This week we're making a minor change to the way Google Display Network campaign settings work. This change will affect campaigns that meet these criteria:
- Are opted in to the Google Display Network
- Are targeting only keywords in at least one ad group
- Have the campaign setting "Relevant pages only on placements, audiences, and topics I manage"
Background
When you set up a Google Display Network campaign, you have two options to choose from:
- (1) Relevant pages across the entire network
- (2) Relevant pages only on placements, audiences, and topics I manage
With option (1), Google automatically places your ad on relevant webpages based on the keywords in your campaign. With option (2), you have greater control over where your ad appears: your ads show on relevant webpages only within specified placements, audiences, or topics.
Currently, if you choose option (2) and only add keywords, your ads aren't eligible to appear. As a result, you receive zero impressions in those ad groups on the Google Display Network.
For example, say that you're selling tennis shoes and using the keywords "sports shoes," "tennis shoes," and "sneakers”. If you're only opted into the Display Network and you've selected "Relevant pages only on placements, audiences, and topics I manage" as your setting, your ads will only appear on specified placements, audiences, or topics. Because you aren’t using any topics, placements, or audiences, your ads won't appear on the Google Display Network.
What's changing?
With the upcoming change, ads with this type of setting conflict will start appearing on relevant pages across the entire Google Network based on your keywords. In the previous example, ads would show on pages about "sports shoes," "tennis shoes," and "sneakers" on the Google Display Network.
If you add a placement, audience, or topic, your ad will continue to appear only on relevant pages within that placement, audience, or topic.
Important: No changes are needed to existing ad groups, as those that meet these criteria will be prevented from appearing on relevant pages across the entire network.
To make these campaign settings clearer, we are also renaming the settings.
We're changing these two options to:
- (1) Show ads on pages that match the broadest targeting method
- (2) Show ads only on pages that match all selected targeting methods
| Before | After |
| “Relevant pages across the entire network” | “Show ads on pages that match the broadest targeting method” |
| “Relevant pages only on placements, audiences, and topics I manage” | “Show ads only on pages that match all selected targeting methods” |
For more information on how to use our campaign settings and targeting methods to control where your ads appear, visit the help center.