Differences in bid strategy overview, campaign, and keyword reports

To report on Search Ads 360 bid strategy performance, you can:

• See an overview of performance and compare it to other bid strategies

• Focus on a specific bid strategy and see performance for specific campaigns, ad groups, keywords, and so on

 

In the following cases, the reporting data in the overview may not exactly match the more detailed performance data:

• The bid strategy's Overview tab reports only on keywords, product groups, and targets that are managed by a bid strategy during the report's time range.
  
  The bid strategy's Campaigns tab shows only campaigns that are currently managed by the bid strategy. The reporting data is from all items in the campaigns, even if some of the items aren't managed by bid strategy.
  
  The bid strategy's Ad groups tab shows only ad groups that are currently managed by the bid strategy (either directly or by inheriting campaign's bid strategy). The reporting data is from all items in the ad groups, even if some of the items aren't managed by bid strategy.
  
  The bid strategy's Keywords, Product groups, and Targets tabs report only on keywords, product groups, and targets that are currently managed by the bid strategy (either directly or by inheriting the bid strategy).
• You added or removed campaigns, keywords, or other items during the report's time range.
  
  The bid strategy overview reports performance for all items that were in the bid strategy during the report's time range.
  If you click a bid strategy name and then view the Campaigns, Keywords, or other tabs, you'll see performance data only for the items that are currently in the bid strategy.
  
  In the following example:

  

  The bid strategy overview report will include metrics from CampaignA during the time it was in the bid strategy (up to the 14th).

  If you click a bid strategy name and then view the Campaigns, Keywords, or other tabs, you won't see metrics from CampaignA because it is no longer in the bid strategy.

  • Today is the 21st of the month
  • The report's time range is set to This month
  • On the 14th, you removed CampaignA from the bid strategy

 

• If a conversion occurs during the time an item is managed by a bid strategy, the conversion is usually included in the bid strategy's metrics. However there can be a delay between when a conversion occurs and the click that lead to the conversion. That is, a conversion can occur during the time an item is managed by a bid strategy, but its click can happen before the item is included in a bid strategy. If a conversion occurs during the time an item is managed by a bid strategy, and the conversion is attributed to a click that occurred before the item was included in a bid strategy, the conversion isn't reported in the bid strategy's metrics. The Campaigns (or Keywords or Ad groups) tab does report these metrics.

  Usually, the difference occurs because a conversion happens many days after the responsible click. The bid strategy overview reports metrics for conversions that are attributed to clicks that occur during the time an item is included in a bid strategy. The Campaigns tab (or other performance data tab) reports metrics for all conversions that are attributed to the campaign's biddable items.

  For example:

  The Campaigns tab includes the metrics for the conversion because the conversion occurred during the report's time range. The bid strategy overview report doesn't include the conversion's metrics because the conversion is attributed to a click that occurred before CampaignC was included in the bid strategy.

  • A customer clicks on a keyword in CampaignC on the 1st of the month.
  • CampaignC is added to a bid strategy on the 5th of the month.
  • A conversion occurs on the 15th of the month.

  • The conversion is attributed to the click that occurred on the 1st of the month, before CampaignC was added to the bid strategy.

 

• A campaign that is currently in the bid strategy targeted a display network during the report's time range.
  
  The bid strategy overview does not include metrics from display networks. If you click a bid strategy name and then view the Campaigns, Keywords, or other tabs, you'll see performance data from all networks that were targeted during the report's time range.
  
  Search Ads 360 bid strategies cannot optimize bids for keywords used in display campaigns. As a result, we recommend that you keep campaigns that target the display network separate from campaigns that target the search network. That is, combined campaigns that target both the search network and the display network are not recommended. If a bid strategy is applied to a combined campaign that targets both the search network and the display network, the bid strategy will have no effect on the display campaign. Google Ads Smart shopping campaigns, however, will show conversions and cost from display channels.