In Google Adwords, many times you might have noticed that a search query matches one or more keywords in a different ad group. This results in AdWords showing different ads, not as we expect it to do.
The AdRank which is calculated during auction time may differ depending on your bid & Quality score of a keyword. There is nothing much you can do other than adding negative keywords to your campaigns/ad groups.
What if you are having like 100s & 1000s of campaign/ad groups/keywords??.
No worries..!!
With this Adwords Cross Matching Keywords Script, you can now add keywords from one Campaign(s)/AdGroup(s) as negatives in other Campaign(s)/AdGroup(s) in seconds.
There is a lot you can do with this script like copying keywords from;
- One campaign & add as negatives to other Campaign/Adgroup
- Multiple campaigns & add as negatives to multiple Campaigns/AdGroups
- Multiple AdGroups & add as negatives to multiple Campaigns/AdGroups
- and more
I’ll explain some of the use cases but before that, you can preview the script & open the Keywords Cross Matching Spreadsheet.
So. Lets start
Adwords Cross Triggering Keywords Spreadsheet
Follow these Steps:
- Paste the script in the AdWords script editor.
- Complete the authorization process > Click Preview.
- Open the spreadsheet URL in the logs
- If you are new to scripts, check How To Run Adwords Scripts.
(Click Below gif to Enlarge)
Understanding Spreadsheet:
- You’ll open the spreadsheet with 2 sheets
- Input_Keywords_Cross_Matching
- Output_Keywords_Cross_Matching
Input_Keywords_Cross_Matching Sheet:
- Keywords From –
- Campaign Contains: Campaign(s) from which the keywords would be fetched & added to other Campaigns/AdGroups as negatives.
- AdGroup Contains: AdGroup(s) from which the keywords would be fetched & added to other Campaigns/AdGroups as negatives
- Entering Both will AND these conditions
- Match Type: Match Type of the keywords to be added as negative keywords.
- Keywords To –
- Campaign Contains: Campaign(s) to which the keywords would be added as negatives.
- AdGroup Contains: AdGroup(s) to which the keywords would be added as negatives.
- Entering Both will AND these conditions
Output_Keywords_Cross_Matching
- On clicking Preview script, it will display the changes that would take place after you run the script
- The name of the respective Campaigns/AdGroups would be displayed.
- Check more in below scenarios.
Adwords Cross Matching Keywords - Scenarios
Scenario #1 – Avoid Cross Matching Keywords within AdGroups of a Campaign.
Here I have the following Campaign/AdGroups setup
- Books_Search_Campaign
- Cooking Books
- Music Books
- Comic Books
I want to add keywords from
- Cooking books as negatives to Music & Comic books.
- Music books as negatives to Cooking & Comic books
- Comic books as negatives to Cooking & Music books.
- I have entered the conditions in spreadsheet as
- Keywords From
- Campaign contains: ‘Books_Search_Campaign’
- AdGroup contains: ‘Books’ (select all ad groups within the campaign)
- Keywords To
- Campaign contains: ‘Books_Search_Campaign’
- AdGroup contains: ‘Books’ (select all ad groups within the campaign)
Note: Keywords will not be added as negatives to itself (AdGroup/Campaign) in any case.
- Preview the Script > Check the sheet ‘Output_Keywords_Cross_Matching’.
- You’ll get the list of AdGroups from which the keywords would be added to other respective AdGroup(s), as per the condition.
(Click on gif to Enlarge)
- Also, you can check the keywords which will be added to respective AdGroup(s) in the changes tab, with the selected match type.
- Now everything seems fine & we can Run the Script.
The changes will only be made after running the script.
So before that, you can experiment on the ‘Input_Keywords_Cross_Matching’ sheet & check the changes that would be made in ‘Output_Keywords_Cross_Matching’ sheet.
Scenario #2 – Avoid Cross Matching Keywords within Different Campaigns.
Here I have the following Campaigns setup
- Shoes_Polish_Search_Campaign
- Shoes_Search_Campaign
- Shoes_Stand_Search_Campaign
I want to add keywords as negatives from
- Shoes_Polish to Shoes_Search & Shoes_Stand Campaign
- Shoes_Search_Campaign to Shoes_Polish & Shoes_Stand
- Shoes_Stand to Shoes_Polish & Shoes_Search
I have the inputs for conditions as
- Keywords From Campaign which contains ‘Shoes’
- Keywords To Campaigns which contains ‘Shoes’
- Now Click Preview
Remember: Keywords will not be added as negatives to itself (AdGroup/Campaign) in any case.
- The ‘Output_Keywords_Cross_Matching’ sheet will show as
- Everything seems fine & now I can Run the Script.
Scenario #3 – Avoid Cross Matching Keywords between AdGroups & other Campaigns.
Here I have the following Campaigns/AdGroups setup
- Books_Search_Campaign
- Comic_Books (AdGroup)
- Remarketing_Search_Campaign
- Remarketing_Display_Campaign
I want to add keywords as negatives from
- Comic Books (AdGroup) to Remarketing_Search_Campaign & Remarketing_Display_Campaign
I have the inputs for conditions as
- Keywords From
- Campaign contains ‘Shoes‘
- AdGroup contains ‘Comic_Books‘
- Keywords To
- Campaigns contains ‘Remarketing‘
- Now Click Preview
- The ‘Output_Keywords_Cross_Matching’ will show
- Now Run The Script
While adding keywords from AdGroups as negatives to other Campaigns, it will add at AdGroup level of selected campaigns.
Summary
- The keywords will never be added as negatives to itself, in any condition (Campaign/AdGroups)
- Check the conditions for Campaign(s)/AdGroups(s) in the input sheet to see if the output is as expected in the output sheet.
- Enter the proper MatchType. Check to know more about Negative Keywords MatchTypes.
- Do Try combinations such as
- Keywords from Campaign contains ‘search’ to Campaign ‘search’, to add negatives to all search campaigns.
- Keywords from Campaign contains ‘display’ to Campaign ‘display’, to add negatives to all display campaigns.(if keyword targeting)
- Check the logs if you encounter any error. (No such campaigns, cannot add negatives to itself, etc)
Ritwik is a product owner at DigiXport. He also loves to write technical & easy to understand blogs for Marketers & Entrepreneurs. A Firm Believer in Teaching -> Learning -> Growing. :)
hey Ritwik, once i try i always get an error Parsing error. Please check your selector. (line 118)
do you think something can help?
Thanks @maximasem:disqus for pointing it out!! I have corrected some minor errors. You can retry now.
It works great now! Thanks! I was looking for such stuff for a long time, and found that 🙂 you are the best!