Create URL templates for specific sitelinks, keywords, or ads in manual campaigns

Before you start, review the restrictions for using a URL template.

Here's an overview of using the Search Ads 360 UI to create a URL template for specific sitelinks, keywords, or ads in manual campaigns:

1. Create URL templates.
2. Confirm that the URL template is applied correctly.

If you're creating URL templates for a large number of items, consider using a Search Ads 360 bulksheet. The Search Ads 360 UI does not support bulk edits for URL templates.

Create URL templates for keywords and ads

1. Navigate to an engine account that supports Search Ads 360 URL templates.

2. Click the Keywords or Ads tab.
3. Optionally use a filter to display only the items you want to edit.
4. Add the URL template column to the reporting table.
5. In the URL template column, enter properties for the template.
6. Click outside the column.

In accounts that support shared templates, Search Ads 360 traffics the URL template to the engine. In other accounts, Search Ads 360 applies the template and then re-generates and re-traffics the item's clickserver URL. In some engines, editing ad copy or URLs causes the engine to remove the old ad and create a new one. The new ad does not retain the performance history of the original ad, but you can still report on the old, removed ad.

Create URL templates for sitelinks

1. Navigate to a Google Ads or Microsoft Advertising engine account.

   Steps for navigating to an engine account

   1. In the left navigation panel, click All accounts.
      What if the left navigation pane isn't visible?

   2. Click the navigation bar to display navigation options.

   3. 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.

   4. In the "Advertiser" list, click on the advertiser that contains the engine account.

   5. In the "Account" list, click on the engine account.

   6. Click Apply or press the Enter key.

   Search Ads 360 displays the engine account page.

2. Click the Extensions▼ tab, then select Sitelinks.
3. Select the checkbox next to a sitelink.
4. In a Google Ads account, click the Edit sitelinks button that appears above the reporting table.
   In a Microsoft Advertising account, click the Edit button that appears above the reporting table.
   
   Note that you can only select one sitelink (Google Ads) or sitelink extension (Microsoft Advertising) at time. The Search Ads 360 UI does not support bulk edits for URL templates. If you're creating URL templates for a large number of​ items, consider using a Search Ads 360 bulksheet.
5. In the URL template field, enter properties for the template.
6. Click Save.

Search Ads 360 traffics the URL template to the engine.

Confirm that Search Ads 360 applied the URL template

The steps for confirming that the URL template is applied in the way you intended are different for different types of engine accounts.

Confirm URL templates in accounts with shared templates

In accounts with shared templates, Search Ads 360 traffics URL templates and landing page URLs to the engine, and the engine applies the templates. To confirm that the templates are applied in the way you intended, sign into the engine account and use the engine's URL preview feature (if the engine provides one).

For example, follow these steps for a Google Ads account:

1. Sign in to Google Ads.

2. Click the Ads tab or Keywords tab.
   For help on confirming sitelink URLs, see Test the Google Ads URL for a sitelink.

3. Display the tracking template in the Google Ads reporting table:

   1. Click the Columns button, and then click Modify columns.

   2. In the Modify columns window, click Attributes.

   3. Next to Tracking template, click Add.

   4. Click Apply to close the window.

   The Tracking template column will be empty unless you created a URL template for the specific item you clicked.

4. In the Tracking template column, click the pencil icon. Then click Test in the popup.
   (The popup will will be empty unless you created a URL template for the specific item you clicked.)
    

5. Click the  message icon that appears below the Test button.
   

6. In the popup that appears, view the URL under Tracking URL.
   This is the tracking URL that Google Ads sends a request to when a customer clicks an ad.
   
   The ds_dest_url parameter contains the URL that Search Ads 360 will redirect the click to. For example, in the following click URL, Search Ads 360 will redirect to https://www.trackingc.com?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.example.com%2Fblue%3Fcolor%3Dblue:
   http://clickserve.dartsearch.net/link/click?lid=43700006138899290&ds_s_kwgid=58700000415488460&&ds_e_adid=23309172907&ds_e_matchtype=search&ds_e_device=c&ds_e_network=g&&ds_url_v=2&ds_dest_url=https://www.trackingc.com?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.example.com%2Fblue%3Fcolor%3Dblue

Confirm URL templates in other types of accounts

In accounts that don't support shared templates, you can confirm that Search Ads 360 applied the URL template by doing any of the following:

• Look for a status message that says Applying URL Builder settings to all landing page URLs. This message displays just above the reporting tables for engine accounts, campaigns, ad groups, and keywords while Search Ads 360 is applying templates to existing landing page URLs.
• View the history of the engine account, campaigns, or lower scope.
• Add the Effective landing page column to a report in the UI.