Google Ads bulk uploads capability is a lifesaver for anyone updating their campaigns, keywords, ads, ad groups and product groups regularly. This feature will not only save you time, but has the capability for users to make changes offline and then upload back into your account – hello amazing.
The ability to upload changes to your account via a spreadsheet allows you to be responsive to changes on your account quickly, bulk action on issues or opportunities and most importantly- allow you to analyse your Google Ads account data in an easy format. We are going to guide you through how to download the correct spreadsheet, edit and then upload your data.
What’s the alternative to uploading using an Excel spreadsheet? Doing it manually of course and that’s fun for no one. When creating ads manually, the possibilities of human error are increased.
So, what are the benefits of using an excel template to upload? There are numerous benefits of using Excel for campaign creations such as efficiency, fewer human errors plus:
Once you have an Excel template that you know works for your business, the relevant information can be duplicated, speeding up your entry and upload time.
Don’t worry about losing work on a campaign – when you are using a template, you can keep a backup or master file of your initial settings so you have a base to begin with each time.
In excel you can take advantage of the conditional formatting and filters, allowing you to identify errors like duplicated keywords, misspellings, or terms when testing variations.
Once signed in, select Keywords, Ads, Ad Group, Campaigns, Audiences or Product groups from the left menu. This will be dependent on the type of edits that you would like to make.
Hot tip: Make sure you always keep an original download and the file you are working on. This is in case you ever need to refer to what your prior settings were before you made the upload changes.
Now to format your spreadsheet – the fun part!
Dependent on what information you want to update, you will need to create a new row in your spreadsheet. This simply means adding a row for keyword, ad or any other items. You can then enter the values that you want for each new item such as budget, status or bids. We’ve found a list of corresponding values here.
To remove items such as keywords or ads:
Hot tip: never delete the header row containing the column names. You can leave columns blank under headers if you have no information to add.
To edit keyword spreadsheets, type the keyword you wish to add in the ‘keyword’ column. You can then enter the ad group name in the Ad group column. When uploading keywords, the old keywords are replaced, not edited. If you want to edit a keyword or match type, you will first need to remove the current keyword and create an entirely new keyword with the changes. Similarly, you cannot edit existing ads text. When you upload the spreadsheet, the old ad will be replaced.
Certain columns within your spreadsheet will only be edited when creating a campaign. Your spreadsheet will include these columns. We’ve listed them below:
The keywords that relate to what you entered will display by the most to least relevant alongside three columns:
Bidding and budget
Measurement
If you like to bulk edit ad extensions, you will need to download a new spreadsheet. To do this, sign in to your Google Ads account.
You have the option to leave the description fields blank, however if you do enter description you must fill out both fields. We recommend adding descriptions to make your ad more relevant to prospective customers.
So now that you know how to add your information to ad extensions, how are you able to remove these same extensions?
Simply, enter Remove in the Action column of that ad extension’s row. It’s that easy and will remove the extension from the campaign or ad group.
Now it’s time to edit your bid strategy. You can do this by assigning existing portfolio bid strategies to your campaigns or by editing the standard bid strategies. How to assign a portfolio bid strategy?
Please note- you won’t be able to create a new portfolio bid strategy in the bulk upload spreadsheet.
And what if you want to edit a standard bid strategy? follow these steps.
Finally, editing your audiences. Similarly, to bid strategy, you can’t create new audiences within the bulk edit upload. You can only assign audiences that you have previously created for campaigns or ad groups.
Hot tip: if you have multiple audiences under the same names, you must add an extra column for the Audience ID to be entered.
You can edit your bid adjustment by entering a worth within the “bid adjustment” column. All other edits, like audience name and targeting setting don’t seem to be supported.
If you’re adding an audience for the first time, it’ll use the “smart default” targeting setting. this feature will keep your current audience targeting settings. If you haven’t yet chosen a setting, your targeting will default to the subsequent options supported your campaign type:
Finally, we are able to upload our spreadsheets!
Like everything else Google, there isn’t only one way to do this. You have the choice to upload your spreadsheets from the left menu pages: Keywords, Ads, Campaigns, Ad Groups or product groups pages. To do this sign into your Google Ads account and follow these steps:
The alternative option to upload your spreadsheet is in the Bulk Actions section. To do this sign into your Google Ads account and follow these steps:
And that’s it! You can now view the results of your uploads. Good luck!
