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AWQL Example: Pause One-Word Keywords

Automated scripts are the best and easiest way to comply with Google Ad Grants compliance requirements. Use this AWQL example to keep yourself from receiving unexpected non-compliance reports in your inbox. Especially if you aren’t the only one adding terms to campaigns, or have many different campaigns to monitor.

In Using AdWords Query Language (AWQL) for Google Grants Compliance, we detailed an AWQL script. That script finds any terms whose Quality Score falls below the required 3/10. Now we’ll look at another requirement of the Grants program – no one-word keywords. One-word keywords are too generic. Broad match (or broad match modified) amplifies this. Therefore, you are required to have at least two words in every term.

The AWQL example script below generates a list of non-compliant keywords. You can then pause the single-word keyword. By not automatically pausing them, you get an opportunity to brainstorm modifiers. Then replace the offending term.

function main(){
 	var singleWordKeywords = AdWordsApp.keywords()
	.withCondition("Text DOES_NOT_CONTAIN ' '")
	.withCondition("Status = ENABLED")
	.withCondition("CampaignStatus = ENABLED")
	.withCondition("AdGroupStatus = ENABLED")
 	.get();

	while (singleWordKeywords.hasNext()){
		var kw = singleWordKeywords.next();
		Logger.log(kw.getCampaign().getName() + " - " + kw.getAdGroup().getName() + ": \"" + kw.getText() + "\" " + kw.getQualityScore() + "/10");
		Logger.log("");
	}
}

This finds any keyword that does not contain a space, which signifies that it is just one word. It then ensures the keyword, ad group, and campaign are all enabled before adding it to the list. The console log will output a formatted list of keywords that need your attention.

To use this AWQL example:

1. Navigate in the header to Tools and Settings > Bulk Actions > Scripts
2. Hit the blue circle with a + sign in it to add a new script
3. Authorize the script to run on your account
4. Give it a name and paste the code above into the body. Save it.
5. In the Frequency column, choose how often you’d like to run the script. Anywhere between once per day or once per week is sufficient.

If you’re running into any trouble getting the script to work contact us. A little bit of automation goes a long way.

Negative keywords in Google Ad Grants

Negative keywords are an important optimization to perform on any Google Ads program. They help you avoid unwanted and sometimes costly traffic that can strain your budgets and not bring anything in return. But what about in a Google Grants account, when there is no direct cost? Is it still worth the time and effort to add negative keywords?

There are a few reasons your time and effort are well spent creating both account-wide and campaign-specific negative keyword lists, based on your searched queries reports.

Benefits of Negative Keywords

1. Avoid truly unwanted traffic. It’s important to monitor searched queries for any “bad apples.” You never know what someone may search in conjunction with one of your broad match keywords. Keep an “Adult Topics” negative keyword list across the entire account to filter out unscrupulous searchers from arriving on your website.
2. Preserve your click-through-rate (CTR). Google Ad Grants require you to maintain at least a 5% CTR on all ads. If your ads are serving for unrelated or off-topic searches, your CTR can suffer. Then you run the risk of falling out of compliance.
3. Control your messaging. Negative keywords can help you zero in on which ads serve for which keyword groups. Occasionally, your keyword sets can overlap and you’ll lose control over exactly which ad shows for a broad keyword. Negative keywords can restore the mutual exclusivity of your ad groups.
4. Stay off of competitors branded keywords. Depending on your services or name, you may find other nonprofits nearby with similar names showing up in branded searches. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to show your ad when people are looking for closely related organizations. But, you can avoid missing out on some clicks by purposefully negating branded terms that are not your own.
5. Avoid running out of budget early. Your daily budget of $329 should go pretty far. Unless you have a large geographical footprint, or a lot of highly sought after programs, budgets typically aren’t a limiting factor. However, if yours are, that’s a great problem to have! You can use negative keywords to make sure you aren’t wasting your grant dollars on terms that don’t produce a high conversion rate.

Negative keywords are an important part of any ad program. This is true whether your advertising dollars come from a grant or your own pocket. If you need to optimizing an existing account, or start from scratch, contact us today!

Geotargeting Google Grant Ads

One key aspect of compliance with the Google Ads Grant is to properly geotarget your ads. According to Google’s Account management policy, your Ads account must contain “Specific geo-targeting to show ads in locations where users will find your nonprofit’s information and services useful.”

For the majority of non-profits, that will mean that people physically close to you will find your message most appealing. If you serve Thanksgiving dinner to homeless in your area, someone from another state or country is less likely to volunteer. They would (probably) like to find a charity closer to their hometown and support their initiatives.

It is rarely relevant to show ads to the entire globe. In fact, doing so presents two risks. First, Google flags your ads on the compliance report. Rectify the situation within the month or risk losing your grant. Secondly, because you are less relevant to searchers abroad, your click-through-rate (CTR) could suffer. Drop below 5% CTR on your ads, and you again, run the risk of being non-compliant with the grant.

Steps to add geotargeting

1. Open your Campaign
2. Choose Locations from the left-hand navigation
3. Here you can choose between either:
   1. Location. For example, “Dallas-Fort Worth.” This will highlight the included regions and you can evaluate the potential total reach for that location.
   2. Radius. You can choose a radius of any size around a particular location, say, 50 miles around downtown Dallas.
4. Any combination or these can be inclusions or exclusions.

In this example, the DFW area as defined by Nielsen DMA regions has been combined with an area of a 60 mile radius around Dallas. While most of the two areas are redundant, the inclusion of the radius adds a small area up near Sherman to include the best coverage for this example.