We launched updated Ad Grants policies in January 2018 to provide more guidance on running a high quality account.
Please note that we primarily use in-product notifications to communicate personalized suggestions as well as notifications of non-compliance. After modifying your account to comply with policies, you may request account reinstatement.
Along with the policies specific to Ad Grants, all Ad Grants accounts must also follow standard Google Ads policies.
No single-word keywords permitted
Under Ad Grants' Mission based policy, single keywords aren’t permitted. Your own brand keywords, approved medical conditions and some other cases are deemed an exception to this policy. To pause single keywords you can use a filter.
Filter for single keywords and pause them
- In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon
.
- Click the Campaigns drop-down in the section menu and click on Campaigns or Ad groups.
- Click the filter button
above the statistics table.
- Start typing Keyword text from the list of options, select it. Choose does not contain and in the text box enter a space by pressing the spacebar on your keyboard once.
- Click Apply to see a list of single keywords.
- To return to an unfiltered view of your table, click the X above the statistics table.
- (Optional) To save the filter that you’ve created for later use, click the save button
, enter your filter name (i.e. Single keyword) and click Save.
.
above the statistics table.
, enter your filter name (i.e. Single keyword) and click Save.No overly generic keywords permitted
Ad Grants' Mission based policy requires overly generic keywords that don't indicate the intent of the person searching to be paused or removed, for example: ‘“free videos”, “e-books” or “today’s news”.
No keywords with a quality score of 1 or 2 permitted
Ad Grants' Mission based policy requires keywords with a quality score of 1 or 2 to be paused or removed. Check your quality score on a regular basis to pause non-permitted keywords. You can also setup an automated rule so the system automatically pauses these keywords for you.
How to check your keywords' quality score
The quality score can be found in a column in your Keywords tab. However, it may not be showing in your account as default. If you don’t see a Quality Score column in your keywords tab, you can add it:
- In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon
.
- Click Audiences, keywords, and content.
- Click Search keywords.
- In the upper right corner of the table, click the columns icon
.
- Click on the drop-down arrow beside “All columns” and then, open the Quality Score section.
- To add the current Quality Score and its component statuses as new columns in the keyword reporting table, select Quality Score.
- Click Apply.
.Pause keywords with quality scores of 1 or 2 with an automated rule
You can setup an automated rule so the system regularly pauses keywords with a quality score of 1 or 2 for you when the condition is met.
Here's how to create this rule:
- In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon
- Click Audiences, keywords, and content.
- Click Keywords.
- Click the 3-dot icon
and select Create an automated rule.
- Name your rule 'Pause low quality keywords.'
- Under 'Apply to,' select Keywords in selected accounts.
- Under 'Conditions,' choose Keyword status: Enabled.
- Click Add condition and select Keyword conditions then Quality Score.
- Set Quality Score to '> 3' and click Apply.
- Under 'Action,' select Pause keywords.
- In the 'Frequency' section, choose Daily at a time of your choice, using data from the Last 30 days.
- Select your notification preferences and save your rule.
and select Create an automated rule.Must maintain a 5% click-through rate (CTR) each month
Failing to meet 5% CTR for two consecutive months can result in temporary account deactivation.
To correct your CTR before your account is temporarily deactivated, or once your account is temporarily deactivated, follow the steps below to view your CTR and pause high-impression, low CTR keywords.
View your keyword click-through rate and pause high-impression, low CTR keywords
- Set the date range to the past 7 days that your account was active. If your account was deactivated or campaigns were paused, set the date range to the last 7 days that your ads accrued impressions.
- In your Google Ads account, click the Campaigns icon
- Click Audiences, keywords, and content.
- Click Keywords.
- On the filter bar above the statistics table, select Keyword status and All enabled.
- In the upper right corner of the table, click the columns icon
- Select “Modify columns” and click on the drop-down arrow beside “All columns” and then, "Performance," and select CTR.
- Click Apply.
- Order by top impressions down by clicking the column header Impr. at the top of the statistics table.
- Pause keywords with high impressions (see Impr. column) and low CTR (see CTR column) by clicking the checkbox to the left of the keyword, click Edit and then Pause. This step will increase the average CTR of all enabled keywords.
- Continue until the CTR metric for the total bar on the statistics table, called Total: filtered keywords, reads at least 5%.
Must have valid conversion tracking, if applicable
Ad Grants policy requires that accounts created since January 2018 and advertisers in the program using Smart Bidding strategies must implement accurate conversion tracking.
Accurate conversion tracking means that you are reporting at least 1 conversion per month (see the Conversions column) and that if your conversion rate is high (see the Conv. Rate column), it's accurately setup and due to strong performance of a meaningful conversion. Your total number of clicks should not nearly equate to your total number of conversions.
If you haven't received at least 1 conversion in the last month
Try one of the following options:
- Create a goal in Google Analytics and import it into Google Ads (recommended) or add a new conversion directly in Google Ads.
- If you’re using Google Ads conversion tracking already but not reporting conversions, troubleshoot your conversion tracking tag.
- If you have Google Analytics goals setup and imported into Google Ads already, then troubleshoot your Goals setup.
If your conversion rate is high
Please confirm that it's due strong performance for a meaningful conversion. Top fixes include:
- Consider changing your settings to suit the type of conversion and “count one” instead of “count every” conversion where appropriate (see counting options)
- Consider tracking a ‘thank you’ page where possible using Google Ads conversion tracking or a Destination goal with Google Analytics.
- If you don’t have a ‘thank you’ page to track on your site, try a Google Analytics Smart Goal
- Increase the barrier to what counts as a conversion:
- If using a Destination goal or conversion, ensure the page you’re tracking isn’t a frequently visited, common page, but instead one that’s accessed after someone completes a meaningful action, i.e. a ‘thank you’ page.
- If using a Duration goal, consider increasing the minimum amount of time spent on site.
- If using a Pages/Screens per session goal, consider increasing the minimum amount number visited.
Must have at least 2 ad groups per campaign
Create at least 2 ad groups per campaign with a set of highly relevant and tightly knit keywords that align with the 2 associated ads and destination landing pages. Check out your Search Terms report to see what multiple word searches have gained a good CTR and add these.
Must have at least 2 sitelink assets
Sitelinks provide the person searching more opportunities to click directly from your ad to landing pages on your site. Consider what specific pages might be most valuable to people searching and add these as sitelinks, for example a campaign page for a fundraising campaign.
Must respond to program survey
All grantees must complete an annual program survey. The survey has been sent to the login email addresses on each Ad Grants account earlier in the year. If you have submitted it but receive a notification that it still needs to be completed, then we haven't been able to successfully capture your submission based on the customer ID entered and please resubmit.
- Review your in-product notifications and ensure that the email address used for notifications is opted into receiving emails from us.
- Respond to the survey.
