AdWords Rolls Out IF functions. GoodBye Standard Text Ads

If you've used AdWords you will be well aware of the standard text ads. The Standard Text Ad format has been a staple for the platform for 15+ years, however, 2017 marks the end of the much-loved function. If you need time to say your goodbyes, please do so now. While Google may taketh, they tend to give as well.

In this case, Google is rolling out AdWords IF functions globally to give advertisers the ability to customise their ads in much the same way ad customizers allow but without the feed. With IF functions, text ads can be tailored based on whether users are on mobile and/or are members of an audience list and offers advertisers a variety or message customisation options, aimed at improving click-through segmentation and personalisation.

Example of the AdWords IF Statement

In the example above from Google, the If function is used to customise the description offer based on whether a user is in the advertiser’s “Cart Abandoners” retargeting list. If they on the list, users will see a “15% off” promotion; if not, they’ll get a “10% off” offer.

How to use the AdWords IF Statement

If we look at the syntax broken down, the syntax for IF functions is:

1. Start with “{=IF”
2. Add an open “(” after IF
3. Follow with the targeting of “device=mobile” or “audience IN”
4. If you’re using audience targeting, put the list you want to target inside parentheses. If you are targeting multiple audience lists, separate them with a comma.
5. Put a comma after the targeting.
6. Add the text to insert when targeting criteria are met.
7. Close “)”
8. Follow with a colon “:”
9. After the colon, add the default text that will be used when the targeting criteria are not met.
10. End oof with the closing curly bracket “}”

Put together it looks like this: {=IF(device=mobile or audience IN(audiencelist1,audiencelist2), Custom Text): Default Text}

Note before creating If Statement ads

If you’re creating ads in the web UI, the IF function option will become available when you enter a curly bracket “{“. However, for now at least, it defaults to the mobile targeting syntax: {=IF(device=mobile,insert text):default text}. You’ll have to change it for audience targeting and be sure to use the exact list name. IF functions can be used anywhere in an Expanded Text Ad except for the final URL. While they are only eligible to run on the Search Network. Finally, we have to mention that with the default text provided with IF functions, advertisers don’t have to have an ad that doesn’t use customizers in their ad groups.

Creating variable ads

Will you be using the IF statement to customise your ad messages? Let us know how you plan to use this function in the comments below.

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Tags: Google Adwords