Strategy
Level 5/5
Search and keyword strategy
Lvl 5
100%
We plan, build and run Google Ads across Search, Shopping, YouTube, Performance & AI Max, with the product feeds, landing pages and tracking behind them.
Overview
Google puts ads where people look for things: in search results, on YouTube, in Gmail, on Maps and across millions of sites and apps. Google's AI now does much of the matching and bidding, so results depend on what you give it: the right conversion goals, a clean product feed, strong assets and tracking that records every sale.
We run Google Ads end to end: campaign structure, feeds, creative, landing pages, tracking and a weekly report on where results come from. Our guide How Google Ads works covers the details.
Campaign types
Google offers a campaign type for each goal and surface. Most accounts combine two or three.
| Campaign | Where it runs | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Search | Google Search results, with AI Max for broader matching | People already searching for what you sell |
| Performance Max | Every Google Ads channel from one campaign | Sales and leads across all surfaces |
| Shopping | The Shopping tab, Search, Images, Maps and YouTube | Products with a price and a photo |
| Demand Gen | YouTube and Shorts, Discover, Gmail and Display | Finding new customers with images and video |
| Video | YouTube and partner sites | Reach and consideration |
| Display | Sites and apps on the Display Network, moving into Demand Gen | Reaching past visitors again |
| App | Search, Google Play, YouTube, Discover and Display | Installs and engagement, alongside mobile app development |
Search campaigns
Search ads appear with the results when people search. Since October 2025, Google groups text ads under a single "Sponsored results" label that stays visible as people scroll, with a control to hide them, and shows no more than four in a group. Ads can also appear above or below AI Overviews and, in English in a dozen markets including the US, inside them.
A responsive search ad takes up to 15 headlines of 30 characters and 4 descriptions of 90, and Google combines them for each search. AI Max for Search, out of beta since April 2026, extends matching beyond your keywords, adapts headlines to the search and can send people to the most relevant page on your site.
Shopping campaigns
Shopping ads show a photo of the product, its price and your store name, and they're labelled "Sponsored products". They're built from your product data in Merchant Center rather than from keywords: every product needs an ID, title, description, link, image, availability and price. Local inventory adds in-store stock, so a shopper nearby can see a product is ready for pickup today.
A good feed does more for Shopping than any bid change, so we clean and structure the feed first.
YouTube and Demand Gen
YouTube ads meet people while they watch. Google maps goals to campaigns: Demand Gen to convert new customers, video views for consideration and video reach for awareness. Demand Gen also runs your images, videos and product feeds across Discover, Gmail and the Display Network.
| Format | Where it shows | Length and skip |
|---|---|---|
| Skippable in-stream | Before, during or after YouTube videos | Skippable after 5 seconds |
| Non-skippable in-stream | Before, during or after videos | Short, can't be skipped |
| Bumper | Before, during or after videos | Up to 6 seconds, can't be skipped |
| In-feed | Home feed, search results and next to videos | A thumbnail and headline; plays when chosen |
| Shorts | Between Shorts | Vertical video; people swipe to skip |
Performance Max
Performance Max is a goal-based campaign that reaches all Google Ads inventory from one campaign: Search, YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps. You give it asset groups (headlines, descriptions, images, logos and videos), optional audience signals and search themes, and your product feed, and Google's AI assembles the ads and bids across channels.
It works best with good inputs and firm limits. Brand exclusions, negative keywords and the search terms report keep it from paying for traffic you would get anyway.
Where ads show
Beyond search results, Google Ads reach people across Google's own surfaces and partner sites: responsive display ads on millions of websites and apps, cards in the Discover feed, ads at the top of the Gmail Promotions tab, and local ads on Maps that show your pin, opening hours and buttons to call, visit the website or get directions.
Performance Max and Demand Gen choose among these for you. We make sure each one has creative that fits it.
How it works
Each search runs an auction. Google ranks ads by Ad Rank, which weighs your bid, the quality of your ad and landing page, the auction's thresholds and competitiveness, the context of the search and the expected impact of your assets. The highest bid doesn't always take the top spot, and you pay only what is needed to beat the ad ranked below you.
Smart Bidding sets that bid in every auction, using signals such as device, location, time of day and audience lists to reach a target cost per acquisition or a target return on ad spend.
Reporting
Performance Max now shows where results come from. The channel performance report, available in every Performance Max campaign since November 2025, follows impressions, interactions and conversions by channel, and separates ads that use your product data from the rest.
We turn it into a weekly report: which channels bring the sales, which mostly bring impressions, and where the budget should move next.
Process
Audit, build, measure, scale. Each month's report writes the brief for the next round of assets and search themes.
Audit
Check the account, the conversion actions and the tracking, and find where spend is leaking.
Build
Set up Search, Shopping and Performance Max with the feed, the assets and the landing pages each one needs.
Measure
Record every conversion with the Google tag, enhanced conversions and consent mode, and give bidding time to learn.
Scale
Move budget to the campaigns and channels that return, and refresh assets and search themes every month.
Deliverables
Everything needed to run Google Ads well, from the first audit to a weekly reporting rhythm. You own the account, the Merchant Center feed, the tags and all of the creative.
- Account and tracking audit
- Search campaigns and keyword plan
- Merchant Center feed and Shopping
- Performance Max asset groups
- Google tag, enhanced conversions and consent mode
- Landing pages
- Reporting
Stack
Google Ads and Merchant Center, the Google tag through Google Tag Manager, enhanced conversions, consent mode and the Google tag gateway, Data Manager for offline and lead conversions, Google Analytics, fast landing pages on our website development stack, and your CRM.
Commerce
Level 5/5
Product feeds and Merchant Center
Lvl 5100%Media
Level 5/5
Performance Max
Lvl 5100%Creative
Level 4/5
YouTube creative
Lvl 480%Measurement
Level 5/5
Tagging, enhanced conversions and consent
Lvl 5100%Analytics
Level 4/5
Channel reporting
Lvl 480%
FAQ
Answers to the questions we hear most often about Google Ads.
Who owns the Google Ads account?
You do. We work through our manager account, which is linked to yours but never takes ownership of it, and you can unlink it at any time. Your campaigns, data and billing stay in your account.
What budget do we need?
Google has no fees or minimum spend. You set an average daily budget: on a given day Google may spend up to twice that, but never more than 30.4 times it in a month. We agree a test budget large enough for bidding to learn, then scale what works.
How soon will it work?
Most ads are reviewed within one business day. Smart Bidding then needs one or two conversion cycles to learn, so we judge campaigns over a month or more rather than day to day.
Do we need Performance Max?
Not always. Search campaigns with AI Max cover people already looking for what you sell. Performance Max adds YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail and Maps once you have a product feed, good assets and reliable tracking, and brand exclusions, negative keywords and the channel report keep it honest.
What tracking do you set up?
The Google tag or Tag Manager, conversion actions for what you sell, enhanced conversions, consent mode with all four consent types for visitors from the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, the Google tag gateway on your own domain, and the link to Google Analytics.
Can you use our existing creative?
Yes. We adapt your images and videos to Google's ratios and write headlines and descriptions to its character limits. Google can generate missing variants; we review every one before it runs.
Are you affiliated with Google?
No. insidethebox is an independent agency. We run campaigns in your own Google Ads account, so you keep ownership of the account, the data and the results.
All names, companies, people and figures in the examples and illustrations on this page are fictional and shown for demonstration only. They do not correspond to real clients, customers or results.