Google Search Campaigns
What This Page Answers
Google Search campaigns capture people who are actively searching for products, problems, brands, competitors, or solutions. They are a core Demand Capture vs Demand Creation channel and should be managed differently from Meta, TikTok, Demand Gen, or Performance Max.
What Makes Search Different
Search has explicit intent. The user gives you a query, and the campaign decides whether to enter the auction. The main strategy levers are:
-
Keyword and match type design
-
Negative keywords
-
Ad relevance
-
Landing page relevance
-
Bidding strategy
-
Conversion tracking quality
-
Query and search term review
Core Structure
A practical Search structure separates:
-
Brand campaigns
-
Non-brand high-intent campaigns
-
Competitor campaigns where allowed
-
Category campaigns
-
Product or service campaigns
-
Geographic or language splits where business logic requires them
Do not fragment Search only for reporting. Separate campaigns when budget, bidding, landing page, economics, or query governance needs to differ.
What To Watch
Key diagnostics:
-
Search terms driving spend
-
Match type expansion
-
Conversion rate by query class
-
CPA by intent level
-
Quality Score components
-
Landing page message match
-
Brand cannibalization
Use Search Terms, Keyword Match Types, and Quality Score and Ad Rank as the operating system for Search.
Practical Rule
Search is not just keyword buying. It is intent routing: match the query, ad, offer, and landing page to the business outcome you actually want.