While other search engines have gained more users in recent years, Google still dominates the market share, making it important for businesses to optimize their website for Google search so they can improve their rankings and visibility. Ranking well in the Google search engine results pages (SERPs) helps increase relevant search traffic to your website which results in more leads and conversions. Businesses that engage in SEO practices can rise up the rankings organically, and they can supplement their SEO efforts by utilizing Google Ads.

Google Ads are digital advertisements that follow the pay-per-click (PPC) model in which the user or business who created the ads pays Google a fee each time a user clicks on their ad. These ads help drive targeted traffic with the goal of increasing leads and conversions. Running PPC campaigns with Google Ads can enhance your digital marketing efforts by increasing your visibility with targeted advertising.

If you are interested in running Google Ads for your business, you have many options as Google offers 9 different types of PPC ads that can display across multiple Google properties including Google SERP, Maps, YouTube, Google Shopping, and more. These ads have different placements, key features, benefits, average cost per click, and intended uses, which means that the best type of Google ads to run for your business will depend on what you want to accomplish with these ads.

In this guide, we discuss how Google PPC ads work as well as the features, purpose, and benefits of each of the 9 types of advertisements Google Ads offers. This information will help you choose the best option to achieve your digital marketing goals and run effective Google Ads campaigns.

How Do Google PPC Ads Work?

As mentioned above, pay-per-click advertising is a digital marketing model in which the advertiser pays a fee every time a user clicks on their ad. Each PPC ad targets a keyword or phrase, and advertisers bid on the keywords and phrases used in their ads which is what determines the cost per click. The ads will appear in the SERPs when users search their targeted keywords and phrases, and advertisers will only pay when a user clicks on their ad.

Google PPC ads are an excellent complement to organic SEO efforts because they provide quick visibility and targeted advertising that brings more traffic and helps increase conversions. These ads can also be cost-effective as you can set your own budget, and you will only pay when your ad is clicked.

What are the Different Types of Google Ads?

Google Ads offers 9 different types of advertisements that differ in placement, features, intended use, and benefits:

• Search ads
• Display ads
• Shopping ads
• Video ads
• App ads
• Discovery ads
• Local Services ads
• Performance Max ads
• Smart ads

Each of these ads can run on more than one Google property, such as Google Shopping, YouTube, Google SERPs, Gmail inboxes, and the Play Store, and many of these ads can also appear on third-party partner properties. The following is a further exploration of each of the 9 types of Google Ads.

Search Ads

Search ads are text-based ads that look like organic listings in the SERPs that include the favicon, website name, page title tag, and meta description. They appear throughout the SERPs for your targeted keywords so that those searching for the products and services you offer will see your ads in real time. These ads help promote webpages related to your keywords and they are highly targeted to drive more traffic and leads to your website. They are also cost-effective with an average cost-per-click (CPC) of $3-4 depending on the competitiveness of your keywords and phrases.

It is important to consider that Search ads are given a Quality Score based on performance guidelines such as expected click-through rate (CTR), landing page relevance, relevance to user intent, and the maximum CPC budget. Higher CPC budgets increase the chance of your ad being listed at the top of the first page above sponsored links from your competitors.

You can start a Google Search ads campaign by taking the following steps:

• Determine the goal for your campaign and a conversion action, such as website visits, phone calls, or form submissions.
• Set the focus for your bidding, whether that is clicks, conversions, or conversion value.
• Choose your campaign settings including display locations, languages, and audience segments.
• Choose and enter your targeted keywords and phrases.
• Create the content for your ad, including headlines, descriptions, business name, landing page URL, and other relevant information.
• Set your daily budget.

Display Ads

Display ads are image-based ads that are meant to be visually engaging to the target audience. These ads appear on the greater Display network which covers tens of millions of websites and apps as well as Google properties like YouTube and Gmail. The goal of these ads is to build awareness across many content formats and target users with advertising based on their behavior.

These ads may appear as banner ads, side ads, or sprinkled throughout the body of a webpage. Google chooses which ads to display and where, based on the content of the webpage, the user’s history and behavior, and how well the user fits into the audience targeted by the ad. Display ads typically have a low CTR because these ads appear within content that users are trying to read, but they have high conversion rates when people click through. The other thing to keep in mind is that even if your Display ads do not get a lot of clicks, they do help spread awareness.

You can take the following steps to start a Google Display ads campaign:

• Determine the goal of your campaign and choose a conversion action.
• Choose the basic details of your campaign including display schedule, location, and languages.
• Set your bidding preferences and average daily budget.
• Specify the parameters of your ad targeting such as audience segment, keywords, and topics or choose automatically optimized targeting.
• Enter the content of the ad including business name, logos, images, videos, headlines, and descriptions.

Shopping Ads

Google Shopping ads are product listings for physical products that are included in the Google Merchant Center. Once these ads are created, they auto-populate the information about each product using data from the Merchant Center, including product name and description, brand name, price, sale notices, and user ratings. The goal of Shopping ads is to visually display and promote the products and entice people to buy from your online store.

Shopping ads appear in the following places:

• Google SERPs: Shopping ads may appear in the SERPs when users search for related keywords. They may see these ads at the top of the SERPs, throughout the SERPs as they scroll, or in a packet of images along the right margin.
• Google Shopping: These ads may appear in a carousel along the top of the Google Shopping page.
• Google Images: Image searches for related products and keywords may show a carousel of shopping ads at the top of the results.
• Google Maps: Google Maps may show Local Inventory Ads for related keywords.
• Search partner websites: Google has hundreds of search partner websites where users may see Shopping ads.

You can take the following steps to start a Google Shopping ads campaign:

• Connect your Merchant Center account and choose an objective and conversion goal. You can also select specific feeds to target.
• Choose campaign preferences such as bidding type, inventory filter, budget networks, and localization.
• Establish your ad groups and set daily bidding limits for each ad group.

Video Ads

Video ads are promotional videos that advertise specific products or services, increase brand awareness, and expand outreach by offering engaging video content to your target audience. These ads mostly appear on YouTube, but can also be displayed on third-party games, apps, and websites. You may use Video ads to generate leads and sales, promote existing video content, and convey a story or message with a sequence of videos.

Video ads are hosted on YouTube which is also where they are mainly displayed. The following are the six formats of Video ads on YouTube:

• Skippable in-stream ads: These are ads that appear before, during, and after videos and they have no time limit. These ads will play until the end unless the user skips them.
• Non-skippable in-stream ads: These in-stream ads have no skip option and can be up to 20 seconds long.
• In-feed ads: These ads are featured on YouTube’s homepage and can also be seen in organic YouTube search results and the video feed beneath YouTube videos that are currently playing.
• Bumper ads: Bumper ads are similar to non-skippable in-stream ads, but they play at the beginning of a video and are usually no more than about six seconds long.
• Outstream ads: These are promoted videos that appear on the Google video partners network and they have no maximum length.
• Masthead ads: These are video ads that play at the top of the YouTube home feed.

In addition to appearing on YouTube, Video ads can also appear on websites that are not Google properties but are part of Google’s video partners network, which includes websites, apps, and games.

You can follow these steps to create Video ads:

• Set your general settings including languages, location, display networks, and bid strategy.
• Choose your audiences, ad groups, keywords, and other advanced settings.
• Use an existing YouTube video or upload a new video.
• Include your headline, description, call to action, and target URL.

App Ads

App ads are similar to Shopping ads, but they are used to promote existing or upcoming apps. Like with Shopping ads, you do not have to create these ads from scratch, you only have to enter basic text and then set your budget and language preferences. Google automatically creates layouts for your ads by using data from your app’s listing in the Play Store and tests these layout combinations to determine the best ones to display for relevant keywords.

App ads appear across multiple channels, including Google SERPs, YouTube feeds, Google Discover, and throughout the Google search partner network in addition to the Play Store search results and suggestions. You can set up your App ad campaigns to accomplish one of the following three goals:

• App installs: These ads encourage users to install an app that they do not currently have installed.
• App engagement: These ads target users who already downloaded your app to take actions within the app.
• App pre-registration: This option only targets Android users to encourage them to pre-register for upcoming games and apps in the Play Store during the pre-launch phase.

You can create a Google App ads campaign by following these steps:

• Choose the app you want to promote and then select whether to run an app install, app engagement, or app pre-registration campaign. Then choose either iOS or Android for your campaign.
• Choose your general settings including display locations, date range, and languages.
• Determine your bidding strategy and average daily budget.
• Include headlines, URLs, and calls to action.

Discovery Ads

Discovery ads are automated, visually oriented ads that target purchase-ready users on their Google Discover feeds, Gmail, and YouTube home page and Watch Next feeds. These ads combine AI and machine learning, customer intent signals, and the conversion goals and bidding strategy you set to automatically generate and show tailored ads.

Advertisers need to include headlines, descriptions of the products, multiple product images, and their logo and business name and Google will use this information to create and display a Discovery ad. These ads are shown to users in spaces where they are already browsing, which makes them more likely to convert because they are further along in the buying process.

You can take the following steps to create Discovery ads:

• Choose the campaign parameters including bidding type, budget, region, and language.
• Create your targeted audience segments.
• Upload images of the product as well as up to five headlines and descriptions, the URL for your landing page, and your call to action.

Local Service Ads

Local Service ads are not part of the core Google Ads hub, but they are still considered a type of Google Ad. The purpose of these ads is to promote geographically specific products and services that are highly targeted towards local users to generate leads within a business’s service area. These ads appear in Google SERPs for local searches as well as in Google Maps.

Local Service ad campaigns are created within the Local Service ads hub and advertisers must meet license, insurance, and background check requirements set by Google to be eligible for the Local Service Ads program. The listings may include one of the following badge statuses from Google:

• Google Screened: Businesses that have passed Google’s background and license checks get a green checkmark.
• Google Guaranteed: Businesses that have completed the screening process, verified their location, and provide a $2000 guarantee on satisfactory service get a white checkmark in a green background.
• License Verified by Google: Health care providers who have passed Google’s qualification and license checks get green checkmarks.
• Pre-Badge: Businesses that have passed some of the screening process but have not completed enough to earn a Google badge yet may still be able to run Local Service ads.

Users who click these ads will have the option to call or message the business directly which generates purchase-ready leads. The best quality businesses are typically listed the highest as low response rates and user ratings can affect ad placement.

You can create a Local Service Ad campaign by following these steps:

• Local businesses must first create a business profile and fill out a general form to see if they are eligible for the Local Service Ads program. A Google agent will reach out once approved to explain the next steps.
• Add general businesses details to your ads, including the business name, registration name, owner name, address, and contact information.
• Choose your service area and service types and add your business hours.

Performance Max Ads

Performance Max campaigns allow advertisers to manage all types of Google Ads from a single campaign. These campaigns involve more of a holistic approach than using individual Google Ads channels by combining your advertising goals and assets with AI and machine learning models that optimize your ads across all channels.

Advertisers provide the information for their ads, including images, videos, headlines, descriptions, logos, and audience signals, and set their campaign objective, conversion action, and bidding strategy. Google then uses machine learning models and automation to generate ads that are tailored to each channel and shown to the most purchase-ready users.

The following are the main benefits of Performance Max Campaigns:

• Easy to set up: Performance Max campaigns are easy to set up and optimized by Google AI after launch to maximize the performance. You can enhance your campaign by adding information to include in the ads and targeting audiences most likely to convert.
• Increase conversions and value: Your budget and bids are optimized in real time by Google AI to get new conversion opportunities.
• Find new customers: Real-time understanding of user intent, behavior, and context can help you target new audience segments with relevant ads.
• Get richer insights: You can view the performance of your Performance Max campaigns on the “Insights” page and look for opportunities for improvement. You can also see the performance of your top-performing assets in the “Combinations” report.

You can take the following steps to start a Google Performance Max ad campaign:

• Determine the objective of your campaign and choose the conversion action.
• Set your budding plan and choose whether to bid only on new customers or new and existing customers.
• Choose general settings for the campaign including location, languages, and automatic creation of assets.
• Include images, videos, logos, headlines, descriptions, target URLs, and other assets to use in the ads.
• Set your average daily budget.

Smart Ads

Smart ads are similar to Performance Max ads in that they appear across channels and are automatically displayed by Google, but they require more hand-on creation of the ads from advertisers. These ad campaigns prioritize goals over channel specific ads and target keyword themes instead of specific keywords and phrases.

The advertiser must create original copy, images, and videos for Smart ads and set audience preferences, keyword themes, and bidding strategy. Using automation features, the ads are displayed by Google across different ads channels and may appear in the SERPs, Google Maps, YouTube, Gmail, and search partner sites. The purpose of Smart ad campaigns is to allow advertisers to set specific goals, such as increasing website traffic, getting video views, and generating local leads, and advertise across channels without the need to create separate campaigns for each channel.

You can start a Smart ads campaign by taking the following steps:

• Connect your Google related accounts and enter your domain.
• Select your campaign goals, whether you want to generate website visits, views, or leads.
• Review and adjust the auto-generated headlines.
• Choose your keyword themes.
• Choose the regions where your ads will appear.
• Set the daily budget.

PPC Ad Management from Proceed Innovative

Pay-per-click (PPC) ad campaigns are a cost-effective digital marketing strategy that can supplement your organic SEO efforts by quickly improving your online visibility and bringing immediate traffic and conversions. Google offers 9 different types of PPC ads that can help your business extend your reach and accomplish a range of marketing goals. Before determining which type of Google Ads campaign is best for your business, consider the following questions:

• Do you want to advertise on a specific channel? Decide if you want your ads to appear in the SERPs, on YouTube, or third-party websites and choose the ad type that can best accomplish your goal.
• Do you offer your products and services in a specific geographical area? If so, Local Service ads may be your best option.
• Are you more goal-oriented than channel oriented? Performance Max campaigns and Smart Ads can help you accomplish your marketing goals across Google Ad channels.

While Google offers AI and automation features that can help you optimize your Google PPC campaigns, your ad campaigns still require good content, effective calls to action, targeting of the best keywords, and ongoing maintenance to maximize performance. If you want the help of a professional to run and manage your PPC campaigns, reach out to our experts at Proceed Innovative.

Proceed Innovative is a Google Partner that is certified in Google Ads and our experts have experience managing PPC campaigns and ensuring optimal performance. We will take the time to understand your marketing goals and help you choose the best type of Google Ad campaign to achieve your goals. Your marketing dollars will be spent efficiently using effective bidding strategies, and we will focus on reaching your targeted audience to help increase traffic, leads, and conversions. We also monitor and adjust your PPC campaign to maximize performance.

You can call Proceed Innovative at (800) 933-2402 or contact us online to learn more about our PPC management services.