Search campaign performance fluctuations: Targeting

Targeting settings (Audiences, Keywords, Location)

If your campaign is targeting a smaller group of users with very specific audience, keyword, location, or language settings, it may also be more likely to have performance fluctuations. More granular targeting means there are fewer auctions that your campaign is eligible to enter at any given time.

You may notice larger changes in spending or serving if the number of other advertisers increases or decreases in this smaller set of eligible auctions, because there are fewer auctions the system can enter and win to improve performance.

What you can do

For keyword targeting, use the search terms report to review the actual searches that triggered your keywords. Compare two time periods to identify which search terms contributed most to the performance fluctuation.

Targeting overlaps with other campaigns or ad groups

You may have multiple campaigns or ad groups in your account that are eligible to enter overlapping auctions due to similar keywords or other targeting considerations. If there is overlapping targeting, traffic may primarily go to one of your campaigns.

What you can do

Review your campaign’s targeting and consider updating the targeting so it doesn’t overlap with other campaigns in your account.


Need something else?

Check other common reasons why your campaign performance is fluctuating.

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