Why You Should Be Using Google Ad Scripts To Make Automated Changes

Plus over 60 free copy & paste code snippets for you to use!

Have you heard the saying “work smarter not harder”? This is how we feel about Google ad scripts. They really are a game changer when it comes to managing PPC campaigns. With a few short lines of code you can automate almost any action across your account. You just need to know beginner level javascript. 

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But what exactly are Google Ads scripts? How do they work?  And which ones should you be using? Let’s dive straight into the nitty gritty - by the end of this blog post you’ll have enough knowledge and resources to set up and run Google Ads scripts to optimise your PPC ads.

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So, if you’re ready to join the Google Ad big leagues - let’s get started!

Scripts and Rules, what’s the difference?

If you are trying to implement Google ads scripts to automate your Google ads account, it’s highly likely that you’re dedicating half your days to managing, updating, and tweaking your Google ads.

You’ve probably also come across automated rules and wondered how they differ to scripts in functionality and usability.

Unlike scripts which can run hourly, automated rules can only make changes daily, weekly, monthly, or just even once per campaign in some cases.

For example: If you have a very demanding account that has very high competition and requires changing the bids in your campaigns every hour then you will need to use scripts instead of automated rules.

The bottom line is Automated scripts provide better usability, flexibility, and incredible customization.

Let’s look closer at Google Automated Scripts!

Google ads scripts are JavaScript code snippets that allow you to control your campaigns with more precision.

These scripts are used to automate internal functions in your Google ads account and they can also interact with external data as well - such as maintaining KPIs and sending client reports.Here’s an example of entry-level automated scripts which you can start by applying to your ads account.

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Getting started with Google Automated Scripts

To use the scripts to automate your Google ads delivery you really only need an entry-level familiarity with JavaScript.

If you’re new to this - don’t worry, there are also some premade automation scripts that you can use in your account which require little customization.

Setup Scripts in Your Google Ads Account:

• Sign in to your ads account
  
  
• Under tools select Scripts under Bulk Actions
  
  

• Press + Icon to add your scripts
  
  

• When you click on the + Icon you have two options: Either you start with a new customised script or use a pre-built template for basic functionality.
  
  

• After adding your script to the function, click on Authorise so your script can access the account on your behalf. You have options available to disable the script later on.
  
  

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Here are a few ways you can use scripts:

• Use data from external sources to initiate changes. 

• For example, use external conversion data to make bid changes or external inventory data to pause/unpause keywords as stock becomes low. Or, read your campaign data and stats to create highly customised reports, output them to a spreadsheet, and graph them over time.

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• Take action across multiple elements of your account. 

• For example, if a keyword has been hogging your spending for the day, you can both pause the keyword and increase the budget at the same time.

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• Make changes across all items in your account. 

• For example, increase the CPC bids by 30% for all keywords that generated over 1,000 impressions last week.

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If you manage multiple accounts through a manager account, you can run one script across multiple child accounts to optimise bids, create multi-account reports, and monitor for potential problems (such as fixing broken links or conflicting negative keywords).

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Here is a list of Pre-Made Scripts you can use to get started with Google Ads Automated Scripts

Is there a next level to Automation in Google Ads?

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If you are thinking “I want to automate everything to save my time” then are automated scripts enough for you?

Automated scripts are a great way to introduce automation to your Google ads marketing and save your time doing minuscule things all day. It will get you a long way while fulfilling your needs without any advanced coding skills or need for software development.

But even scripts have their limitations and when you hit that ceiling then you might need to turn to “Google Ads API” to create a custom application that will do your job for you.

What’s the Catch?

Google Ads API can provide more flexibility to you but you need to know code development, SDKs, setup and host a server to run a code. Yes, in comparison to scripts which can get you further with just entry-level knowledge of JavaScript, the Google Ads API is just another type of skill you would need to perfect before engaging with it.

Conclusion

Implementing automation to your Google ads is a really great way to save you loads of time doing tedious tasks and instead dedicate that time and resources into doing more research to grow your business.

For most operations, you might not need to touch the Google AdWords API at all; Google Ads scripts are easier to create and run and will get you what you want most of the time.