Mastering AI-Powered Google Ads: An Internal Training Manual
- STWNY
- 2 days ago
- 12 min read
1.0 Introduction: The AI Transformation in Google Ads
The landscape of digital advertising is undergoing a fundamental transformation, driven by the integration of sophisticated Artificial Intelligence. Google AI is making Google Search a more exploratory, multimodal, and predictive engine, moving beyond simple query matching to anticipating user needs. For marketing professionals, this evolution presents a significant opportunity to drive superior campaign performance. This manual is designed to equip our team with the knowledge and step-by-step skills required to effectively set up, manage, and optimize Google's next generation of AI-powered advertising tools. By mastering these technologies, we can unlock new levels of efficiency, reach, and conversion value.
Key AI-Powered Toolsets
To navigate this new environment, it is crucial to understand the primary toolsets at our disposal. The following table defines and differentiates the core AI-powered campaign types and feature suites.
Toolset | Description & Purpose |
Performance Max (PMax) Campaigns | A goal-based campaign type that uses machine learning and AI to automate bidding and targeting, distributing ads across all of Google's channels (YouTube, Display, Search, Shopping, Discover, Gmail, and Maps) from a single campaign to maximize conversions. |
AI Max for Search Campaigns | A comprehensive suite of targeting and creative enhancements for Search campaigns. It uses Google AI to expand reach into new, relevant queries with keywordless technology and automatically optimizes creative assets and landing pages in real-time. |
Core Advantages of AI Integration
Adopting these AI tools provides a distinct competitive advantage, moving campaign management from a manual, reactive process to an automated, predictive one. The primary benefits include:
Increased Performance and Conversions: By analyzing countless signals in real-time, AI optimizes bids and ad placements to maximize conversions and conversion value. Advertisers that activate AI Max in Search campaigns, for example, typically see 14% more conversions or conversion value at a similar CPA/ROAS.
Expanded Reach and New Customer Segments: AI-driven tools like search term matching identify and target high-performing search queries that would otherwise be missed, allowing campaigns to reach new and relevant customer segments across Google's entire network.
Enhanced Efficiency and Time Savings: Automation handles the complex, time-consuming tasks of bidding, targeting, and creative combination testing. This allows marketing professionals to shift their focus from manual adjustments to high-level strategy, audience insights, and creative direction.
Dynamic and Relevant Creative: AI automatically generates, tests, and serves the most effective combinations of headlines, descriptions, images, and videos for each user and context, ensuring the creative message is always fresh and highly relevant.
We will begin by focusing on a foundational skill for success in this new ecosystem: leveraging AI to generate and refine the creative assets that fuel these powerful campaigns.
2.0 AI-Powered Creative: A Step-by-Step Guide to Image Editing
This section provides a comprehensive, step-by-step walkthrough of the entire image editing workflow within the Google Ads platform, from initial access to final asset deployment.
2.1 Accessing the Image Editor
The AI image editing tools are integrated throughout the Google Ads interface and can be accessed from four primary points in your workflow:
Via the main navigation menu: Create button (+) > Assets.
Directly within the Asset Library.
Through the Media Picker when you are adding new images to a campaign asset group.
When editing an image immediately after it has been generated by the AI.
2.2 Core Editing Workflow
Follow these steps to generate, edit, and refine images for your campaigns.
Upload Your Starter Image Begin by selecting an image you want to edit. You can choose an existing image from your Asset Library or upload a new one from your computer.
Replace Background Click the "replace background" button. The tool will automatically attempt to isolate the foreground object. If needed, you can make fine-tuned adjustments using the remove or restore brush to manually define the foreground.
Describe the New Background Enter a text prompt describing the new background you wish to generate. Remember that prompts must be a minimum of 15 characters to be effective. Effective prompts are specific and descriptive, focusing on setting, colors, key elements, and desired style.
Example Prompt 1: A coffee shop with warm lights and wooden tables
Example Prompt 2: A colorful line drawing of a city skyline
Adjust Image Color Click on "adjust color". You have two options for enhancement:
Click "Auto enhance" to let Google AI automatically improve the image's appearance.
Manually adjust the sliders for brightness, contrast, saturation, sepia, and hue to achieve the desired look and feel.
Manipulate Objects Further refine your image by adding, removing, or replacing objects within the scene.
Erase: To remove an undesired object, simply brush over it with the erase tool.
Add: To incorporate a new element, select the intended placement within the image and provide a text description of the object you want to add (e.g., tennis ball).
Replace: To swap an existing object, select it by clicking or dragging over it, then describe what you would like to replace it with (e.g., tabby kitten with collar).
Expand Image (Outpainting) Use the "expand image" button to build out the borders of your image beyond its original dimensions. Google AI will intelligently fill in the expanded area. You can expand an image up to 3 times its original width and height and choose from several aspect ratio options: horizontal, vertical, square, or free (for custom dimensions).
Resize for PMax Campaigns Performance Max campaigns require images in three specific aspect ratios: horizontal (1.91:1), square (1:1), and vertical (4:5). Before saving, ensure your final image is correctly laid out and cropped for each of these three required sizes. (While optional portrait images (4:5) can also be used, these three aspect ratios are mandatory for full asset coverage.)
2.3 Advanced Generation Techniques
Beyond the core workflow, two advanced features can help you scale your creative production while maintaining brand consistency.
Using Reference Images: Generate new images that match the style, subject, or composition of your existing brand assets.
Click the + Add images button.
Select your desired reference images from the Asset Library or upload them.
Use the slider to set the reference image weight (Low, Medium, or High) to control how much influence it has on the final output, then click generate.
Using "More Like This": If you find a generated image that you like, you can quickly create variations of it. Hover over the image, select the (+) icon, and click "generate more like this" to produce multiple new options in a similar style.
2.4 Finalizing Your Assets
Once you are satisfied with your edited image, complete the following final steps.
Saving Images: Give your image a descriptive name. When saving, ensure you select the option to save all three required aspect ratios for full compatibility with Performance Max campaigns.
Providing Feedback: To help improve the AI tool, provide feedback on the images it generates. Hover over an image, click the three-dot menu, and share your thoughts on its quality and relevance.
This workflow provides a powerful way to create a library of diverse assets. Next, we will explore a specialized workflow for users who leverage a Google Merchant Center product feed.
3.0 Integrating Product Feeds with AI Image Editing
Transforming Static Product Shots
For advertisers with a Google Merchant Center (GMC) feed, the AI image editor unlocks a powerful strategic advantage. This tool enables you to transform static, white-background product shots into dynamic, compelling lifestyle creative.
Leveraging Your Product Catalog
This integration allows you to leverage your existing product catalog as a foundation for generating a vast array of new assets at scale. By doing so, you can dramatically enhance campaign performance.
Enhancing Campaign Performance
Making your products more relatable and contextually relevant is key to improving engagement and conversion rates in your advertising efforts.
3.1 Accessing and Selecting GMC Product Images
Follow this process to locate and select product images from your linked GMC feed for editing.
Locate Your Feed: You can access your GMC feed from two primary locations. First, within the AI image editor itself, or second, through the Media Picker during PMax campaign construction. In the Media Picker, navigate to the "Merchant Products" tab.
Search for Products: Once in the "Merchant Products" tab, you can locate specific items using several methods. Use the filter options to search by Listing Group ID, Product name, Offer ID, Brand, Product type, or Category. Alternatively, you can navigate through the pages of your feed to browse products.
Select an Image: When you click on a product image, an "About this asset" panel will appear with three available actions:
Select for campaign: Adds the original image directly to your asset group.
Copy and edit with AI: Opens the selected product image in the AI editor, creating a copy so the original feed image remains untouched.
Save to Asset library: Saves the original image to your main Asset Library for future use.
3.2 Editing and Deploying GMC Images
After you select "Copy and edit with AI", the product image will open in the main editing interface. From here, you can apply all the powerful editing functions covered in Section 2.0, such as replacing the background, adding objects, or adjusting colors to create a more dynamic, lifestyle-oriented scene.
Once your edits are complete, save the newly generated image. The final step is to add this enhanced creative asset to your Performance Max asset group, diversifying your ad creative with content that is both product-focused and contextually rich.
Having mastered the creation of AI-powered image assets, we now turn our attention to the management of AI-driven campaigns with AI Max for Search.
4.0 Activating and Managing AI Max for Search Campaigns
AI Max is a comprehensive suite of AI-powered features for Search campaigns, designed to optimize targeting and tailor creative messaging in real-time. It moves beyond traditional keyword management to a more holistic approach that leverages Google's deep understanding of user intent. This section will guide you through the activation process and the configuration of its powerful control features.
4.1 Understanding the Core Components
AI Max is built on two primary pillars that work together to enhance campaign performance.
Search Term Matching: This component expands your campaign's reach beyond its existing keywords. It finds incremental conversions through a mix of broad match and keywordless technology; provides new, granular controls like locations of interest and brand inclusions/exclusions; and offers greater reporting transparency into ad journeys.
Asset Optimization: This component automatically delivers more tailored and relevant creative messaging at scale. It ensures that your ad copy and landing page experience are dynamically adapted to match user intent.
Key Functions: Text Customization (which uses generative AI to create ad copy from your ads and landing pages) and Final URL Expansion (which sends users to the most relevant landing page on your domain).
4.2 Activating AI Max
You can enable AI Max for both new and existing Search campaigns.
For New Search Campaigns: During the standard campaign creation workflow, you will reach an "AI Max" page. Simply toggle the switch to opt-in and enable the feature suite for the new campaign.
For Existing Search Campaigns: To activate AI Max on a campaign that is already running, follow these steps:
Navigate to Settings within the Campaigns menu.
Select the desired Search campaign from your list.
In the section menu for that campaign, select AI Max.
Toggle the switch to opt-in to AI Max settings and save your changes.
4.3 Configuring AI Max Features
AI Max provides a new layer of granular controls to steer the AI's optimization. Understanding whether a setting is at the campaign or ad group level is key to proper configuration.
Search Term Matching: This must be turned on at the campaign level to be active. You can then toggle it on or off for individual ad groups within that campaign.
The word "Search" is highlighted with an arrow, emphasizing the concept of search term matching. Asset Optimization (Text Customization & Final URL Expansion): These are campaign-level controls that are enabled by default when you activate AI Max.
Expert Warning: Final URL expansion (FUE) requires Text Customization to be active. Additionally, when FUE is turned on, pinned assets in your Responsive Search Ads will not be respected, as the system will prioritize the most relevant landing page for the user's query.
URL Exclusions: This is a campaign-level control. Use it to prevent traffic from being sent to specific pages on your website, such as non-commercial pages (e.g., About Us, FAQ).
URL Inclusions: This is an ad group-level control. Use it to specify a list of URLs that you want the system to consider for targeting and dynamic landing pages for that specific ad group.
Brand Controls:
Brand Exclusions are a campaign-level control used to prevent your ads from appearing alongside specific brands.
Brand Inclusions can be set at the campaign or ad group level. This allows you to specify brands you want your ads associated with. Ad group-level settings will always override campaign-level settings.
Locations of Interest: This is an exclusive ad group-level control within AI Max that allows you to reach customers based on their geographical intent, even in keywordless matches.
With the technical setup complete, we can now shift our focus to the strategic application of these tools and the best practices for maximizing your results.
5.0 Optimization Strategies and Best Practices
While Google's AI tools are highly automated, achieving maximum performance requires strategic oversight and adherence to established best practices. Simply activating these features is not enough; success depends on providing the right inputs, structuring campaigns logically, and interpreting performance data to make informed optimizations. This section outlines the key strategies for creative development and campaign management.
5.1 Creative and Prompting Best Practices
The quality of your creative assets is a primary driver of performance. The following best practices will help you generate more effective images and write better prompts.
Editing Best Practices | Prompting Best Practices |
Use the "generate more" functionality frequently to explore a wider range of background options.<br> Ensure you save all three required aspect ratios (horizontal, square, vertical) and that the main subject is correctly cropped in each.<br>* Always use auto-enhance or manually adjust the colors to ensure your final image is vibrant and visually appealing before saving. | Be specific and descriptive in your prompts. A minimum of 15 characters is required.<br> Provide clear details about the items, background, colors, and other elements you wish to see in the image.<br>* Specify the desired image style, such as "photo realistic," "artistic," or "illustrative," to guide the AI's output. |
5.2 Campaign Strategy and Structure
A well-structured campaign provides the AI with clear signals and logical boundaries, leading to better optimization.
Campaign Structure For Performance Max, it is advisable to create multiple asset groups within a single campaign rather than creating many separate campaigns. Use different asset groups to target distinct product categories or audiences. This consolidates learning within one campaign while allowing you to tailor assets and signals. When doing so, minimize the overlap between listing groups in each asset group to prevent internal competition.
Audience Signals While optional, providing audience signals is highly recommended as it helps guide the machine-learning models and accelerate the learning phase. You can provide signals based on Your data (e.g., remarketing lists), Custom segments, and Google Audiences (e.g., in-market segments). It is important to remember that these are signals, not restrictions; PMax will target users beyond these signals if it predicts a high likelihood of conversion. This is by design; the signals are a starting point to accelerate learning, but the system's primary goal is to find conversions wherever they exist on the network.
Final URL Expansion This feature gives you two primary options for managing landing pages. You can either allow Google to send traffic to the most relevant URLs on your site, which maximizes reach, or you can choose to only send traffic to the URLs you’ve provided. If you choose the first option, be sure to use URL exclusions to block traffic to non-commercial pages.
Asset Performance Regularly review the Asset detail report within your asset groups. Identify any assets (images, headlines, descriptions) with a "Low" performance rating and replace them with new variations. The goal is to have multiple "Best" performing assets for each asset type, as this gives the system more high-quality options to work with.
Branded Terms As a best practice, you should exclude your own branded terms from generic Performance Max campaigns that are focused on new customer acquisition. Because branded terms naturally perform well, including them can inflate performance metrics without driving new growth. To implement this, you must contact Google support to have them apply the brand exclusion list to your PMax campaign.
Following these best practices is essential for success, but it's equally important to understand the operational guardrails and technical requirements that ensure your campaigns run smoothly and responsibly.
6.0 Governance and Technical Considerations
Operating within established safety policies and ensuring your technical configurations are correct is essential for preventing errors, ensuring compliance, and protecting brand integrity. This final section covers the critical governance rules and technical settings you must be aware of.
6.1 Responsible AI Guardrails
To ensure the responsible use of generative AI, Google Ads will not generate images that fall into certain sensitive categories. Be aware that the AI will refuse to create images that include:
Faces, children, or specific identifiable individuals
Branded items and logos
Images that may violate Google Ads Policy, such as those depicting weapons, adult content, or alcohol
6.2 Critical Note on Tracking Parameters
A crucial technical consideration arises when using Final URL Expansion (FUE) in AI Max or PMax campaigns. If your account uses tracking templates, incorrect configuration can cause the dynamic landing pages generated by FUE to break, resulting in 404 errors and lost traffic. This occurs when the {lpurl} ValueTrack parameter is not formatted correctly to handle dynamic URLs.
Best Practices for {lpurl} Tags
To avoid landing page errors and ensure compatibility with FUE, your tracking templates must use one of the following recommended formats for the {lpurl} tag, especially when other tracking parameters follow it:
{lpurl}?
{lpurl}&
{lpurl}#
{lpurl} (This should only be used if no other parameters follow the landing page URL)
By mastering the principles and workflows in this manual, our team is not just adopting new tools; we are fundamentally upgrading our approach to digital advertising. Adhering to these governance principles and technical best practices ensures we can leverage Google's AI with confidence and skill, moving beyond reactive adjustments to drive superior, predictive, data-driven results for our clients.
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