Google Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs) Overview

Google Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs) is one of our favorite options for advertisers who need a more responsive ad option or are looking to capture relevant search traffic they might be missing. As with any campaign build, your settings and targeting are the keys to success.

What Are Dynamic Search Ads and How Are They Different From Responsive Search Ads?

Unlike traditional search campaigns that use keywords to match to search queries, Dynamic Search Ads scrape your website to match your website content to search queries. DSAs take this one step further by then serving users with a dynamically generated ad. 

To the user, dynamic search ads look no different from a responsive text ad (RSAs). But on the back end, the structure is simplified. For DSAs, Google’s automation takes care of creating headlines, display URLs, and identifying the appropriate landing pages to send users, whereas for RSAs advertisers are responsible for writing all of the ad copy (headlines, descriptions, final URL, display URL). So, if you’re looking for a way to broaden your search options and deliver more dynamic content to interested audiences, dynamic search ads are a great option.

How Dynamic Search Ads Can Bring Value to Your Campaign

Do you want to expand your keyword list and don’t know where to start? Are your keywords not getting the visibility you want? Is your website constantly changing and you want to have a more nimble campaign option? Dynamic search ads answer all of these questions by bringing value to your campaigns in a variety of ways:

• Easy Set Up: Dynamic search ads are one of the easiest campaigns to build because much of the process is handled by Google — no keyword build and minimal ad creation. As long as you know the URLs you want to target and have a few lines of text ready for descriptions, Google does the rest.
• Simple Ad Creation: Who doesn’t love simplicity? Developing ad copy that is relevant, eye-catching, and effective is no small task! But with dynamic display ads, Google takes on the heavy load by generating quality, dynamic ads that match a user’s search query with content from your site. Google generates the headlines and display URLs and all you need to do is add description lines. 
• Keyword Expansion without the hassle: We have all known the woes of a “low search volume” keyword. This is where dynamic search ads come in. DSAs crawl the contents of your site or page feed to identify new or qualified keywords that you might not have or aren’t currently serving due to low search volume. It’s a great way to boost your reach and catch some low hanging fruit.
• Keeping up with Changes: For some businesses, their product feeds or landing pages are in constant motion and it can be hard to keep up with the changes that are needed on the ad side. Because dynamic search ads are generated from your landing page data, they can be more responsive and nimble to site changes. That’s a win for speed and efficiency!

How to Create a Dynamic Search Ad

Interested in testing dynamic search ads? Great news! The setup is pretty simple:

1. Create a new search campaign
2. Choose your automated bidding strategy (We generally recommend starting with Max Conv. or Max Conv. Value until you’ve gathered enough conversion data)
3. Select “Dynamic” as your ad group type and decide which landing pages you want to target (entire site, categories, or specific URLs).
4. Create Your Ads — all you need is to enter a few descriptions 

Optimizing DSA Campaigns

Before you begin…

• Focus on SEO: If you want to get the most out of your dynamic search ads, you should focus on SEO best practices prior to targeting pages on your website. Having the appropriate content and keywords on your pages will help Google in matching to appropriate search queries and creating the most relevant and attention-grabbing headlines.
• Check Your targeted URLs: This might seem like a no-brainer, but things happen! For many, sub-pages can go overlooked. Giving up control to Google on which URLs to crawl and direct traffic to means you need to make sure your pages are working as expected.
• Think About Your Campaign Structure: Tied to the point above, your dynamic search ad campaign structure makes a difference, especially if you are selling products or services in different categories. The benefit of dynamic search ads is that you can decide to target your entire site, groups of pages, or specific URLs. By building unique ad groups, you can decide how to group your pages and tailor your ad copy descriptions accordingly. 
• Write great ad descriptions: Want another time-saving hack? Take the most effective descriptions that are working in your responsive search ads, and use them in your dynamic display ads. Google does give you some real estate to add in text to your ads. Focus on relevant, quality descriptions. If you don’t have any on hand, take time to develop text that will enhance the content on your site.
• Add negative keywords: You likely already have a sense of which keywords or phrases aren’t working. Be sure to add those into a negative keyword list for your dynamic search ads. You also might not want one ad group to map to certain keywords that are better suited for another ad group. In addition, we often exclude brand keywords since we use DSAs to attract new audiences.

After launch….

• Review search term report: Just like traditional search campaigns, you will get a search term report showing which queries your DSAs are mapping to. This is a great way to identify new keywords that are performing as well as negative keywords to add.

• Find under performing landing pages and update or exclude: Under the landing page report you can see where your traffic is going. This can be a great indication of what is or isn’t working. Underperforming pages can be excluded or optimized for better SEO. 

Ready to Start Using Dynamic Search Ads?

Dynamic search ads are the unsung hero of SEM. They are a great tool in the Google Ads arsenal that we’d definitely recommend testing. Still not sure how? We can help! Contact us to get started today.

Read more of our Google Ads Blog Posts and Best Practices