Google ads campaign builder

Google Ads Campaign Builder

Currency & scope note (last reviewed 2026-07-19): Platform mechanics referenced here (character limits, campaign-type names, feature availability, thresholds, benchmark figures, policy specifics) reflect general practice as of the review date above and are not guaranteed current — ad platforms change quickly. Verify anything mechanical against the platform's live documentation before relying on it for a real launch, real spend, or a compliance-sensitive decision. This is an independent, unofficial resource, not affiliated with or endorsed by any platform named in it, and nothing here is legal, tax, or financial advice.

Purpose

Turn a business goal into a complete, launch-ready Google Ads campaign structure: campaign type, account architecture, keywords, ads, extensions/assets, and budget.

Trigger Conditions

• "Create a Google Ads campaign for [product/service]"
• "Build me a Search campaign" / "Set up Performance Max" / "Launch a Shopping campaign"
• "Set up Google Ads structure for [business]"

Required Inputs

Collect before building (ask only for what's missing):

• Business type and product/service
• Target audience and location(s)
• Monthly budget
• Conversion goal (leads, sales, calls, app installs, foot traffic)
• Landing page URL
• Offer (what makes this ad worth clicking)
• Known competitors (optional, sharpens keyword/angle choices)
• Conversion tracking status — if absent, flag google-ads-measurement as a blocking prerequisite

Core Capabilities

Campaign Type Selection

• Search (intent-driven, keyword-based)
• Performance Max (full-inventory automated, requires strong asset group + feed if ecommerce)
• Display (awareness/remarketing, image-based)
• Shopping (product feed via Merchant Center)
• Video/YouTube (awareness, consideration, or action campaigns)
• Demand Gen (visually-led, social-style placements across YouTube/Discover/Gmail)
• Match campaign type to funnel stage and conversion goal, not to what's trendy

Account Structure

• Campaign → Ad Group → Ad/Asset architecture
• Naming convention (platform / campaign type / audience / geo / date)
• Single-keyword ad groups (SKAGs) vs. themed ad groups — recommend themed for most accounts, SKAGs only for high-spend precision cases
• Budget allocation across campaigns by priority/funnel stage

Keyword Research (Search/Shopping)

• Seed keyword generation from product/service + intent modifiers
• Match type strategy (exact, phrase, broad — with Smart Bidding context)
• Negative keyword list to exclude irrelevant/competitor/low-intent traffic
• Search intent classification (informational vs. commercial vs. transactional) to filter out low-value terms

Ad Creation

• Hand off headline/description writing to google-ads-copywriting, but define the brief: angle, offer, proof points, CTA
• Assets/extensions: sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, call, location, price, promotion
• Character limits: 30 chars/headline, 90 chars/description, 15 headlines / 4 descriptions max for RSA

Audience & Targeting (PMax/Display/Video/Demand Gen)

• Audience signals: custom segments, in-market, affinity, remarketing lists
• Asset groups for PMax (images, logos, headlines, descriptions, videos per theme)
• Geographic and device targeting decisions

Workflow

1. Confirm all required inputs; do not guess budget, geography, or conversion goal.
2. Recommend campaign type(s) based on goal and funnel stage — explain the "why," not just the pick.
3. Design account structure: campaigns, ad groups/asset groups, naming convention.
4. Generate keyword themes + match types + negative keyword starter list (Search/Shopping).
5. Brief and generate ad assets (hand off copy specifics to google-ads-copywriting if depth is needed).
6. Attach relevant extensions/assets.
7. Propose budget split and bid strategy (Maximize Conversions, Target CPA/ROAS, Manual CPC only for new accounts with no conversion history).
8. Route through google-ads-compliance for a policy check before calling it launch-ready.

Outputs

• Campaign structure (campaigns → ad groups/asset groups)
• Keyword list with match types
• Negative keyword list
• Ad copy/assets (or a copy brief if handed to the copywriting skill)
• Extensions/assets list
• Budget and bid strategy recommendation
• Launch checklist

Rules

• Never launch a campaign recommendation without conversion tracking confirmed or explicitly flagged as missing.

• Never recommend keywords without intent analysis — high-volume ≠ high-intent.

• Never ignore landing page fit; if the landing page doesn't match the ad's promise, flag google-ads-landing-page-audit before finalizing.

• Respect RSA character limits exactly; do not output copy that would be rejected at save time.

• Verification gate: before this skill's output is used to spend real money, submit a compliance-sensitive claim, or go to a client as final, verify the mechanical specifics (limits, thresholds, policy rules) against current platform documentation and get explicit human sign-off — do not treat this skill's output as launch-ready without that check.

Related Skills

google-ads-strategy (upstream — confirms this is the right channel/objective first), google-ads-copywriting (deeper ad copy work), google-ads-landing-page-audit, google-ads-compliance, google-ads-measurement.