Once you start managing large accounts or multiple clients, Editor becomes one of the most powerful tools in your workflow. The difference between someone who merely uses it and someone who masters it usually comes down to a handful of small settings and shortcuts most people never touch.

Below are several lesser known Google Ads Editor tweaks that make the tool faster, cleaner, and far easier to manage at scale.

Change the Startup Behaviour

By default, Google Ads Editor opens on the campaign table every time you launch it.

That sounds reasonable until you are managing multiple client accounts. Every time you switch accounts you lose your place and have to navigate back to where you were working.

Instead go to:

Settings → Startup Behaviour → Continue where you left off

Now when you reopen the account it lands exactly where you were last working. If you were editing ads inside a specific ad group, that is where it will reopen.

If you jump between multiple accounts throughout the day this alone saves a surprising amount of friction.

Enable the Built-In Spell Checker

Google Ads Editor actually includes a spell checking feature. For some reason Google ships it disabled.

Go to:

Settings → Download and Display → Enable Spell Check

Once enabled, Editor will highlight spelling errors before you push ads live.

This is especially useful when doing bulk copy updates where mistakes can slip through easily.

It is not perfect. It only supports certain languages and it can struggle with brand names. But it is still a simple safety net that takes seconds to enable.

Configure Default Campaign Settings

One of the easiest ways to avoid campaign setup mistakes is to configure default campaign settings.

Go to:

Settings → Default Campaign Settings

I usually update three things immediately.

First, set the default language and location for the client’s market. For example:

Australia for Australian advertisers
United States for US advertisers

When you create a new campaign, those settings will already be correct.

Second, disable Search Partners by default.

Third, disable the Display Network as well.

If you want to test these placements later you can turn them on deliberately. What you want to avoid is accidentally launching campaigns with them enabled and discovering weeks later that traffic has been going somewhere you never intended.

Hide Empty Sections in the Left Navigation

One of the biggest advantages of Google Ads Editor is that every campaign element lives in one interface.

The downside is that large or legacy accounts can become cluttered quickly.

In the left navigation panel next to Manage, enable:

Hide Empty Types

This removes any sections that do not contain assets or settings.

The interface immediately becomes cleaner and easier to navigate.

There is a second benefit as well. It doubles as a quick diagnostic tool.

If something disappears when you enable this option, it usually means that asset type does not exist in the account.

For example:

No callouts
No sitelinks
No structured snippets

It becomes an instant visual audit.

Bulk Replace or Append Text Without the Selection Headache

The Replace Text and Append Text features are already powerful tools inside Google Ads Editor. They allow you to update ad copy across hundreds of ads in seconds.

The frustrating part is selecting every headline and description field first. Even using Shift to select multiple fields can be fiddly.

There is a faster way.

In the search bar above the fields, click the three dots menu and choose Select All.

Now every headline and description field is selected instantly.

This turns what used to be a slow manual process into something that takes a few seconds.

Customise the Campaign View for Faster Navigation

Another small but powerful trick lives above the campaign list.

In the top left search box above campaigns, click the three dots menu. This allows you to customise the campaign view.

You can:

Hide inactive campaigns
Sort campaigns by campaign name
Filter campaign types

This means you can quickly replicate the same view you would normally create in the Google Ads interface.

For example, you can filter to only show:

Performance Max campaigns
Search campaigns
Shopping campaigns

When working in large accounts with dozens or hundreds of campaigns, this dramatically speeds up navigation.

Wrapping up

None of these tips are revolutionary on their own.

But Google Ads management is full of repetitive tasks. Small workflow improvements compound quickly when you are working across multiple campaigns and accounts.

Most advertisers use Google Ads Editor as a bulk upload tool. Once you start configuring it properly and using these lesser known shortcuts, it becomes one of the most powerful control panels in your entire Google Ads workflow.

When clicks are $3 to $10, inefficiency is annoying.
When clicks are $80 to $150, inefficiency is catastrophic.

I have worked with clients in niches where a single wasted click costs more than an entire day’s spend in some ecommerce accounts. Legal, finance, lending, medical procedures, and professional services all fall into this category.

Competition is brutal and the economics only work if you run extremely tight operations.

The mistake most marketers make in these environments is trying to scale traffic first. That approach is backwards. High CPC niches reward precision, not volume.

The accounts that win follow a different playbook.

Treat Every Click Like an Investment

In most Google Ads accounts, clicks are treated as disposable. Spend $5, get traffic, see what converts.

In high CPC markets, each click is a small capital allocation decision.

If a click costs $90 and the conversion rate is 5 percent, the cost per lead is already $1,800 before you even consider sales conversion.

Every stage of the funnel must justify that cost.

Search intent → Ad relevance → Landing page alignment → Lead quality → Sales conversion → Customer value.

If any link in that chain breaks, the economics collapse quickly.

The role of the marketer shifts from driving traffic to filtering the right traffic.

Ruthless Intent Targeting

Loose targeting will destroy performance in expensive markets.

Broad match experiments that might work in cheaper verticals often become a budget incinerator here.

The structure I usually deploy is deliberately tight.

• Exact match and tightly controlled phrase match

• Smaller keyword lists that focus on commercial intent

• Aggressive negative keyword lists

• Frequent search term reviews

The goal is not reach. It is precise capture of high intent queries.

Keywords that include modifiers like these tend to signal a user who is closer to making a decision.

• hire

• cost

• service

• near me

• consultation

• rates

• quote

• company

Examples might include searches like:

• accident lawyer consultation

• hair transplant cost

• tax accountant near me

• pest control service price

Anything informational or exploratory should be filtered out quickly.

Using Keyword Planner to Identify Commercial Intent

Most marketers use Google Keyword Planner to find keywords. That is the obvious use.

Where it becomes valuable is using it to identify intent patterns and eliminate bad traffic before campaigns even launch.

Start with a high intent seed keyword.

Examples might include:

• accident lawyer

• pest control service

• cosmetic surgeon

• tax accountant

Export the full keyword universe from Keyword Planner.

When you review that export, three categories usually appear.

1Commercial queries

These are the terms you want.

Examples:

• accident lawyer consultation

• pest control service cost

• tax accountant for small business

• hair transplant clinic near me

These searches usually include words such as cost, quote, consultation, service, or near me.

They signal that someone is actively looking for a provider.

Research queries

These users may still become customers but they are earlier in the decision cycle.

Examples:

• how long does pest control last

• hair transplant recovery time

• how does a tax accountant help

These queries often work better in content marketing or remarketing funnels rather than expensive bottom funnel campaigns.

Informational queries

These are negative keyword gold.

Examples:

• lawyer salary

• pest control course

• cosmetic surgery documentary

• accounting degree requirements

These users are not buyers. They are students, researchers, or general browsers.

Before launching campaigns, I scan exports for informational patterns and start building a negative keyword list immediately. This step alone can prevent a lot of wasted spend.

Using Ad Alchemy’s Keyword Research Tool to Find More Commercial Terms

Inside the Ad Alchemy app, the Keyword Research tool uses the SEMrush PPC database to uncover additional commercial, high intent keywords that may not show up clearly when you are only relying on Google Keyword Planner.

Keyword Planner is useful, but it is still Google's view of the market. It shows search volume and suggested bids, but it does not always surface the full range of terms advertisers are actively paying for.

The Ad Alchemy tool approaches this from a different angle. Instead of brainstorming variations manually, it pulls from the SEMrush PPC database to show keywords that are already being searched for by your customers and matches the intent - commercial/navigational/informational etc

That is a strong signal of commercial intent. If advertisers are consistently bidding on a term, there is a good chance it converts.

For example, starting with a core service keyword such as:

• pest control

• accident lawyer

• cosmetic surgeon

the tool often surfaces additional high intent variations such as:

• emergency pest control service

• accident lawyer free consultation

• cosmetic surgeon consultation cost

• specialist pest inspection near me

These are often the keywords competitors are quietly spending money on but that many marketers miss when they only rely on Keyword Planner.

The tool is also useful for negative discovery. Those keywords flagged as informational or navigational are perfect for negging.

When you pull keyword sets from a paid search database you will often see clusters of terms that clearly do not match the business model. Education searches, DIY queries, salary related terms, and unrelated service variations tend to show up quickly.

Those patterns can be grouped into negative keyword themes before campaigns even launch.

The workflow we recommend is straightforward.

1. Use Google Keyword Planner to understand the broader keyword landscape

2. Use Ad Alchemy’s Keyword Research tool to uncover additional PPC driven commercial terms from the SEMrush database

3. Separate terms into primary commercial targets, secondary opportunities, and obvious negatives

4. Continue refining both lists once search term data starts coming in

In high CPC niches, starting with a stronger keyword set can make a significant difference. Bad traffic is expensive and overlooked commercial terms can be very valuable.

Keyword Research Is Also Negative Research

Many marketers treat keyword research as a way to find traffic.

In high CPC niches it is just as important as a way to find traffic you should never buy.

When reviewing Keyword Planner exports, I deliberately scan for patterns that signal irrelevant intent.

Examples include words like:

• free

• jobs

• salary

• course

• training

• meaning

• definition

• YouTube

• Reddit

If you are running campaigns for accountants and see search terms like:

• accountant salary

• accounting degree online

• how to become an accountant

those are not prospects. They are students.

That pattern becomes a negative keyword group immediately.

Over time this process creates a strong defensive moat around your campaigns.

Pre Qualify the Click Before It Happens

One of the most overlooked tactics in high CPC niches is using ad copy to discourage bad clicks.

Most advertisers try to maximise click through rate. In expensive auctions that instinct can be dangerous.

Instead, the ad should act as a filter.

This can include:

• referencing pricing ranges

• mentioning minimum requirements

• highlighting geographic limits

• clarifying who the service is for

Example.

Weak version:

Fast Pest Control Available Today

Better version:

Commercial Pest Control From $350 | Licensed Specialists

The second ad may receive fewer clicks but the clicks it attracts are far more qualified.

That difference compounds quickly when clicks are expensive.

Search Term Mining Becomes Core Discipline

In high CPC environments the search terms report becomes one of the most important tools in the account.

A few irrelevant queries can burn hundreds or thousands of dollars before anyone notices.

I treat search term mining as an ongoing process.

• review frequently during launch phases

• expand negative keyword lists continuously

• identify new long tail opportunities

• look for patterns in irrelevant traffic

Over time the account becomes more efficient because noise is systematically removed.

You are shaping the traffic profile rather than simply buying more of it.

Conversion Rate Matters More Than Traffic

Doubling traffic might improve performance slightly.

Doubling conversion rate changes the economics entirely.

That is why strong operators in high CPC niches spend a lot of time improving landing pages.

Key areas to focus on include:

Message match

The landing page must reinforce the promise made in the ad.

Social proof

High value services require trust signals such as testimonials, reviews, and case studies.

Expectation setting

Explaining the process, timelines, and eligibility criteria helps filter out low quality leads.

Form design

Long forms sometimes improve lead quality because they force self qualification. Short forms increase volume but may reduce lead quality. Both approaches should be tested.

When clicks are expensive, small improvements in conversion rate can have a large impact.

Long Tail Queries Often Perform Best

High volume keywords attract the most competition and the highest CPCs.

Long tail queries often represent users with specific intent.

Examples might include:

• emergency pest control near me

• hair transplant clinic sydney price

• small business tax accountant consultation

These searches may have lower volume but often convert at a much higher rate.

Building structured long tail coverage can improve efficiency while avoiding the most competitive auctions.

Feed Real Outcomes Back Into Google

Smart bidding only works if it receives meaningful signals.

Many advertisers send weak conversion events into the system.

Examples include:

• form submissions that never become customers

• unqualified enquiries

• duplicate leads

This confuses the algorithm.

The accounts that perform best usually send higher quality signals such as:

• qualified consultations

• approved applications

• booked appointments

• completed sales

When Google learns which clicks actually produce revenue it becomes much better at prioritising valuable traffic.

Automation Should Follow Data

Launching campaigns directly on target CPA or target ROAS without conversion data is a common mistake.

The sequence that usually works best is simple.

1. Launch with controlled bidding

2. Build a base layer of conversion data

3. Introduce automated bidding once signals become reliable

4. Adjust targets as the system learns

Automation can work well in high CPC niches but it needs good information to operate properly.

Retargeting Is Critical

When a click costs $80 or $100, the visitor is valuable even if they do not convert immediately.

Remarketing becomes an important part of the funnel.

Visitors can be re engaged through:

• display remarketing

• YouTube ads

• social media retargeting

• email follow ups

If you have already paid for the click, it makes sense to maximise the chances of eventually converting that user.

Backend Economics Determine Everything

No amount of optimisation can fix a campaign if the underlying economics do not work.

High CPC search is viable only when the lifetime value of a customer supports the acquisition cost.

This is why industries such as legal services, financial products, medical procedures, and specialist consulting dominate the most expensive auctions.

A single customer may be worth thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.

If the value per customer is low, search becomes extremely difficult to scale profitably regardless of optimisation.

The Real Strategy in High CPC Niches

The biggest mindset shift is this.

Success does not come from buying more traffic.
Success comes from buying the right traffic and converting it well.

The best performing accounts tend to share three characteristics.

• extremely tight intent targeting

• disciplined filtering of poor traffic

• relentless optimisation of conversion rate

When those three elements work together, even very expensive clicks can become profitable.

When they do not, the market becomes very unforgiving.

That is the reality of competing in high CPC niches.

Where to find it
Open your Google Ads account, go into the PMax campaign you want to control, and navigate to campaign settings. Scroll down and look for Data Exclusions near the bottom. It's still being rolled out so if you don't have it yet, make a note to check back in a week.

What you can exclude right now
Google currently lets you exclude:

• First-party Website Visitor Lists (e.g., people who have already visited high-intent pages)

• Customer Match Lists (your existing customers, newsletter subscribers, internal staff etc.)

This finally lets you run true acquisition-focused PMax campaigns instead of paying Google to re-show ads to people who already converted or are otherwise uninteresting.

Real examples of what to exclude
These have practical impact if you want clean new customer acquisition:

• People who already purchased (existing customers)

• Recent converters (don’t re-target them if your goal is new leads)

• Internal staff or contractors (exclude your office and vendor lists so budget goes to real prospects)

• Newsletter subscribers or webinar attendees (if you already have other nurture paths)

How to build your exclusion lists fast

1. Go to Tools & Settings > Audience Manager and create lists based on first-party signals or upload your Customer Match CSV. You might have to let it populate overnight.

2. Return to the PMax campaign Your data exclusions section and enable it.

3. Select the lists you built.

4. Give it 7–14 days to recalibrate performance as smart bidding adjusts.

I was on a call with another digital marketer this week. He's been in an in-house role for about 8 years now and just wanted to vent his frustrations which ultimately summed up with this:

“Mate… I feel like I understand less about Google now than I did three years ago.”

That sums up 2026.

Google hasn’t become random. It's just changed.

The mechanics are still there. They’re just layered under modelling, signals, and automation.

With his permission I'm sharing our conversation because I see the same trap in accounts I audit. Especially with smaller in house teams where you can suffer some blinders if you're not exposed to larger industry changes.

Below are the questions he asked me, and how I think about Google right now.

“What even is AI Max? Everyone talks about it like it’s the future. Is it actually new or just automation rebranded? And does it replace broad match?”

AI Max isn’t some new brain inside Google Ads.

It’s bundled automation.

• Broad match

• DSA

• Auto-created assets

• Smart bidding

• Query expansion

Wrapped up with a cleaner name so it feels like a product.

It does not replace broad match.

It is broad match with more expansion logic and less manual friction.

Is it incremental? Sometimes.

In accounts where:

• Conversion tracking is tight

• You’re importing qualified leads

• You’re passing values properly

It can open up net new queries.

But if you:

• Don’t trust broad match

• Can’t use auto-generated assets because of compliance

• Have messy tracking

• Fire conversions on junk leads

AI Max just accelerates the mess.

I’ve got about 30 percent of clients running it. Not 100 percent. Not everyone is ready for it and like most Google features, it gets better the more they refine it.

“Why is everyone defaulting to tROAS? It feels like it chases revenue signals and kills volume. I pulled tROAS off a brand campaign and CPC collapsed with no drop in results.”

You’re not imagining it.

tROAS gets treated like the “adult” strategy.

It’s not universally smart. It’s context dependent.

On brand campaigns especially, tROAS often:

• Pushes CPCs up unnecessarily

• Overreacts to small revenue swings

• Limits impression share in weird ways

Your example is textbook. Remove tROAS. CPC drops from $1.20 to $0.20. Same volume.

That’s the algorithm bidding up against itself to maintain a target it doesn’t need.

On brand, I prefer:

• Manual CPC

• Portfolio bidding with a max CPC cap

• Target impression share with a max CPC cap

If you insist on automation, at least contain it.

Now for prospecting campaigns, it’s different.

In 2026 Google is not keyword-led. It’s outcome-led.

If you feed it:

• Only qualified lead conversions

• CRM-verified revenue

• Margin-weighted values

Then Max Conversions or tROAS can outperform manual logic.

But if your signals are soft, you’re just teaching the model to chase low-quality outcomes faster.

Google in 2026 is a data, algo and creative play.

“Where does Demand Gen actually sit? Is it just another version of PMax?”

Think of your funnel. This is where each sits and honestly it's confusing especially as Demand Gen and PMax merge closer to each other.

• Bottom funnel: Search.

• Bottom/start of Mid funnel: Performance Max.

• Mid-funnel: Demand Gen.

Performance Max, when optimized for performance, often ends up 85 to 90 percent in search inventory anyway because thats what drives most conversions for advertisers.

Demand Gen removes search inventory. It leans into:

• YouTube

• Discover

• Gmail

It’s Google’s response to Meta. This isn't necessary intent driven marketing, it's pushing out your message to people who may be in market or problem aware but aren't actively searching yet.

That’s why they rolled out platform comparable CPA and conversion columns. They want marketers to feel comfortable benchmarking it against Facebook.

If you treat Demand Gen like a search campaign, you’ll hate it. The best description I've heard was from a Google product manager who described it laying the seeds for your search (and PMax) campaigns to harvest once they're ready.

“What structure decisions don’t turn into chaos anymore?”

Consolidation wins more often than fragmentation.

Smart bidding needs conversion volume.

If you split everything into:

• Ten campaigns

• Five bid strategies

• Microscopic themes

You starve the model.

Unless you’re:

• Extremely niche

• Low conversion volume

• In a vertical that breaks automation

Consolidate. You don't need 15 search campaigns. I'm much more wary of segmenting campaigns these days unless there is a clear business case.

I’ve been doing deep overlap analysis between Search, AI Max, and PMax for one advanced client. We’re close to testing PMax-only for non-brand.

Why?

Because PMax is finding more incremental queries than expanded Search in that account.

That’s uncomfortable if you grew up on keyword ownership logic. I've been doing this since 2006 and when I first started it was 100% manual with complete control.

2026 Google is not about controlling every nitty-gritty detail. It’s that data and algo play. Feed the algo quality and it'll find quality. Feed the algo junk, it'll find junk.

The single biggest structural priority now:

Protect conversion integrity.

For lead gen, that means:

• Fire conversions only on qualified leads

• Import offline conversions

• Pass back values

• Kill junk at the tracking layer

• Protect your forms from fraud and spam

Garbage in, garbage out is not a cliché anymore. It’s the system.

“Do phrase and exact even mean anything anymore? Or does PMax just take what it wants?”

Match types are weaker control tools than they used to be. They've still got a place, especially for smaller advertisers with limited budgets but they're not the focus anymore.

Google changed priority rules. If you had the exact match keyword in your search campaign Google would defer to that.

Now the highest Ad Rank wins. That can be Search or PMax. It doesn’t care about match label hierarchy as of late 2025.

Exact does not guarantee traffic ownership anymore.

Match types are more intent signals now.

Control has moved upward into:

• Budget distribution

• Signal quality

• Asset strength

• Value modeling

• Negative strategy

Keywords are still the bread and butter of search campaigns but with increasingly complex user behaviour + AI style searching growing, they're becoming weaker.

“Should I still run broad match if PMax is live? Or tighten Search so it owns high intent while PMax explores?”

The lines are blurry now.

Broad match already expands aggressively.

PMax hunts incrementally.

Sometimes they overlap heavily.
Sometimes PMax surfaces net new query clusters.

There’s no philosophical answer.

Run incrementality tests:

• Geo splits

• Time splits

• Controlled holdouts

Look at new query discovery, not just CPA.

The biggest mistake I see in 2026 is marketers arguing structure ideology instead of testing incrementality.

The Shift Most People Haven’t Fully Accepted Yet

Google in 2016 looked like this:

Keyword → Ad → Click → Conversion

You controlled the inputs.
You controlled the match types.
You sculpted traffic manually.

Google in 2026 looks more like this:

Signal → Model → Auction → Allocation

The keyword still matters.
But it’s no longer the steering wheel. It’s one of many signals feeding a system that’s making probabilistic decisions in real time.

That’s the real shift.

If you’ve got:

• Real conversion volume

• Clean tracking

• Qualified lead events

• CRM feedback loops

Then embracing automation is usually the right move.

You will do less grunt work.
You will spend less time micromanaging bids.
You’ll focus more on things that actually move the needle, like:

• Offer

• Creative

• Landing page conversion rate

• Value modeling

• Signal quality

If you don’t have that signal density, automation will feel chaotic. Because the model doesn’t have enough truth to learn from. That's when you still have to use keywords, match types and the older methods.

The people winning right now:

• Consolidate intelligently

• Feed high-quality conversion signals

• Stop obsessing over match type theology

• Use automation deliberately, not emotionally

• Test incrementality instead of defending structure

Google's changed. If you came up in the time of more manual processes, it's good because you understand the fundamentals but in 2026, you need to embrace change.

And once you accept where that leverage now sits, it gets a lot less frustrating to operate inside.

From March 15, 2026, Lookalikes will stop acting as strict targeting filters and instead become audience signals.

Right now, if you choose Narrow, Balanced or Broad, Google only serves inside that similarity band. After the change, your seed list will guide the system, but Google can go outside those thresholds if it believes it will improve performance.

Google says this will help its AI optimise more effectively for conversions and CPA. In reality, it means less manual control and more algorithmic expansion. Expect potential reach increases and possible short term CPA movement, especially if you relied on tight similarity settings to protect efficiency.

You do not need to take action. Campaigns will automatically migrate on March 15.

You can opt out if you want Lookalikes to remain strict criteria, but you must do that manually. They link to this doc but it doesn't appear to have the opt out process detailed on it yet.

What do you guys think? Is this Google making it easier to use Lookalikes or a step in the wrong direction by taking too much control away.

What is the recommended way to solve the problem of Safari browser removing the GCLID from the URL?

Thanks!

“Why is my headshot running next to our Google ad?”

Not a brand photo. Not a product shot. Not even something we uploaded. Just a random-looking headshot sitting beside their Search ad like Google.

I Googled it myself to make sure the client didn't do something stupid or had spyware installed but I also saw this unoptimised, badly cropped headshot next to their ad.

My first thought was - what image extensions did I mistakenly set up? But that didn't yield anything so after some deep diving, I've now put together my guide to stopping Google from pulling in random images from your website, asset library and socials.

Step 1: Check your image assets first

When Google shows an image next to a Search ad, your first assumption should be image assets.

Go to Assets and check:

• Account level

• Campaign level

• Ad group level

Make sure there is nothing attached that you forgot about. In my case, there was nothing suspicious. No rogue upload. No mystery asset.

So that ruled out the obvious cause.

Step 2: The first trap - Dynamic Image Assets buried in Advanced settings

Next stop is Dynamic Image Assets.

Google can automatically pull images from your website and show them alongside Search ads. These are called dynamic image assets. On the surface, it can look like they are disabled.

When I audit new client accounts, this is typically the first trap I see.

If you want to check your own - Here is where to actually disable them:

1. Open Google Ads.

2. Go to Assets.

3. Click the three-dot menu in the top right of the table.

4. Click Account-level automated assets.

5. On that screen, click the three-dot menu again.

6. Click Advanced settings.

7. Find Dynamic images and switch it Off.

8. Save.

Important: the first screen can make it look like you are covered. You are not. The real kill switch lives inside Advanced settings.

But in this case, it was also disabled so I went digging around the web to uncover Google's newest trap setting...

Step 3: The second trap in the Shared library

Even after disabling dynamic image assets, there is another place Google can pull imagery from if you use location assets.

Inside the Shared library, under Location manager, there is a setting called Google-owned location imagery. If that is enabled, Google can use its own photos and rich media in your ads.

Most people never check here because it does not sound related to Search ads at all.

Here is how to turn it off:

1. Click the Tools icon.

2. Go to Shared library.

3. Click Location manager.

4. Open Settings.

5. Find Google-owned location imagery.

6. Untick it.

7. Save.

If you want full control over what appears next to your ads, this needs to be off.

Hopefully that helps you avoid this awkward email exchange with your client or boss.

This tool lets advertisers test different campaign strategies across multiple campaigns at once, instead of just testing changes within a single campaign. You can mix and match campaign types, budgets, and settings to see which combinations perform best.

You can set up to five different “experiment arms,” each with its own mix of campaigns and traffic splits. It supports Search, Performance Max, Shopping, Demand Gen, Video, and App campaigns.

Right now Campaign Mix Experiments is in beta, so you’ll need access to the testing features in Google Ads to use it. Full setup details and official guidance are on Google’s help page.

Why it matters

Before this, most Google Ads testing was limited to changes inside one campaign. That’s useful for small tweaks like ad copy or bidding strategy, but it doesn’t show how different campaign types work together. With Mix Experiments, you get a clearer picture of what actually moves the needle across your whole account.

I'm super keen to test this. Often the first budgets to be slashed when performance or budgets are tight is your mid-to-upper funnel campaigns like Demand Gen and YouTube. Or adversely - when you're trying to prove the value of those campaigns, it's often relying on softer metrics to try and sell it internally or to clients.

I'll post a full wrap once I have an account in the beta.

Note: This is separate to it's existing live implementation of ads into AI mode and AI Overviews which a user accesses through the existing search UX on google.com.

Google is a bit more of a known quantity - they've been doing it for 20 years, they've got all the backend built out in terms of auction dynamics, machine learning algos etc so there ad play is probably going to be a bit more smoother for advertisers who want to test it out.

OpenAI is the new player in the room. Their growth of ChatGPT is crazy but they've always lacked being able to capture commercial intent queries and monetise them. They've been hiring ex Googlers and ilk to build out their ad team for a couple of years now but like any new platform - there is a learning curve. For advertisers - that volatility also spells opportunity.

I remember the early days of Facebook Ads - the UI was trash, the bidding algos were all over the shop but if you knew the right tricks, you could get traffic and customers cheap.

So my take is cautious optimism and an attitude of test, test, test. What do you guys think?

I've experimented with this feature for a client's sale period over Black Friday and Cyber Monday where the exec team freed up $20K in budget and wanted to dominate ad impression for a 5 day period leading up the sale. Instead of having to use ad scripts or manual tweaks to control the budget, the total bugdet functionality worked a treat.

Has anyone else used it? Keen to hear your use cases.