Term
Ad Group
A structural layer in Google Ads between campaign and ad. Bundles keywords, ads, and optionally audiences that belong together thematically and are managed jointly.
Ad group — in more detail
An ad group is the structural layer inside a campaign: at campaign level you set budget, bidding strategy, language, location, and campaign type; at the ad-group level you manage keywords (or audience signals/asset groups depending on type) and the corresponding ads. Best practice is to keep an ad group tightly themed so keywords, ad copy, and landing pages align — this improves Quality Score, particularly ad relevance. In Performance Max campaigns the equivalent is the asset group.
Example / In practice
A “women’s running shoes” Search campaign contains three ad groups: “neutral”, “stability”, “lightweight”. Each holds 5–15 keywords for that shoe type and 1–2 Responsive Search Ads whose headlines explicitly reference the shoe type. Ad relevance stays high and A/B tests per shoe type remain clean.
Distinction from similar terms
A campaign is the parent unit; ad groups structure it thematically. SKAG and STAG are ad-group-level structural patterns. Asset groups are the PMax equivalent — functionally similar but asset-centric rather than keyword-centric.
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STAG (Single Theme Ad Group)
A structural pattern where each ad group covers a tightly scoped theme with several keyword variants. The modern alternative to SKAG — compatible with Smart Bidding.
LexikonGoogle Ads account structure — from campaign down to ad group, set up right
Account segmentation, campaign types, ad groups, SKAG/STAG, match types, negatives and brand/generic/competitor — woven together.
NewsGoogle Ads launches Journey-Aware Bidding and expands Smart Bidding Exploration
Smart Bidding now learns from the full lead-to-sale funnel. Smart Bidding Exploration is rolling out to Performance Max and Shopping.