Google Ads or Search Ads 360? Here’s What You Need to Know

In today’s current climate, it is important for agencies and direct marketers alike to leverage tools that enable efficient campaign management and optimization. Many times, search marketers may ask themselves “Am I getting the most out of my current tech stack?” If your teams are solely leveraging the free version of Google Ads for paid search advertising, the answer to that question could be no. 

To take your search marketing efforts to the next level, utilize Search Ads 360 (SA360), Google’s enterprise-level search engine management platform. At its core, SA360 allows for streamlined workflows and powerful reporting features, which enable buyers to efficiently run campaigns, while automated bidding improves campaign performance. Here are three SA360 core product features that set this platform apart from Google Ads. 

Cross-Engine Functionality

In Google Ads, advertisers are limited to optimizing in only one engine account at a time. SA360, on the other hand, consolidates all major search engines (Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, etc.) under one centralized UI. Furthermore, SA360 allows for paid social integrations as well, specifically for attribution and reporting purposes. Finally, advertisers can make a multitude of changes, across different engines, with just a few clicks of a button.

Automated Bidding

SA360 automated bidding is far more robust than Google Ads. It offers the ability to set minimum or maximum ROAS and CPA constraints within the bid strategy settings to increase bidding efficiencies. Additionally, SA360 can automate location, remarketing and geographic bid adjustments, removing the need for tedious and time-consuming manual maintenance. Lastly, since SA360 is a Google-owned product, it gets access to all of the power of Google Ads smart bidding, known as auction-time bidding. 

Google Ads auction-time bidding strategies analyze different contextual signals (such as device, browser type, location, time of day, remarketing list and more) in real-time to set each keyword bid to display your ads in the best position and maximize performance. By leveraging SA360 automated bidding with Google Ads auction-time bidding, advertisers can create a super-powered bidding solution to fit their exact needs.

Data-Driven Attribution

Data-driven attribution (DDA) analyzes interactions in your campaigns and creates a model for distributing conversion credit based on where an interaction occurs in a conversion path. Then DDA applies the model to the conversions in your advertiser, so you can see a more accurate picture of how clicks on keywords and other biddable items lead to conversions. 

SA360 allows advertisers to create custom data-driven attribution models right in the interface. SA360 DDA models can be built off of not only search engine traffic from Google and Microsoft but also paid social and organic traffic as well. SA360 also allows advertisers to build up to five DDA models at a time. Whereas in Google Ads, only one DDA model can be built, off of just Google Ads data. 

If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of SA360, check out our overview guide and video. Or contact us.