How to Set Up Google Ads: What Each of the Six Campaign Types Requires

This guide covers the six types in AdPilot's builder. It explains Google Ads setup decisions, including controls you may need to review directly in Google. It does not imply that AdPilot exposes every setting or that all six types are right for one business.

Check the current creation path

Google is changing some campaign workflows. Its Display migration guidance describes a phased move into Demand Gen: voluntary migration began for eligible advertisers in June 2026, with later creation and automatic-migration changes not given a universal date in that guidance. Inspect the account's available workflow instead of following an old screenshot literally.

Google also states that Video action campaigns have been upgraded to Demand Gen. Video campaigns still have other purposes and formats. Do not confuse a legacy Video action tutorial with the creation route for every new Video campaign.

Set the common foundations first

Confirm the intended Google Ads account, billing readiness and who is allowed to publish. Choose one primary business purpose for the campaign and inspect its conversion goals. The objective selected in the wizard and the specific conversion actions used for bidding are related decisions, not interchangeable labels.

Review geography, available language controls, devices, dates, networks and scheduling as applicable to the type. Record the intended choices before accepting defaults. A service area described on the website does not prove the campaign uses the same area.

Choose a bidding approach that fits the objective and available measurement. A budget decides spending exposure; a bid target expresses a performance aim. Raising a budget does not repair an unsuitable goal or make an unrealistic acquisition target achievable.

For most campaigns using an average daily budget, Google's spending-limit guidance describes daily and monthly limits rather than an identical spend every day. Check the rules for the campaign's actual budget type, including how budget changes affect limits. Do not treat “average daily” as a hard daily cap.

Finally, test the destination and conversion action. Our profitability article shows why a working ad and a recorded event are not sufficient evidence of business success.

Search: connect a search intent to a useful answer

Build ad groups around offers that can share relevant copy and a destination. Add keywords deliberately and review their matching behaviour. A keyword is an advertiser input; the search term is what the person actually typed. They need not be identical.

Write responsive search ad assets that remain accurate in different combinations. Include the destination, business details and suitable supporting assets, such as sitelinks where relevant. Check character limits and policy feedback in the creation interface rather than cutting copy until a warning disappears.

Review negative keywords with the same care as positive keywords. An exclusion intended to remove jobseekers can be useful, but a broad phrase may also block a legitimate service query. Our negative-keyword guide explains that work.

Before launch, confirm the actual network and location choices, conversion goals, bidding and budget. Google's Search setup instructions provide the current account workflow. Keep a short record of why the selected searches and landing page belong together.

Shopping: the product data is part of the campaign

Confirm that the correct Merchant Center account is linked and that the intended products are eligible. Check the market, feed label or other inventory selection presented in the setup. Decide which products belong in the campaign and how you will review groups with different commercial value.

Inspect price, availability, product links, images, identifiers and variant details against the website. Follow Google's product data specification; required attributes depend on the product and destination. Product data can need repair even when the campaign itself has no obvious error.

Standard Shopping uses product groups rather than a Search-style positive keyword list to organize bidding on inventory. Review the default product grouping so that “all products” is a conscious choice. Confirm bids, budget and relevant exclusions using Google's Shopping campaign instructions.

Put margin and availability beside product selection. A product that sells well may leave too little contribution to support the same acquisition cost as another product. AdPilot's Merchant Center FAQ explains the product-account connection.

Display: plan the audience context and visual message

Decide what the campaign is meant to achieve before selecting audiences or images. Prepare a clear offer, destination and suitable image/text assets. Preview the resulting combinations and check that the message still works when layouts change.

Review targeting, expansion settings and available content or placement exclusions. Write down which choices are restrictions and which give Google's systems room to expand. “We selected this audience” is incomplete if another enabled setting changes how delivery can extend beyond it.

Because Display is moving into Demand Gen, check whether you are creating a legacy Display campaign or using GDN inventory within Demand Gen. The network's existence and the name of the creation workflow are different questions. Do not migrate a live campaign simply to make it match this guide; review Google's migration guidance and the specific account first.

Video: choose the job before choosing the format

Decide whether the campaign is funded to produce reach, views or another supported outcome. Then select a compatible subtype and bidding approach. Different video formats and objectives cannot be evaluated as though they all promise immediate purchases.

Prepare the required video assets and verify that Google can access them. Review duration, aspect ratio, destination and the opening message against the chosen format. A good long presentation is not automatically a good short ad.

Inspect audience and content settings and define the report you will use afterward. Google's Video creation guide explains the available paths. For conversion-focused plans previously described as Video action campaigns, use the current Demand Gen guidance rather than a retired setup recipe.

Performance Max: specify the outcome and review the freedom you allow

Begin with the conversions and values the campaign should pursue. Organize relevant creative into asset groups with a clear theme and destination. For retail campaigns, check the Merchant Center account and product selection as part of that structure.

Supply useful audience signals and search themes where appropriate. Google's audience-signal guidance makes clear that signals are suggestions, not exclusive audience restrictions. Treat them as customer knowledge supplied to the system.

Inspect the current controls for final URLs, text customization, brand handling and exclusions. Document what the campaign is permitted to generate or expand. A supplied URL alone does not describe every destination choice when expansion is enabled. Google's Performance Max search controls guide links to those settings and their scope.

Use the Performance Max creation guide for the objective-specific steps. Review the full campaign summary, including assets and goals, rather than judging readiness from asset strength alone.

Demand Gen: align audience, creative and channel choices

Choose the outcome, bidding, budget and campaign settings, then build ad groups with a deliberate audience and creative rationale. Check whether product-feed mode is part of the plan and whether the selected assets are compatible with it.

Google's channel controls operate at ad-group level. Available delivery depends on the ad type and other settings; choosing a channel does not guarantee that every creative can serve there. Inspect automatic versus manual channel selection and review any targeting expansion.

Prepare the image or video variations needed for the chosen setup, then inspect previews and destinations. Google's Demand Gen creation guide is the reference for the current workflow. Treat audience selection as a hypothesis to evaluate with later outcomes, not proof that the campaign has found profitable customers.

Review the campaign as a customer would experience it

AdPilot's campaign-building guide explains how it assembles campaign drafts. Review the result, confirm the connected account and inspect its status after transfer. The existing public product description says pushed campaigns arrive paused; that is an opportunity to check the setup before enabling delivery, not a substitute for review.

If the campaign is eligible but never starts serving, use our delivery troubleshooting guide. If it serves, give the ongoing audit a named owner. The setup is complete when the choices are understood and the first result can be evaluated.

Common questions

Should I launch all six types together?

Only if each has a clear job, adequate assets and an affordable measurement plan. Starting with fewer campaigns can make responsibility and diagnosis easier for a small team.

Can I copy one campaign's settings into another type?

Some business choices carry over, but structures, assets and available controls differ. Review every copied setting in the destination campaign's context.

Does finishing the wizard mean the ads are ready to spend?

It means you have completed that creation step. Check campaign status, eligibility, assets, destination and measurement before enabling delivery and then verify what actually happens.

Download the campaign worksheet