Essential Google Ads Settings: Hidden Options That Impact Results

The Automation Push: Who Benefits Most

Google has deliberately moved toward simplified campaign creation with automatic optimization. This serves two distinct audiences:

Complete Beginners:

• Too many options can lead to costly configuration mistakes
• Automated settings prevent campaign-breaking errors
• Default recommendations typically produce acceptable results

Large Enterprises:

• Scale benefits from standardized approaches
• Customization offers diminishing returns at massive scale
• Consistency across accounts simplifies management

The Gap for Growing Businesses

• You have more knowledge than complete beginners
• You need more control than automation provides
• Standard defaults may not align with your specific business model
• Customization can unlock significant performance improvements

The opportunity: By understanding these hidden settings, you gain competitive advantages that neither beginners nor automation-dependent enterprises can access.

The Default Configuration Problem

When creating Search campaigns, Google automatically enables the Display Network with a "Recommended" label. This actually undermines performance.

What Happens When Display Is Enabled:

• Your text-based Search ads appear on visual Display placements
• Google may auto-generate Display creatives from your account assets
• Performance metrics get muddied between two different channels
• Budget gets split between high-intent Search and low-intent Display

How to Fix:

1. Go to Campaign Settings
2. Find "Networks" section
3. Uncheck "Include Google Display Network"
4. Keep "Include Google Search Partners" checked initially (test later)

Rule: Search and Display should ALWAYS be separate campaigns with separate budgets and strategies.

The Critical Distinction

Setting	What It Means
Presence only	People physically in your targeted location
Presence or interest	People in OR interested in your location

The Problem with "Presence or Interest"

Example: You target London for a local plumbing service.

• Presence or interest: Someone in Paris searching "London plumber" sees your ad
• Presence only: Only people actually in London see your ad

How to Fix:

1. Go to Campaign Settings → Locations
2. Click "Location options"
3. Select "Presence: People in your targeted locations"

Impact: This setting alone can eliminate 20-40% of wasted spend on irrelevant traffic.

Why This Matters

Google optimizes toward PRIMARY conversion actions. Secondary actions are tracked but don't influence bidding.

Common Mistake:

Setting micro-conversions (page views, time on site) as primary alongside real conversions (purchases, leads).

The Fix:

Action Type	Should Be
Purchases, form submissions, phone calls	PRIMARY
Page views, add to cart, time on site	SECONDARY

How to Configure:

1. Go to Tools → Conversions
2. Click each conversion action
3. Set "Primary" for true business outcomes
4. Set "Secondary" for engagement metrics

Ad Rotation Options

Setting	Best For
Optimize	Most campaigns (let Google pick winners)
Rotate indefinitely	Only for specific A/B tests

RSA Asset Management

• Use all 15 headline slots
• Use all 4 description slots
• Review "Asset combinations" monthly
• Replace "Low" performing assets
• Pin only when you have strong data supporting it

Extension Best Practices

• ☐ Sitelinks (4+ recommended)
• ☐ Callouts (highlight benefits)
• ☐ Structured snippets (product types, services)
• ☐ Call extension (if phones answered)
• ☐ Location extension (if local)

Before Every Campaign Launch

• ☐ Display Network DISABLED in Search campaigns
• ☐ Location targeting set to "Presence only"
• ☐ Conversion tracking verified and working
• ☐ Primary conversions correctly categorized
• ☐ Correct bidding strategy for conversion volume
• ☐ All relevant extensions added
• ☐ Ad schedule set (or 24/7 with smart bidding)
• ☐ Language settings match target audience

Monthly Review

• ☐ Search Partners performance (disable if poor)
• ☐ Device performance (adjust bids if needed)
• ☐ Location performance (exclude underperformers)
• ☐ Asset performance (replace "Low" performers)