Create an ad group

The default bid for all keywords in the ad group. This bid is the highest you're willing to pay per click for keywords. Each keyword can override this default by specifying its own maximum CPC.

Specify one of the following options:

• Optimize: Optimizes your ads for each individual auction using signals like keyword, search term, device, location, and more. Powered by Google’s machine learning technology, the "Optimize" setting prioritizes ads that are expected to perform better than other ads within an ad group. 

• Rotate indefinitely: Delivers your ads more evenly into the ad auction, but does so for an indefinite amount of time and does not optimize. Because this option allows lower-performing ads to run as often as higher-performing ads for an indefinite period of time, this option is not recommended for most advertisers.

Learn more about Google Ads ad rotation settings. 

Google Ads ignores this setting if a Google Ads portfolio bid strategy is in effect for this ad group (either by inheriting the bid strategy from the campaign or by applying it directly to this ad group). Instead, Google Ads always optimizes ad rotation to help achieve the conversion goals specified in the bid strategy.

In Search Ads 360, you can apply a Search Ads 360 bid strategy or Google Ads portfolio bid strategy to an ad group to let the bid strategy automatically adjust the ad group's keyword bids. Or, you can manually set bids instead of using a bid strategy.

By default, a bid strategy is inherited by an ad group's keywords unless a keyword is managed by a different bid strategy. You can override an ad group's bid strategy by applying a different bid strategy to a keyword. You can also change or remove campaigns, ad groups, and keywords from bid strategies at any time.

Search Ads 360 bid strategy settings: 

• Manual bidding: By default, keywords in the ad group will not be managed by a Search Ads 360 bid strategy, even if a Search Ads 360 bid strategy has been applied to the campaign that contains the ad group.
• Manual bidding (inherited): By default, all keywords in the ad group inherit the campaign’s Search Ads 360 bid strategy settings.
• A specific Search Ads 360 bid strategy: By default, all keywords in the ad group are managed by the specific Search Ads 360 bid strategy you select, regardless of any Search Ads 360 bid strategy settings for the campaign.
  Search Ads 360 bid strategies that maximize conversions or revenue (Smart Bidding strategies), can also set or recommend device bid adjustments, remarketing target bid adjustments, and location target bid adjustments.

Google Ads portfolio bid strategy settings:

• No bid strategy (manual bidding): By default, keywords in the ad group will not be managed by a Google Ads portfolio bid strategy, even if a Google Ads portfolio bid strategy has been applied to the campaign that contains the ad group.
• No bid strategy (inherited): By default, all keywords in the ad group inherit the campaign's Google Ads portfolio bid strategy.
• A specific Google Ads portfolio bid strategy: By default, all keywords in the ad group are managed by the specific Google Ads portfolio bid strategy you select, regardless of any Google Ads portfolio bid strategy settings for the campaign.

You can set a mobile bid adjustment in Search Ads 360 at the ad group level in Google Ads campaigns. This is useful if you have large campaigns and find that your optimal bids for some keywords would require much different mobile bid adjustments within a campaign. 

In the Mobile bid adjustment list, select:

• No bid adjustment for this device: Uses the keyword bid.
• Increase by: Increase bids on mobile devices by up to 900%.
• Decrease by: Decrease bids on mobile devices by up to 90%. Decreasing by 100% will disable mobile bids for the ad group.
• Use campaign bid adjustment (default): Uses the bid adjustment specified in the campaign's settings.

In a Microsoft Advertising ad group, you can specify two default maximum bids:

• Search bid: The maximum cost-per-click for keywords in the ad group that are targeted to the search network (that is, keywords with a broad, phrase or exact match type).

• Content match bid: The maximum cost-per-click set for keywords in the ad group that with the content match type.

Each keyword can override this default by specifying its own maximum CPC.

The start date is the date when the campaign begins running. If you specify a date in the future, you can edit the start date any time before that date.

You control how long your Microsoft Advertising campaign runs by setting an end date. The ad group will run through the date that you select.

Select the language you'll use to write the ads for the ad group. For example, if you select English, your ads will need to be written in English. Once you create the ad group, you cannot change its language.

Targeting enables you select a more specific audience for your advertising. By default, ad groups inherit all targeting settings from the campaign. Microsoft Advertising ad groups can override some or all of a campaign’s targeting settings and specify their own targeting. For example, if a campaign advertises to the fans of a specific sports team, you can create separate ad groups that target fans in specific locations or on specific devices.

While Microsoft Advertising ad groups can override any targeting setting from the campaign, in Search Ads 360 you can only customize the following targeting settings:

Locations 

Target ads in an ad group to appear only in specific countries, metro areas, or other regions that are identified by Microsoft Advertising geographic codes. 

You can use geo codes to specify an entire country, specific region within a country (such as a province or state), metro area, or city.

Download the list of geo codes: XLSX / CSV: Microsoft Advertising

Specify location targets in a new ad group

1. Enter a geo code in the Search box.

   You can use geo codes to specify an entire country, specific regions within a country (such as a province or state), city, or US metro area. You can also target specific postal codes in the US, UK, or Germany.

2. Hover on the location and then click Include or Exclude.

3. Optional. For each included location target,  increase or decrease the bid adjustment to target ads.

   To increase the bid for a location, specify a number (which is the bid adjustment percentage), from 0 to 900. A value of 0 makes no adjustment to the default bid.

   To decrease the bid for a location, enter a number from 0 to 90. Do not include a minus sign to decrease the bid adjustment.

4. Click Save.

Specify location targets in an existing ad group

1. In a Microsoft Advertising ad group, click the Targets ▼ tab, and then click Location targets.
2. Click the Ad group location targets tab.
3. Click + Geo location target.
4. Enter a geo code in the Search box.

   You can use geo codes to specify an entire country, specific regions within a country (such as a province or state), city, or US metro area. You can also target specific postal codes in the US, UK, or Germany.

5. Hover on the location and then click Include or Exclude.

6. Optional. For each included location target,  increase or decrease the bid adjustment to target ads.

   To increase the bid for a location, specify a number (which is the bid adjustment percentage), from 0 to 900. A value of 0 makes no adjustment to the default bid.

   To decrease the bid for a location, enter a number from 0 to 90. Do not include a minus sign to decrease the bid adjustment.

7. Click Save.

All Microsoft Advertising campaigns and ad groups target all device types. Similar to Google Ads, the default bid you enter applies to desktop computers, mobile, and tablet devices unless you enter bid adjustments for the devices. This allows you to increase or decrease every bid in your campaign or ad group to bid more or less competitively for searches occurring on the devices.

Specifies the default maximum bid for the keywords in this ad group. Each keyword can override this default by specifying its own maximum CPC.

Each Baidu campaign can contain up to 100 ad groups.

Specify a device bid adjustment to target the device. By default, each device uses the campaign's bid adjustment. You can also set the bid adjustments to increase or decrease bids based on the default bid set for keywords. 

• Mobile bid adjustment Specify one of the following:

  • Use campaign bid adjustment if you want to use the same bid adjustment specified in the campaign to target the device.
  • 0% if you don’t want to target the device
  • Increase or decrease bids by a specified percent.

• Tablet bid adjustment Specify one of the following:

  • Use campaign bid adjustment if you want to use the same bid adjustment specified in the campaign to target the device.
  • 0% if you don’t want to target the device
  • Increase or decrease bids by a specified percent.
• Desktop bid adjustment Specify one of the following: 
  • Use campaign bid adjustment if you want to use the same bid adjustment specified in the campaign to target the device.
  • 0% if you don’t want to target the device
  • Increase or decrease bids by a specified percent

By default, Yahoo! Gemini ad groups inherit the location targets specified in the campaign. If you want an ad group to target different locations than the campaign, specify the location targets on the Ad Group Location Targets tab. 

Note that you can't set location targets in the ad group editor.