Search Ads 360 keyword position bid strategy

Keyword position bid strategies were deprecated for Google Ads campaigns on August 15, 2019. They have been replaced by bid strategies that target impression share. Learn more about the end of Google Ads support for keyword position bid strategies.

Keyword position bid strategies were deprecated for Yahoo! Japan campaigns on September 15, 2019. They have been replaced by bid strategies that target impression share. Learn more about the end of Yahoo! Japan support for keyword position bid strategies.

A position bid strategy attempts to keep your ads as close to a specific position as possible while staying within the keywords' minimum and maximum bids. For example, you can create a Search Ads 360 bid strategy that adjusts bids as needed to keep ads in position 3.

Search Ads 360 will find the optimal bids for keeping your ads as close to the target position as possible. If the maximum bid constraint prevents the ad from reaching the target position, Search Ads 360 places a bid at the maximum bid constraint. If your bid is accepted, your ad will be in a lower position than your target while spending your maximum amount for a click.

You can optionally set a lowest position constraint in the bid strategy. If the maximum bid constraint prevents the ad from reaching the specified lowest position, Search Ads 360 places a bid at the minimum bid constraint. If your bid is accepted, you'll be in a lower position than targeted, but your spend will be lower and the chances that there will be any click at all are decreased.

You can enter positions to one digit after the decimal point (for example, a position target could be 1.7 or 3.5).

A keyword's bid is only one of the factors that determine ad's position. Although each search engine has its own ranking algorithm, the relevancy of your ad copy and landing page are also key factors in determining position on all of the major search engines.

We strongly recommend that you pay close attention to the ad or keyword quality scores that the search engines provide. Search Ads 360 does not guarantee that you will be able to achieve any particular position using bid strategies.

Overview

Here's an overview of creating a keyword position bid strategy:

1. Open the Search Ads 360 bid strategy editor and select the position goal.
2. Define a single position to target.
3. Specify required and optional constraints. For example, you can optionally specify the lowest position that you want the keyword to appear if the target position cannot be reached.

Need an overview of bid strategies in general? Take a look at the Introduction to bid strategies.

Create a keyword position bid strategy

1. Navigate to an advertiser.

   Steps for navigating to an advertiser

   1. Click the navigation bar to display navigation options.

   2. In the "Agency" list, click on the agency that contains the advertiser. You can search for an agency by name or scroll through the list.

   3. In the "Advertiser" list, click on the advertiser.

   4. Click Apply or press the Enter key.

   Search Ads 360 displays the advertiser page, which contains data for all of the advertiser’s engine accounts.

2. In the left navigation panel, click Bid strategies.

3. Click + Bid strategy, which appears above the reporting table.

4. In the Goal section of the Search Ads 360 bid strategy editor:
   1. Name the Search Ads 360 bid strategy.
   2. Select a currency for the bid strategy.

      You will be able to apply the bid strategy only to campaigns that use the same currency as the bid strategy.
   3. Select the Keyword position goal.
   4. Click Next.
5. Next to Target position, enter the target position that you want.

   Then, click Next.

6. In the Constraints section of the bid strategy editor, enter the default minimum and maximum bids for the bid strategy. 
   Minimum and maximum bids are the best way of ensuring that bid-strategy bids are always within a range you are comfortable paying.
   If the maximum bid isn't high enough to reach the position you specified, Search Ads 360 will set bids as high as the bid strategy's maximum bid allows in an attempt to get as close to the target as possible.
   

    

   After you create the bid strategy, you can also set minimum and maximum bids for specific keywords. Min/max bids that you set for keywords override the bid strategy's minimum/maximum settings.

7. Optionally, specify a lowest position constraint.

   1. Click + More constraints.
   2. Next to Lowest position, specify the lowest position that you want your ads to appear using the minimum and maximum bids.
8. Click Save bid strategy.

Next steps

Apply the Search Ads 360 bid strategy to some campaigns.

After you apply a Search Ads 360 bid strategy, you can monitor bid strategy performance.