AdWords Ad CustomizersSeptember 2015

2015 Upword Search Marketing Confidential

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How They Work

Ad customizers are implemented using parameters within { } braces, similar to keyword insertion.The contents of parameters will be replaced by dynamic text when an ad is triggered by a user’s search. Customizers pull data from CSV files.

The above example would looklike this:

Customizers can be used within any text ad on the Google Search or Display Network, except in URL fields.

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Benefits

Tailored Messaging: Easily hyper-specialize an ad (or ads) to specific searches or webpage views.

Time-sensitive CTAs: If you’re running a limited-time promotion, the COUNTDOWN customizer (demonstrated on the right) will show a user how much time is left to take advantage of the deal.

Scalability: Rather than manually write out hundreds of ad variations for different locations and products, customizers will dynamically show the most relevant ad variation to each potential lead.

Reporting: Concerned that all the potential ad variations will tamper with your reporting process? Don’t worry: Different triggers for customizers do not have any effect on resetting an ad’s performance data.

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Countdowns The Countdown

customizer functions just as its name implies: When given the date of an upcoming deadline or event, the Countdown parameter will tell a user how many hours or days are left to take advantage of the advertised deal.

The syntax:• {=COUNTDOWN(“2015/12/25 09:00:00”)}

• Include this anywhere but URL fields in text adsYou can also pass an argument for display language:

• {=COUNTDOWN(“2015/12/25 09:00:00”, “en”)}And for the number of days before the end date that the countdown should start serving:

• {=COUNTDOWN(“2015/12/25 09:00:00”, “en”, 6)}• Otherwise, countdown customizers start showing their ads 5 days before

the specified end time

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Dynamic Keywords

Here, the advertiser is choosing to trigger customization at the keyword level. That is, whenever a user searches for a keyword in the “Target keyword” column of the table, the customization will be triggered. This can also be accomplished at the ad group and campaign levels.

Thus, if someone searches for “prowhip 300 price” before May 15, 2015, the customizers will cause the following ad to be served:

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Recurring Events

Progression

If a venue has an event series that highlights a new guest every week or month, the owner can show ads that countdown to when each talk is scheduled.

By default, the countdown customizer serves ads five days before an event takes place.

In Image 2, an ad is written using data from Image 1.

The following images show how that ad is served on days and times leading up to individual events.

1 2

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Location-Specific Text

Text ads can be customized for location just as easily as for keyword. As the above example illustrates, it’s just a matter of specifying a Target_location in the customization spreadsheet.

From there, messaging can be customized per location.

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Example Applications

• To estimate shipping to a searcher’s specific location, an ad could use customizers to target that location and serve a custom “Ships in X Days” in the message (via location customizer)

• Serve ads with product-specific messaging to potential customers searching for related terms (via dynamic keywords)

• Present ads for a recurring concert or show as upcoming dates approach (via countdowns)

• Let a user know how close the nearest location of a business is, and what the hours of operation are (via location customizer)

• If the price of a specific product or service varies from city to city, customization can be used to show different prices to users in different locations (via location customizer)

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Customization Specs

Countdown functions can be customized so that the ‘deadline’ adjusts to the timezone of users in different locations, or the ‘deadline’ stays consistent with the advertiser’s specific timezone.

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Customization Specs

Language codes for countdown customization, as provided by Google.

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Customization Specs

Customized ads can be targeted by keyword (with various match types), ad group, campaign, or location.

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Customization Specs

These are the standard attribute types that can be included in a customization spreadsheet. An advertiser can specify a schedule for ads, which devices to advertise on, a start and end date for customized ads, and other custom attributes.

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Customization Specs

These are the data types that can be used to create custom attributes for ad customization: • Text (combinations of letters and numbers)• Numbers (whole numbers)• Prices (Numbers with decimals and valid currency signs)• Dates (in a variety of formats).

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What You Need

To set up ad customizers, you will first need to upload a “customizer data template” into the Business Data section in the Shared library in AdWords. The template can be found here: https://storage.googleapis.com/support-kms-prod/CC6B1FCD3EFA81DC3D5F68F20CF07E3DA6DB This template contains targeting attributes and other information, such as device preference, scheduling, product price, product detail, event timing, custom ad copy, etc.

For the above example, assume the filed is saved and uploaded as ‘Mixers.csv’You can then access the data from the spreadsheet using parameters in your text ad copy (other than in the URL).An example ad using the data above:Headline

Desc. Line 1

Desc. Line 2

URL Yields

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Summary

• Ad customizers are implemented using parameters within { } braces, similar to keyword insertion. The text in the brackets will be replaced by dynamic text when an ad is triggered by a user’s search.• Ad customization can be used on any campaign in the Search or

Display network.• Ad customizers rely on data from “customization spreadsheets,” which can

be uploaded into the Shared library in AdWords.• Text ads can be customized for:

• Countdowns to deadlines• Recurring events• Location-specific language• Keyword insertion• Product-specific keywords

Google resources:https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/6072565?hl=enhttps://support.google.com/adwords/answer/6093368?vid=1-635809552704459332-1632833723