Understand Templates structure

This article describes the full Templates feature functionality, which will be released in phases. Learn more about Templates functionality.

Understand how you can use Templates

You can use the Templates feature to scale your workflows in two different ways:

• Use Templates to create campaign structure, targeting, and creatives based on attached feeds of product data. These templates manipulate feed data according to your specification to generate the range of campaigns, ad groups, responsive search ads (RSAs), keywords, negative keywords, and sitelinks that you require for your products. Template-type parents are applied in this scenario.
• Use Templates to create ads for special events and promotions. At this time, you can only use existing generated items as parents in RSA templates. You can configure these templates using the following building blocks:
  • Existing data in campaigns, ad groups, RSAs, keywords, negative keywords, and sitelinks. Select these parent types to reference their attributes in your template specifications. The attributes of items associated with the parent can also be referenced to configure your templates.
  • Sub-manager level custom dimensions. Create custom dimensions that store additional data that you want to use in these templates (for example, details of a sale).
  • Sub-manager level custom columns that are not feed-based.

You follow two distinct processes depending on the way that you want to use the Templates feature. See Create campaign structure, targeting, and creative based on feeds, and Create RSAs using existing ad group and associated item attributes, custom dimensions, and custom columns.

Create campaign structure, targeting, and creatives based on feeds

At a high level, the Templates feature generates campaign structure, targeting, and creatives from feeds in three steps:

1. Connect and set up feeds by identifying the data that's relevant to your advertising goals.
2. Create templates
   • Within each template that's attached to a feed, use filters and formulas to select specific values from your feeds.
   • Configure templates to generate campaigns, ad groups, ad copy, keywords, negative keywords, and sitelink text with the desired data and in the desired format.
3. The new Search Ads 360 applies templates to feed data, to create and update campaign structure, targeting, and creatives.

Template hierarchies in feed-based templates

You can implement parent/child relationships between types of templates. Parent/child templates are grouped together in a tree structure in the Templates table so you can easily identify related templates.

You can create the following parent/child templates:

Parent template type	Possible child template types
Campaign templates	Ad group templates Negative keyword templates
Ad group templates	Text ad templates Responsive search ad (RSA) templates Keyword templates (positive and negative)
RSA templates Note: Only applies to Google Ads, Google Merchant Center, Microsoft Advertising, and Yahoo! JAPAN Ads	None
Keyword and negative keyword templates	None
Sitelink templates	None
Feed-driven custom dimensions templates	None
Plan templates (organizational)	Campaign templates

About inherited settings in feed-based templates

Child templates can inherit the following settings from parent templates, which reduces the amount of settings to configure:

• Client accounts: For example, if a client account is selected at the campaign (parent) level, it automatically applies to the ad group (child) level.
• Multipliers: Can be configured on all template types that have a template-type parent. For example, if an ad group template is the child of a campaign template, the campaign template multiplier will affect the ad group template.

For campaign and ad group templates, the new Search Ads 360 allows you to infer the multiplier based on the campaign/ad group name field formula. Using the same feed columns for the campaign/ad group name field formula and multiplier gives more consistent results. For all other template types, the multiplier must be explicitly defined and can't be inferred. 

From the campaign and ad group template Multiplier panel, select the following radio button: Use feed columns from the {campaign, ad group} name formula that is defined on the next page (Recommended).

• Templates with item parents - campaign, ad group, and so on - rather than template-type parents do not have multipliers.
• Feeds: Can be defined on plan, campaign, and sitelink templates. Plan templates are optional, but if they are used, child campaign templates inherit the feed from the parent plan template. And if ad group templates are children of the campaign template, then the campaign template feed is automatically applied to the child ad group templates.
• Feed filters: You can configure feed filters on all template types (except feed-driven custom dimensions templates). Child templates inherit the parent templates’ feed filters. You can apply additional feed filters to the child templates.
• Templates that have item parents (campaign, ad group, and so on) rather than template parents, do not directly inherit feeds from parents and do not require a multiplier. (This is available now for RSA templates, but is coming soon for others). In dynamic settings for these templates, custom column formulas can reference the following:
  • Any feed column used in the parent's custom column formulas, and also any feed columns similarly exposed by items associated with that parent. For example, if an RSA template has an ad group parent associated with a campaign, feed columns exposed in the formulas of both the parent and the campaign can be referenced.
  • Additionally, the output resolved from the parent or associated item's constituent custom column formulas can be referenced (for example, the ad group or campaign name).

Create RSAs using existing ad group and associated item attributes, custom dimensions, and custom columns

At a high level, the Templates feature generates RSAs from the configuration of an RSA template based on an ad group parent. The process can be described in the following steps:

1. Create custom dimensions populated with the additional data that you want to use in your RSAs.
2. Associate these custom dimension values with campaigns or ad groups.
3. Create an RSA template with the ad group parents that you require.
4. Configure your RSA template using formulas that can reference attributes from the parent and its associated items, the associated custom dimensions, and any custom columns at the sub-manager level that are not feed-based.
5. The new Search Ads 360 applies the template to the referenced data to create and update RSAs.