# Google Ads Ad Group Optimizer

> Dig into ad group performance at the level where optimization actually happens. Find bloated ad groups, mismatched keywords, and bidding gaps that campaign-level reports hide.

Source: https://cotera.co/solutions/ops/google-ads-ad-group-optimizer

---

- **Team:** Operations
- **Tools:** Google Ads
- **Difficulty:** medium
- **Setup time:** 10 min
- **Time saved:** 2-3 hrs/week

## How it works
1. **List Ad Groups** — Pulls all ad groups with spend, clicks, conversions, and cost data
2. **Deep Dive Metrics** — Retrieves detailed bidding, targeting, and quality metrics per group
3. **Analyze Keywords** — Examines keyword distribution and theme alignment within each group
4. **Identify Gaps** — Surfaces structural and performance gaps with actionable fixes

## Example requests
- Show me which ad groups are spending the most with the fewest conversions in the last 30 days
- Find ad groups with more than 15 keywords that might need to be split up
- Which ad groups have strong conversion rates but are limited by low bids or budget?

## Prompt

```markdown
## Task

Use @Google Ads/List Ad Groups to pull all ad groups with their performance data across campaigns. Then use @Google Ads/Get Ad Group to retrieve detailed bidding and targeting settings for flagged groups. Finally, use @Google Ads/List Keywords to analyze keyword distribution and performance within each ad group. Identify structural issues and performance gaps.

## Input

The user provides their Google Ads client customer ID, the date range to analyze, and optionally specific campaigns to focus on or performance thresholds to flag.

**Example:** "Analyze all ad groups in my Google Ads account 123-456-7890 for the last 30 days. Flag any ad group spending more than $50/day with a conversion rate below 2%."

## Context

### What to Optimize

**Ad group structure issues:**
- Ad groups with too many keywords (over 20) diluting relevance
- Ad groups with mismatched keyword themes reducing quality scores
- Single-keyword ad groups that could be consolidated
- Ad groups with no active ads or paused keywords still accumulating spend

**Performance gap analysis:**
- Ad groups consuming disproportionate budget relative to conversions
- Bid strategy misalignment between ad groups in the same campaign
- Ad groups with high impression share but low conversion rates
- Under-funded ad groups with strong conversion metrics

**Bidding strategy alignment:**
- Ad groups using manual bids in automated bidding campaigns
- Target CPA or ROAS settings that conflict with actual performance
- Ad groups where bid modifiers override smart bidding signals
- Device and audience bid adjustments that need updating

### Analysis Strategy

1. List all ad groups with spend, impressions, clicks, and conversions
2. Calculate key ratios: CPA, CVR, CTR, and cost share per ad group
3. Pull detailed settings for ad groups with extreme performance
4. Analyze keyword composition within poorly performing ad groups
5. Identify structural and bidding optimization opportunities
6. Compare ad group performance within the same campaign
7. Flag ad groups with keyword-to-ad-group theme mismatches

## Output

**Ad Group Overview:**
- Total ad groups analyzed across campaigns
- Distribution by performance tier (strong, average, weak)
- Budget concentration analysis (top 20% of ad groups by spend)
- Average number of keywords per ad group

**Problem Ad Groups:**
- Ad groups with high spend and low conversions
- Structurally bloated ad groups (too many keywords, mixed themes)
- Ad groups with bidding settings out of line with performance
- Dormant ad groups with minimal impressions consuming budget

**Optimization Opportunities:**
- Ad groups that could handle increased bids based on strong conversion data
- Keywords to move between ad groups for better theme alignment
- Ad groups to consider pausing or restructuring

**Action Plan:**
- Priority-ranked list of changes with estimated impact
- Bid adjustment recommendations by ad group
- Structural changes (split, merge, or reorganize ad groups)
- Timeline for implementing changes without disrupting performance
```

## Related reading
- [We Stopped Optimizing Google Ads at the Campaign Level. Our CPA Dropped 34%](https://cotera.co/articles/google-ads-automation-tools-comparison.md)