  9. In the "Frequency" section, choose "Once", select May 28, 2022 at 5:00 PM, and then select the data to evaluate.
  10. Click Save rule.

Rule 2

  1. On the "Ads" page, click the more options icon , and select Create an automated rule.
  2. Name your rule.
  3. In the "Action" section, click the arrow Down arrow icon, and select Pause ads.
  4. (Optional) In the "Apply to" section, select the scope of the rule.
    By default, the rule will apply to all ads in the account unless you select a different option in the "Apply to" section.
  5. In the "Conditions" section,
    1. Click Add condition.
    2. Click Attributes and select Ad text.
      The rule applies to All but removed ads. If you want the rule to apply to all ads or to removed ads, click the button, and then select one of the options.
    3. In the “Value” field, enter “Memorial Day specials”, then click Apply.
  6. In the "Frequency" section, choose Once and select May 30, 2020 at 11:00 PM.
  7. Click Save rule.

Turn on or off several special ads on a repeating basis (for example, every weekend)

Let's say you want to show special "Free Shipping" ads every weekend. Using two weekly rules, these ads can be enabled every Saturday morning (rule 1) and paused every Sunday night (rule 2). You can use the ad text to select the ads across your account (instead of selecting ads individually from the table, as shown in the example below).

Rule 1

  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. Navigate to a client account.
  3. From the page menu, click Ads.
  4. Click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
  5. Name your rule.
  6. In the "Action" section, click the arrow Down arrow icon and select Enable ads.
  7. In the "Apply to" section, choose All enabled and paused ads.

  8. Specify the criteria for the rule in the "Conditions" section.

    1. Click Add condition.
    2. Click Attributes, and select Ad text.

      The rule applies to All but removed ads. If you want the rule to apply to all ads or to removed ads, click the button and then select one of the options.

    3. In the “Value” field, enter “Free Shipping”, then click Apply.
  9. In the "Frequency" section, choose Weekly, and select Saturday at 1:00 AM.
  10. Click Save rule.

Rule 2

  1. Click the more options icon , and select Create an automated rule.
  2. Name your rule.
  3. In the "Action" section, click the arrow Down arrow icon and select Pause ads.
  4. In the "Apply to" section, choose Ads in this account.

  5. Specify the criteria for the rule in the "Conditions" section.

    1. Click Add condition.
    2. Click Attributes, then select Ad text.
      The rule applies to All but removed ads. If you want the rule to apply to all ads or to removed ads, click the button and then select one of the options.
    3. In the “Value” field, enter “Free Shipping”, then click Apply.
  6. In the "Frequency" section, choose Weekly and select Sunday at 11:00 PM.
  7. Click Save rule.

Turn on or off a special ad campaign for a promotional event

Say you have a special advertising campaign you want to run on New Year's Day. First, create this campaign in advance and keep it paused. Then create two one-time rules: the first will enable this campaign at the start of New Year's Day (for example, January 1, approximately 1 AM) and the second will pause the campaign at the end of the day (approximately 11 PM).
  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. Navigate to an account.
  3. From the page menu, click Campaigns.
  4. Click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
  5. Name your rule.
  6. For rule 1, in the "Action" section, select Enable campaigns.
    For rule 2, in the "Action" section, select Pause campaigns.
  7. In the "Apply to" section, choose Selected campaigns, select the campaigns you’d like to include, and then click Done.
  8. For rule 1, in the "Frequency" section, choose Once and select January 1, 2023 at 1:00 AM.
    For rule 2, select January 1, 2023 at 11:00 PM.
  9. Click Save rule.

Enable or pause campaigns at a specific time

Say you have a campaign that you want to start at a specific time. You can create a rule to start or pause the campaign at a particular time and date using the following instructions:
  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. Navigate to an account.
  3. From the page menu, click Campaigns.
  4. Select the campaigns that you would like to enable or pause, and click Edit.
  5. Click Schedule change.
  6. Name your rule, specify whether to enable or pause, and select the date and time for the change to run.
    • To view and manage this rule, click Bulk actions and then click Rules.

Pause low-performing ads or keywords

Pause low-performing keywords based on performance metrics (for example, high cost per conversion)

Some advertisers experiment with different keywords and try to keep the ones that perform best, while optimizing the ones that are underperforming. You can use automated rules in this process by routinely pausing the ones that don't perform as desired so that you can optimize and re-enable them later.
Here's an example of pausing keywords that have a very high cost per conversion: a monthly rule could pause all keywords with a cost per conversion that's more than $20 and at least 100 conversions in the last 30 days. Keep in mind, the performance metric ($20 cost per conversion) and data to be observed (100 conversions in a month) are very specific to each advertiser. They should be chosen based on your performance goals and your expertise about your business.
Here's how to create this rule:
  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. Navigate to a client account.
  3. From the page menu, click on the Keywords drop down, and then Search keywords.
  4. Click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
  5. Name your rule.
  6. In the "Action" section, click the arrow Down arrow icon then select Pause keywords.
  7. In the "Apply to" section, choose Keywords in all accounts.

  8. Specify the criteria for the rule in the "Conditions" section.

    1. Click Add condition.
    2. Click Conversions, then select Conversions.
      The rule applies to All but removed keywords. If you want the rule to apply to all keywords or to removed keywords, click the button and then select one of the options.
    3. Set Conversions to “>100”, then click Apply.
    4. Click Add condition, click Conversions, and then select Cost / conv.
    5. Set Cost / conv. to " > $20", then click Apply.
  9. In the "Frequency" section, choose Daily at anytime and use data from the Previous 30 days.
  10. Click Save rule.
When you create rules based on conversions, we recommend that you use long time ranges (such as previous seven days or previous 30 days) to properly capture your conversions. Conversions may take up to 30 days.

Pause low-performing ads based on performance metrics (for example, low CTR)

Some advertisers experiment with different ads and try to keep the best performing ones. You can use automated rules in this process by routinely pausing the ads that don't perform as desired. For example, you could use a daily rule to look for ads with less than 0.2% clickthrough rate and over 1,000 impressions in the last day (so that enough data has been collected to make a decision). These ads could then be automatically paused.
Keep in mind that the performance metric (in this case, 0.2% CTR) and data to be observed (1,000 impressions in a day) are specific to each advertiser. They should be chosen based on your performance goals and your expertise about your business.
To create this rule, do the following:
  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. Navigate to an account.
  3. From the page menu, click Ads.
  4. Click the more options icon , and select Create an automated rule.
  5. Name your rule.
  6. In the "Action" section, click the arrow Down arrow icon, and then select Pause ads.
  7. In the "Apply to" section, choose Ads in this account.

  8. Specify the criteria for the rule in the "Conditions" section.

    1. Click Add condition.
    2. Click Performance and then select CTR.
    3. Set CTR to “.2%”, and click Apply.
    4. Click Add condition.
    5. Click Performance, then select Impr.
    6. Set impressions to “ >= 1000”, and click Apply.
  9. In the "Frequency" section, select Daily, and use data from the Previous 14 days.
  10. Click Save rule.
The rule described above will work for ads meeting the conditions for all of your campaigns. If you want the rule to work for ads on only 3 specific campaigns, you can add a campaign condition and select those three campaigns.

Bids and bid scheduling

Adjust bids for keywords based on cost per conversion

You can use automated rules to increase bids for keywords that are converting well and at a low cost per conversion (CPC), and decrease bids for those that aren't. For example, a weekly rule could raise max. CPC bids by 15% for keywords with more than 50 conversions and a cost per conversion under $10 that are displaying ads above the search results (ads that receive the top impression share),
Note that setting a maximum bid is recommended as a precautionary measure. A second weekly rule could decrease bids by 15% for keywords with a cost per conversion more than $12.
To create these rules, do the following:

Rule 1

  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. Navigate to an account.
  3. From the page menu, click on the Keywords drop down, and then Search keywords.
  4. Click the more options icon , and select Create an automated rule.
  5. Name your rule.
  6. In the "Action" section, click the arrow Down arrow icon, and select Increase bids.
  7. Next to “Increase by percentage”, enter “15%”.
  8. In the "Apply to" section, choose Keywords in all account.

  9. Specify the criteria for the rule in the "Conditions" section:

    1. Click Add condition.
    2. Click Conversions, then select Cost / conv.
    3. Set Cost / conv. to “<$10”, then click Apply.
    4. Click Add condition, select Conversions, and then select Conversions.
    5. Set to “>50”.
    6. Click Add condition, click Performance, and then select Impr.(Top)%.
    7. Set to 75%
  10. Click Save rule.

Rule 2

  1. Click the more options icon , and select Create an automated rule.
  2. Name your rule.
  3. In the “Action” section:
    1. Select Change keyword bids.
    2. Select a currency.
    3. Under "Action", select Decrease bids.
    4. Next to “Decrease by percentage”, enter “15”.

  4. Specify the criteria for the rule in the "Conditions" section.

    1. Click Add condition.
    2. Click Conversions, and then select Cost / conv.
    3. Set Cost / conv. to “>$12”.
    4. Click Add condition, click Conversions, and select Conversions.
    5. Set to “>50”.
    6. Click Add condition.
    7. Click Performance, ​ select Avg. CPC., and set to “<3”.
  5. In the "Frequency" section, choose Weekly, using data from the Last week.
  6. Click Save rule.
When you create rules based on conversions, we recommend that you use long "using data from" time ranges (for example, previous 14 days, previous 30 days, or more) to properly capture your conversions. Conversions may take up to 30 days.

Change bids to target an average position (Search network, Microsoft Advertising only)

Some advertisers would like their ads to show in particular ad positions, such as the top two spots, or positions 3-5. Adjusting keyword bids can help achieve this. Note, however, that a higher bid can sometimes lead to a lower average ad position. Google recommends that you first learn more about ad relevance in Microsoft Advertising.
If you'd like to target positions 3-5, you can create two daily "Change keyword bids" rules. The first rule increases bids when the average position drops below 5, and the second rule decreases bids when the average position rises above 3.
To create this rule, do the following:

Rule 1

  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.

  2. Navigate to a Microsoft Advertising client account.
  3. From the page menu, click on the Keywords drop down, and then Search keywords.
  4. Click the more options icon , and select Create an automated rule.
  5. Name your rule.
  6. In the “Action” section:
    1. Select Change keyword bids.
    2. Select a currency.
    3. Under "Action," select Increase bids.
    4. Next to "Increase by percentage", enter "15".
    5. Specify an upper bid limit that you're comfortable with.
  7. In the "Apply to" section, choose Keywords in this account.
  8. In the "Conditions" section:
    1. Click Add condition.
    2. Click Competitive metrics and select Search impr. share.
    3. Set to “>5”.
  9. Set the Frequency to Daily, using data from the Previous day.
  10. Click Save rule.

Rule 2

  1. Click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
  2. Name your rule.
  3. In the “Action” section:
    1. Select Change keyword bids.
    2. Select a currency.
    3. Under "Action," select Decrease bids.
    4. Next to "Decrease by percentage", enter "15".
    5. Specify a lower bid limit that you're comfortable with.
  4. In the "Conditions" section.
    1. Click Add condition.
    2. Click Competitive metrics and select Search top IS.
    3. Set to “<3”.
  5. Set the Frequency to Daily, using data from the Previous day.
  6. Click Save rule.
If you're far from your desired average position, you can create several rules to help reach it more quickly. For example, when the average position is worse than 5 but better than 7, you could increase bids by 10%. Or if it's worse than 7, increase bids by 20%.

Raise bids to ensure ads show on the first page (Search Network and Google Ads only)

Some advertisers want to ensure that their ads are always at least on the first page. You can use automated rules to raise the bids of your keywords to the recommended first page bid, and run this rule on a daily basis.
However, be sure to specify a maximum bid, and also add a requirement that the keyword status is "Below first page bid" so that you're only changing bids of keywords that aren't already showing on the first page. In addition, you might want to only raise bids for keywords that have a good Quality Score (for example, Quality Score >= 6), so as not to bid up keywords that need to be optimized.
To create this rule, do the following:
  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. From the page menu, click on the Keywords drop down, and then Search keywords.
  3. Click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
  4. Name your rule.
  5. In the "Action" section:
    1. Click the arrow Down arrow icon, and then select Change keyword bids.
    2. Select a currency.
    3. Under “Action”, select Raise bids to first page CPC.
    4. (Optional) Set a “Max. bid limit”.
  6. In the "Apply to" section, choose Keywords in all accounts.
  7. In the "Conditions" section:
    1. Click Add condition, then select Quality Score.
    2. Click Quality score and set value to “>=6”.
  8. Set the Frequency to Daily, using data from the Previous day.
  9. Click Save rule.

Raise bids to the recommended top of page bid (Search Network and Google Ads only)

You can use an automated rule with top of page bid estimates to raise the bids of your keywords to the recommended top of page bid, and run this rule on a daily basis.
Be sure to specify a maximum bid. In addition, you might want to only raise bids for keywords that have a good Quality Score (for example, Quality Score >= 6), to avoid paying more for keywords that need to be optimized.

To create this rule, do the following:

  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. From the page menu, click on the Keywords drop down, and then Search keywords.
  3. Click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
  4. Name your rule.
  5. In the "Action" section:
    1. Click the arrow Down arrow icon, and then select Change keyword bids.
    2. Select a currency.
    3. Under “Action”, select Raise bids to top of page CPC.
    4. (Optional) Set a “Max. bid limit”.
  6. In the "Apply to" section, choose Keywords in all accounts.
  7. In the "Conditions" section:
    1. Click Add condition, then select Quality Score.
    2. Click Quality Score and set value to “>=6”.
  8. Set the frequency to Daily, using data from the Previous day.
  9. Click Save rule.

Bid scheduling (for example, a higher bid during certain hours of the day)

You can use automated rules to raise and decrease bids based on day of week, or even based on hour of day. For example, you can set up two daily rules to increase your bids between 6 PM and 10 PM every evening. The first rule would increase your bid by 25% at approximately 6 PM and the second rule would decrease the bid by 20% at approximately 10 PM, thus bringing it back to the original value ($1 increased by 25% is $1.25, $1.25 decreased by 20% is $1 again).
Here's a handy way to calculate increase and decrease percentage%. Given an increase of x percentage, the corresponding decrease d percentage to get back to the original value follows this formula: d = (100 * x) / (100 + x). In the above example, x = 25. Then d = (100 * 25) / (100 + 25) = 20.

Control budgets and cost

Check in on your budget

You can use automated rules to trigger emails (notify-only rules) when certain conditions occur. For example, let's say that you have a campaign with a daily budget of $100. You can set an automated rule to run at noon every day to email you if you’ve spent more than $50 so far that day. Upon receiving the email alert, you can then choose whether you want to increase your budget so as not to throttle your campaign for the rest of the day.
To create a rule that sends an email if specific campaigns have accrued more than $50 in cost by 12 PM, do the following:
  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. From the page menu, click Campaigns.
  3. Click the name of the campaign who’s budget you’d like to keep track of.
  4. Click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
  5. Name your rule.
  6. In the "Action" section, select Send email.
  7. In the "Apply to" section, choose All ad groups in this account, or Selected ad groups.
  8. In the "Conditions" section:
    1. Click Add condition, then select Performance.
    2. Click Cost and then set value to “>$50”.
  9. Set the Frequency to Daily , 12:00 PM, using data from the Same day.
  10. Click Save rule.
You can set up similar rules to email you when certain conditions happen in ad groups, ads, and keywords.

Schedule budgets (for example, higher budget on certain days of the week)

Automated rules give you the flexibility to increase or decrease campaign budget values based on a day of the week. For example, if you know that most conversions occur on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, you can set rules to increase the budget on Tuesday morning and decrease it to its normal value Wednesday night.
The first rule would increase your budget by 50%, and the second rule would decrease the budget by 33.3%, thus bringing it back to the original value ($100 increased by 50% is $150, $150 decreased by 33.3% is $100 again).
Here's how to create the two rules:

Rule 1

  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. From the page menu, click Campaigns.
  3. Click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
  4. Name your rule.
  5. In the "Action" section:
    1. Click the arrow Down arrow icon, and then select Change budgets.
    2. Select a currency: US Dollar (USD $)
    3. Under "Filter by" select Avg. Daily.
    4. Under "Action", select Increase budget and then next to "Increase by percentage", enter “50”.
    5. (Optional) Specify an upper budget limit.
  6. In the "Apply to" section, choose Campaigns in all accounts.
  7. Set the Frequency to Weekly, Tuesday 1:00 AM using data from the Previous week.
  8. Click Save rule.

Rule 2

  1. Click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
  2. Name your rule.
  3. In the "Action" section:
    1. Click the arrow Down arrow icon, and then select Change budgets.
    2. Select a currency: US Dollar (USD $)
    3. Under "Filter by" select Avg. Daily.
    4. Under "Action", select Decrease budget and then next to "Decrease by percentage", enter “33.3”.
    5. (Optional) Specify a lower budget limit.
  4. In the "Apply to" section, choose Campaigns in all accounts.
  5. Set the Frequency to Weekly, Wednesday, 11:00 PM using data from the Previous week.
  6. Click Save rule.
Here's a handy way to calculate increase and decrease %. Given an increase of x %, the corresponding decrease d % to get back to the original value follows this formula: d = (100 * x) / (100 + x). In the above example, x = 50. Then d = (100 * 50) / (100 + 50) = 33.3.

Pause campaigns that have spent a certain budget partway through the month

Though you can control a campaign's cost using its daily budget, you may also wish to limit its monthly spend. This can be approximated by using an automated rule that runs daily every morning and pauses any campaign that has spent, for example, $200 so far this month. You can do this by using a frequency of "Daily" and setting "using data from" to "Same month."
Keep in mind that when you set the frequency for a rule that governs costs, the "using data from 'All time'" option is ineffective due to fluctuations in currency conversion. You need to choose a finite time range that falls within the date range during which the rule was created.

Pause campaigns that have reached a certain number of clicks partway through the day

In some cases, you may wish to limit the number of clicks to, for example, 500 for a campaign in a given day. This can be approximated by creating several daily rules that each run at different hours of the day. Each rule checks whether or not the 500 clicks have been reached -- if yes, the campaign is paused. In a simplified case, this could be four daily rules:
  1. Rule 1: checks at approximately 6 AM whether 500 clicks have been reached; pauses the campaign if needed.
  2. Rule 2: checks at approximately 12 PM whether 500 clicks have been reached; pauses the campaign if needed.
  3. Rule 3: checks at approximately 6 PM whether 500 clicks have been reached; pauses the campaign if needed.
  4. Rule 4: enables the campaign at approximately 11 PM, so it's ready to run the next day.

Increase budget for campaigns that convert well (using cost-per-conversion)

If you have a target cost-per-conversion and you see that some campaigns are doing better than expected, you may wish to allocate additional budget to these campaigns. An automated weekly rule could do this for you: for example, you could create a rule that any campaign with over 10 conversions and a cost-per-conversion under $5 should receive an additional budget of 10%. Note that setting a maximum budget is recommended as a precautionary measure.

Increase bids for dimensions that perform well in your Display Network campaign (Google Ads only)

Currently, this feature isn't supported in the new Search Ads 360 experience. You can configure Display Network campaigns in Google Ads.
Let’s say you have a Display Network campaign that is targeting ages 18-24, 25-34, and 35-44, and you bid the same amount for each age group. As your campaign progresses, you notice that certain age groups are more likely to actually buy your products after they’ve clicked through to your website. For these high-conversion age groups, you might be willing to spend more money trying to reach those groups.
To do this, you could create a rule that runs regularly, looks at past performance data, and raises bids for any age group where you see a high conversion rate (and therefore a high return on your investment). Conversely, you can lower your bids for age groups where you see a low conversion rate. In this case you might also want to set a maximum bid so you don’t accidentally increase your bid beyond what you are willing to spend.

Manager account-level rules

In the new Search Ads 360, you can create rules at the manager account level that are used across all of the manager's accounts. In addition, rules created at the manager account level can reference custom columns created at the manager account level.

Common metrics that can be tracked and rules-based actions that can be created at the manager account level include:

  • Daily budget pacing (using a formula column)
  • Impression share changes
  • Performance metrics (for example, CPA and Target ROAS)
  • Custom dimension assignment automation
  • Label assignment automation

The following are examples of how you can use automated rules to perform certain important tasks.

Depending on how you configure these rules, you can run them at the manager or sub-manager account level.

Send daily budget alerts

A custom formula column to calculate spend percentage against your daily budget is required to create this rule. Learn more about creating custom formula columns.

Use automated rules to send email alerts about your daily budget when certain conditions occur. For example, you can create a rule to send daily email alerts when a campaign's daily budget exceeds 90% of its total daily spend limit by 4 PM.

To create this rule, do the following:

  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. From the page menu, click Campaigns.
  3. On the table toolbar, click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
  4. On the "New rule" page, name your rule.
  5. In the "Action" section, do the following:
    1. Select each campaign to which you want to apply the rule.
    2. Click Add condition.
    3. Click Custom columns to expand the section, then select the custom formula you previously created.
    4. Enter a value, then click Apply.
    5. In the "Choose what happens" drop-down, select Send email.
  6. In the "Frequency" section, select Daily, and then select 4:00 PM–5:00 PM.
  7. In the "using data from" drop-down, select Today.
  8. In the "Email results" section, select Every time this rule runs, and add any additional email recipients.
  9. Click Save rule.

A daily email alert is sent to inform you about campaigns that match the criteria you set.

You can create up to 5 actions within the same rule in the new Search Ads 360. This allows you to create a combination of actions that a rule can execute when it runs.

For example, you can send an alert and adjust daily budgets for campaigns that are maxing out on daily budgets if they're also showing a high click-through rate (CTR). You can also apply a custom dimension or label indicating that the campaign is spending quickly while still driving high-intent traffic, using CTR as an indicator.

Set weekly budget alerts

A custom formula column to calculate spend percentage against your weekly budget is required to create this rule. Learn more about creating custom formula columns.

Use automated rules to send email alerts about your weekly budget when certain conditions occur, such as when a campaign's weekly budget has been maxed out early. For example, you can create a rule to send weekly email alerts when a campaign's weekly budget exceeds 80% of its total weekly spend limit by 10 AM every Thursday.

To create this rule, do the following:

  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. From the page menu, click Campaigns.
  3. On the table toolbar, click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
  4. On the "New rule" page, name your rule.
  5. In the "Action" section, do the following:
    1. Select each campaign to which you want to apply the rule.
    2. Click Add condition.
    3. Click Custom columns to expand the section, then select the custom formula you previously created.
    4. Enter a value, then click Apply.
    5. In the "Choose what happens" drop-down, select Send email.
  6. In the "Frequency" section, select Weekly in the first drop-down and Thursday in the second drop-down, then select 10:00 AM–11:00 AM.
  7. In the "using data from" drop-down, select This week.
  8. In the "Email results" section, select Every time this rule runs and add any additional email recipients.
  9. Click Save rule.

An email alert is sent every Thursday between 10 AM and 11 AM when a campaign exceeds 80% of its weekly budget.

Change budgets on certain days of the week

Use automated rules to change your budgets on certain days in a week. For example, you can create rules to increase your campaigns' budgets on Tuesdays and decrease them on Wednesdays.

To create these rules, do the following:

  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. From the page menu, click Campaigns.
  3. On the table toolbar, click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
  4. On the "New rule" page, name your rule.
  5. In the "Action" section, do the following:
    1. Select each campaign to which you want to apply the rule.
    2. In the "Choose what happens" drop-down, select Change budgets, then select a currency.
    3. In the drop-down that appears, select Increase budget.
    4. Under "Increase by", select Percentage in the drop-down, then enter the percentage by which you want to increase budgets on a particular day.
    5. (Optional) Enter an "Upper budget limit".
      • If you enter a budget limit, your automated rule won't set a new budget that's above this value.
  6. In the "Frequency" section, select Weekly in the first drop-down and Tuesday in the second drop-down, then select the hour in which you want the rule to run.
  7. In the "Email results" section, select your email preference regarding results and add any additional email recipients.
  8. Click Save rule.

Next, to create an automated rule to decrease budgets for these campaigns on Wednesdays, do the following:

  1. From the page menu, click Campaigns.
  2. On the table toolbar, click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
  3. On the "New rule" page, name your rule.
  4. In the "Action" section, do the following:
    1. Select the same campaigns you chose when you created the rule to increase budgets on Tuesdays.
    2. In the "Choose what happens" drop-down, select Change budgets, then select a currency.
    3. In the drop-down that appears, select Decrease budget.
    4. Under "Decrease by", select Percentage in the drop-down, then enter the percentage by which you want to decrease budgets on a particular day.
    5. (Optional) Enter a "Lower budget limit".
      • If you enter a budget limit, your automated rule won't set a new budget that's below this value.
  5. In the "Frequency" section, select Weekly in the first drop-down and Wednesday in the second drop-down, then select the hour in which you want the rule to run.
  6. In the "Email results" section, select your email preference regarding results and add any additional email recipients. If you don't want email alerts, click the "X" next to your email address.
  7. Click Save rule.

Your budget increases every Tuesday and decreases every Wednesday for the campaigns to which the rule is applied.

Increase budget for campaigns that convert well

Use an automated rule to set higher budgets when a combination of conditions are met. For example, you can create a rule to increase your campaign's daily budget by a set percentage (in this example, 10%) if the campaign has a strong conversion rate (in this example, a cost per action of less than USD$5 and more than 10 conversions).

To create this rule, do the following:

  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. From the page menu, click Campaigns.
  3. On the table toolbar, click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
  4. On the "New rule" page, name your rule.
  5. In the "Action" section, do the following:
    1. Select each campaign to which you want to apply the rule.
    2. Click Add condition, then select Avg. target CPA or Target CPA.
    3. In the window that appears, select <, select USD $ for your currency, enter "5" in the amount field, and then click Apply.
    4. Click Add condition, then click Conversions to expand the section.
    5. Select Search Ads 360 conversions, then click Conversions.
    6. In the "Conversions" window, select >, enter "10" in the amount field, then click Apply.
    7. In the "Choose what happens" drop-down, select Change budgets, then select your currency.
    8. In the "Action" drop-down that appears, select Increase budget.
    9. Under "Increase by", select Percentage, then enter the percentage by which you want to increase budgets whenever the rule is run.
    10. (Optional) Enter an "Upper budget limit".
      • If you enter a budget limit, your automated rule won't set a new budget that's above this value.
  6. In the "Frequency" section, select Daily or Weekly, then select the hour in which you want the rule to run.
    • If you select Weekly, you must also choose a day of the week.
  7. In the "Email results" section, select your email preference regarding results and add any additional email recipients. If you don't want email alerts, click the "X" next to your email address.
  8. Click Save rule.

Your budget increases by 10% when a combination of these two conditions are met each time the rule runs.

Add, remove, or clear labels

To create this rule, you must have already created labels in the new Search Ads 360. Learn more about creating labels.

Use an automated rule to add, remove, or clear labels when a certain condition is met. For example, you can create a rule to apply the label "Brand" to any campaign that contains the word "brand" and apply the label "generic" to any campaign that contains the word "generic".

To create this rule, do the following:

  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. From the page menu, click Campaigns.
  3. On the table toolbar, click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
  4. On the "New rule" page, name your rule.
  5. In the "Action" section, do the following:
    1. Select each campaign to which you want to apply the rule.
    2. Click Add condition.
    3. Click Attributes to expand the section, then select Campaign name.
    4. In the "Campaign name" window, select Contains in the drop-down, enter "brand" in the value field, and then click Apply.
    5. In the "Choose what happens" drop-down, select Change labels.
    6. In the drop-down that appears, select Add labels.
    7. In the list of labels, locate the "Brand" label and select its checkbox.
    8. In the left column, click Duplicate to make a copy of the label.
    9. (Optional) Click the pencil icon to change the action name.
    10. Under "Conditions", click the Campaign name contains brand, change the value to "generic", and then click Apply.
  6. In the "Frequency" section, select Daily or Weekly, and then select the hour in which you want the rule to run.
    • If you select Weekly, you must also choose a day of the week.
  7. In the "Email results" section, select your email preference regarding results and add any additional email recipients. If you don't want email alerts, click the "X" next to your email address.
  8. Click Save rule.

The labels are added to all campaigns that match the criteria selected in each action.

Send alerts for significant change in day-over-day (DoD) click percentage

A custom formula column to calculate the change in DoD click percentage is required to create this rule. Learn more about creating custom formula columns.

Use an automated rule to send an alert when a change in DoD click percentage is greater than a particular value. For example, you can create a rule to send an email alert when a change in DoD click percentage in your campaigns is greater than 30%.

To create this rule, do the following:

  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. From the page menu, click Campaigns.
  3. On the table toolbar, click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
  4. On the "New rule" page, name your rule.
  5. In the "Action" section, do the following:
    1. Select each campaign to which you want to apply the rule.
    2. Click Add condition.
    3. Click Custom columns to expand the section, then select the custom formula column you previously created.
    4. Enter a value, then click Apply.
    5. In the "Choose what happens" drop-down, select Send email.
  6. In the "Frequency" section, select Daily, and then select 6:00 PM–7:00 PM.
  7. In the "using data from" drop-down, select Today.
  8. In the "Email results" section, select Every time this rule runs and add any additional email recipients.
  9. Click Save rule.
An email alert is sent daily before noon when a change in DoD click percentage is greater than 30% in the campaigns to which you applied the rule.

Increase or decrease device bid adjustments when current bid adjustment is higher or lower than the required bid adjustment

Use an automated rule to increase or decrease device bid adjustments when the current bid adjustment is higher or lower than the required bid adjustment. For example, you can create a rule to increase the device bid adjustment by 25% if the existing device bid adjustment is below 50%.

To create this rule, do the following:

  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. From the page menu, click Insights, and then click Devices.
  3. On the table toolbar, click the Level filter button, select the Ad group and Campaign checkboxes, and then click Apply.
  4. Click Add filter, then select Device.
  5. Select the Computers, Mobile phones, Tablets, and TV screens checkboxes, then click Apply.
  6. On the table toolbar, click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
    • Alternatively, in the table, select the checkbox for each device to which you want the rule to apply, click Edit above the table, and then select Create an automated rule.
  7. On the "New rule" page, name your rule.
  8. In the "Action" section, do the following:
    1. Select the devices to which you want the rule to apply (devices in all accounts or in selected accounts, campaigns, or ad groups).
    2. Click Add condition.
    3. Select Device conditions, then select Bid adj.
    4. In the"Bid adj." window, select < in the drop-down, enter "50" in the percentage field, and then click Apply.
    5. In the "Choose what happens" drop-down, select Change device bid adjustments.
    6. In the drop-down that appears, select Increase, then enter "25" in the percentage field.
  9. In the "Frequency" section, select your requirements for when you want the rule applied.
  10. In the "Email results" section, select Only if there are changes or errors and add any additional email recipients.
  11. Click Save rule.

The device bid adjustment is updated every time the rule is run and it meets the conditions you set, and a notification email is sent after changes are made.

You can create up to 5 actions within the same rule in the new Search Ads 360. This allows you to create a combination of actions that a rule can execute when it runs.

For example, you can create a rule to change the device bid adjustment after the existing bid modifier is reviewed and also if a campaign's performance (such as CPA) is above or below a certain dollar amount.

Increase or decrease device bid adjustments when performance is higher or lower than your benchmark

To create this rule, you need the following:

  • A list of your campaigns or ad groups
  • The devices (mobile phones, tablets, computers, and/or TV screens) you want the rule to apply to
  • The benchmark performance metric (for example, CPC or CPA) you want to use

Use an automated rule to increase or decrease device bid adjustments when a campaign or an ad group's performance is higher or lower than your benchmark. For example, you can create a rule to increase the device bid adjustment by 25% if a campaign's CPA is below $5.

To create this rule, do the following:

  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. From the page menu, click Insights, and then click Devices.
  3. On the table toolbar, click the Level filter button.
  4. Select the checkbox for Campaign, then click Apply.
  5. Click Add filter, select Device, select the checkbox for each type of device you want to filter for, and then click Apply.
  6. On the table toolbar, click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
    • Alternatively, In the table, select the checkbox for each device to which you want the rule to apply, click Edit in the bar above the table, and then select Create an automated rule.
  7. On the "New rule" page, name your rule.
  8. In the "Action" section, do the following:
    1. Click the drop-down and select Devices in selected campaigns.
    2. Select the checkbox for each campaign to which you want to apply the rule, then click Done.
    3. Click Add condition, then select Campaign conditions.
    4. Click Conversions to expand the section.
    5. Select Search Ads 360 conversions, then select Cost / conv.
    6. In the "Cost / conv." window, select < in the drop-down, enter "5" in the amount field, and then click Apply.
    7. In the "Choose what happens" drop-down, select Change device bid adjustments, then select Increase and enter "25" for the percentage.
  9. In the "Frequency" section, select your requirements for when you want the rule applied.
  10. In the "Email results" section, select Only if there are changes or errors and add any additional email recipients.
  11. Click Save rule.

The device bid adjustment is increased every time the rule is run and it meets the conditions you set, and a notification email is sent after changes are made.

Send alerts when impression share performance is below a required percentage

Use an automated rule to send email alerts when impression share performance is below a required percentage. For example, you can create a rule to send an email alert when your campaigns' impression share performance is below 75%.

To create this rule, do the following:

  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. From the page menu, click Campaigns.
  3. On the table toolbar, click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
  4. On the "New rule" page, name your rule.
  5. In the "Action" section, do the following:
    1. Select each campaign to which you want to apply the rule.
    2. Click Add condition.
    3. Click Competitive metrics to expand the section, then select Search impr. Share.
    4. In the "Search impr. Share" window, select < in the drop-down, enter "75" for the percentage, and then click Apply.
    5. In the "Choose what happens" drop-down, select Send email.
  6. In the "Frequency" section, select your requirements for when you want the rule applied.
  7. In the "Email results" section, select Every time this rule runs and add any additional email recipients.
  8. Click Save rule.

An email alert is sent at the frequency you set every time the rule runs.

Send alerts when impression share is below a required percentage and cost per action (CPA) is above a set dollar amount

Use an automated rule to send email alerts when impression share is below a required percentage and CPA Is above a set dollar amount. For example, you can create a rule to send an email alert if a campaign's Search lost IS budget is below 75% and its CPA is above US$425.

To create this rule, do the following:

  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. On the page menu, click Campaigns.
  3. On the table toolbar, click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
  4. On the "New rule" page, name your rule.
  5. In the "Action" section, do the following:
    1. Select each campaign to which you want to apply the rule.
    2. Click Add condition.
    3. Click Competitive metrics to expand the section, then select Search lost IS (budget).
    4. In the "Search lost IS (budget)" window, select < in the drop-down, enter "75" for the percentage, and then click Apply.
    5. Click Add condition.
    6. Click Conversions to expand the section.
    7. Select Search Ads 360 conversions, then select Cost / conv.
    8. In the "Cost / conv." window, select > in the drop-down, enter "425" in the amount field, and then click Apply.
    9. In the "Choose what happens" drop-down, select Send email.
  6. In the "Frequency" section, select your requirements for when you want the rule applied.
  7. In the "Email results" section, select Every time this rule runs and add any additional email recipients.
  8. Click Save rule.

An email alert is sent at the frequency you set every time the rule runs.

Send alerts when Search lost IS (rank or budget) is below a required percentage

Use an automated rule to send email alerts when Search lost IS (rank or budget) is below a required percentage. For example, you can create a rule to send an email alert if your campaign's Search lost IS rank is above 30%.

To create this rule, do the following:

  1. Sign in to your Search Ads 360 experience.
  2. On the page menu, click Campaigns.
  3. On the table toolbar, click the more options icon and select Create an automated rule.
  4. On the "New rule" page, name your rule.
  5. In the "Action" section, do the following:
    1. Select each campaign to which you want to apply the rule.
    2. Click Add condition.
    3. Click Competitive metrics to expand the section, then select Search lost IS (rank).
    4. In the "Search lost IS (rank)" window, select > in the drop-down, enter "30" for the percentage, then click Apply.
    5. In the "Choose what happens" drop-down, select Send email.
  6. In the "Frequency" section, select your requirements for when you want the rule applied.
  7. In the "Email results" section, select Every time this rule runs and add any additional email recipients.
  8. Click Save rule.

An email alert is sent at the frequency you set every time the rule runs.

General guidelines and examples

Be cautious with daily rules that increase or decrease bids

Daily bidding rules that operate on an entire account should be set up carefully. If the rule is set up to run daily, it generally makes sense to use data from "previous day". Make small changes to your bids (for example, 5% increases/decreases) and observe performance closely over time before considering larger changes.

Exclude specific keywords from a rule

Sometimes you want to apply a rule to all keywords, except for certain keywords that you want to manage manually. You can do this by excluding those keywords using "Conditions." For example, suppose you want to schedule a rule to raise CPC bids of all keywords in a campaign except those that contain the words "rustic wedding." Go to the Keywords page for that campaign, and when you create the rule, make sure to set up a requirement that the keyword text doesn't contain "rustic wedding."

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