Avoid Adwords Cross Triggering of Keywords within Seconds – Pro Guide

Last Updated on June 9, 2017 by Ritwik B

In Google Adwords, many times you might have noticed that a search query matches one or more keywords in a different ad group. This results in AdWords showing different ads, not as we expect it to do.

Only one keyword can trigger an ad per search term & AdRank is its deciding factor.

The AdRank which is calculated during auction time may differ depending on your bid & Quality score of a keyword. There is nothing much you can do other than adding negative keywords to your campaigns/ad groups.

What if you are having like 100s & 1000s of campaign/ad groups/keywords??.

No worries..!!

With this Adwords Cross Matching Keywords Script, you can now add keywords from one Campaign(s)/AdGroup(s) as negatives in other Campaign(s)/AdGroup(s) in seconds. 

There is a lot you can do with this script like copying keywords from;

• One campaign & add as negatives to other Campaign/Adgroup 
• Multiple campaigns & add as negatives to multiple Campaigns/AdGroups
• Multiple AdGroups & add as negatives to multiple Campaigns/AdGroups
• and more

I’ll explain some of the use cases but before that, you can preview the script & open the Keywords Cross Matching Spreadsheet.

So. Lets start

Copy The Script Here

Adwords Cross Triggering Keywords Spreadsheet

Follow these Steps:

• Paste the script in the AdWords script editor.
• Complete the authorization process > Click Preview.
• Open the spreadsheet URL in the logs
• If you are new to scripts, check How To Run Adwords Scripts.

(Click Below gif to Enlarge)

Understanding Spreadsheet:

• You’ll open the spreadsheet with 2 sheets
  • Input_Keywords_Cross_Matching
  • Output_Keywords_Cross_Matching

Input_Keywords_Cross_Matching Sheet:

• Keywords From –
  • Campaign Contains: Campaign(s) from which the keywords would be fetched & added to other Campaigns/AdGroups as negatives.
  • AdGroup Contains: AdGroup(s) from which the keywords would be fetched & added to other Campaigns/AdGroups as negatives
  • Entering Both will AND these conditions
• Match Type: Match Type of the keywords to be added as negative keywords.
• Keywords To –
  • Campaign Contains: Campaign(s) to which the keywords would be added as negatives.
  • AdGroup Contains: AdGroup(s) to which the keywords would be added as negatives.
  • Entering Both will AND these conditions

Output_Keywords_Cross_Matching

• On clicking Preview script, it will display the changes that would take place after you run the script
• The name of the respective Campaigns/AdGroups would be displayed.
• Check more in below scenarios.

Adwords Cross Matching Keywords – Scenarios

Scenario #1 – Avoid Cross Matching Keywords within AdGroups of a Campaign.

Here I have the following Campaign/AdGroups setup

•  Books_Search_Campaign
  • Cooking Books
  • Music Books
  • Comic Books

I want to add keywords from

• Cooking books as negatives to Music & Comic books.
• Music books as negatives to Cooking & Comic books
• Comic books as negatives to Cooking & Music books.

• I have entered the conditions in spreadsheet as
• Keywords From
  • Campaign contains: ‘Books_Search_Campaign’
  • AdGroup contains: ‘Books’  (select all ad groups within the campaign)
• Keywords To
  • Campaign contains: ‘Books_Search_Campaign’
  • AdGroup contains: ‘Books’  (select all ad groups within the campaign)

Note: Keywords will not be added as negatives to itself (AdGroup/Campaign) in any case.

• Preview the Script > Check the sheet ‘Output_Keywords_Cross_Matching’.
• You’ll get the list of AdGroups from which the keywords would be added to other respective AdGroup(s), as per the condition.

(Click on gif to Enlarge)

• Also, you can check the keywords which will be added to respective AdGroup(s) in the changes tab, with the selected match type.

• Now everything seems fine & we can Run the Script.

The changes will only be made after running the script. 

So before that, you can experiment on the ‘Input_Keywords_Cross_Matching’ sheet & check the changes that would be made in ‘Output_Keywords_Cross_Matching’ sheet.

Scenario #2 – Avoid Cross Matching Keywords within Different Campaigns.

Here I have the following Campaigns setup

• Shoes_Polish_Search_Campaign
• Shoes_Search_Campaign
• Shoes_Stand_Search_Campaign

I want to add keywords as negatives from

• Shoes_Polish  to Shoes_Search & Shoes_Stand Campaign
• Shoes_Search_Campaign  to Shoes_Polish & Shoes_Stand
• Shoes_Stand to Shoes_Polish & Shoes_Search

I have the inputs for conditions as

• Keywords From Campaign which contains ‘Shoes’
• Keywords To Campaigns which contains ‘Shoes’
• Now Click Preview

Remember: Keywords will not be added as negatives to itself (AdGroup/Campaign) in any case.

• The ‘Output_Keywords_Cross_Matching’ sheet will show as

• Everything seems fine & now I can Run the Script.

Scenario #3 – Avoid Cross Matching Keywords between AdGroups & other Campaigns.

Here I have the following Campaigns/AdGroups setup

• Books_Search_Campaign
  • Comic_Books (AdGroup)
• Remarketing_Search_Campaign
• Remarketing_Display_Campaign

I want to add keywords as negatives from

• Comic Books (AdGroup)  to Remarketing_Search_Campaign & Remarketing_Display_Campaign

I have the inputs for conditions as

• Keywords From
  • Campaign contains ‘Shoes‘
  • AdGroup contains ‘Comic_Books‘
• Keywords To
  • Campaigns contains ‘Remarketing‘
• Now Click Preview

• The ‘Output_Keywords_Cross_Matching’ will show

• Now Run The Script

While adding keywords from AdGroups as negatives to other Campaigns, it will add at AdGroup level of selected campaigns.

Summary

• The keywords will never be added as negatives to itself, in any condition (Campaign/AdGroups)
• Check the conditions for Campaign(s)/AdGroups(s) in the input sheet to see if the output is as expected in the output sheet.
• Enter the proper MatchType. Check to know more about Negative Keywords MatchTypes.
• Do Try combinations such as
  • Keywords from Campaign contains ‘search’ to Campaign ‘search’, to add negatives to all search campaigns. 
  • Keywords from Campaign contains ‘display’ to Campaign ‘display’, to add negatives to all display campaigns.(if keyword targeting)
• Check the logs if you encounter any error. (No such campaigns, cannot add negatives to itself, etc)