5 Fantastic AdWords Scripts for New Users

Navigating the world of scripts can be intimidating if you’re not a coding whiz, especially in the context of Google Ads. However, there’s no need to hit the panic button. Even if you’re just starting out, there are user-friendly, free AdWords scripts available that any account manager can easily implement without any prior coding knowledge. Just copy, paste, tweak, and you’re good to go! Auditing your Google Ads account is critical to your PPC success. Run our free Google Ads Performance Grader to get a personalized account audit today!

Getting Your AdWords Script Up and Running

Let’s start with the basics: setting up a script in your AdWords account. Head over to the “Bulk Operations” section in your account and click on “Scripts”:

how to set up adwords scripts

Click on “+Script”:

add a new adwords script

Now, you can either paste a pre-written script or, if you’re feeling adventurous, try your hand at writing your own! Give your script a name and authorize it by selecting “Authorize Now.” Remember to always preview the script before setting it loose.

run adwords scripts

Go back to the main Script section and set a schedule for your script:

adwords script scheduling

Once the script has run its course, review the output to ensure everything went smoothly without any hiccups or errors. Finally, save and run the script. Now, let’s dive into the exciting part: scripting! Here are my top five favorite AdWords scripts to streamline your workflow:

AdWords Script #1: Keeping Tabs on Quality Score

quality score scripts

Quality Score is a crucial metric that provides insights into how Google assesses the relevance of your keywords and ads. By making strategic adjustments to your keyword organization, landing page experience, or ad copy, you can boost your Quality Score and potentially lower your cost per click. However, the frustrating part is that Google doesn’t keep a historical record of Quality Score data in accounts. So, if you want to analyze how your Quality Score has evolved over time, there’s no way to retrieve it from the interface. The good news is that you can track it using an AdWords Script, which allows you to store Quality Score data by Account, Campaign, and Ad Group.

  • Grab the latest Quality Score Tracker Script (courtesy of Russell Savage, FreeAdWordsScripts.com)
  • Customize the script components, including the Google Sheet URL where you want the data to be populated
  • After accumulating a few days’ worth of data, create a trend chart to visualize your Quality Score fluctuations
quality score script

AdWords Script #2: Unveiling Auction Insights

google adwords scripts

Keeping a constant eye on your PPC competitors can be a challenging task. One of my favorite scripts, which I recommend to everyone, is the Google Apps script for Auction Insights developed by BrainLabs. Since Auction Insights data isn’t directly accessible in AdWords Scripts, this app script offers a clever workaround. It pulls segmented campaign and Auction Insights data and neatly organizes it into a Google Sheets document, automatically generating graphs that display competitive metrics alongside your CPC trends.

  • Paste the Auction Insights Script into a Google Sheet (courtesy of BrainLabs)
  • Fetch the Campaign Report, segmented by Time
  • Retrieve the Auction Insight Report (for the same Campaigns), segmented by Time (using the same time frame)
  • Input both reports into the corresponding tabs in the Google Sheet
  • Voila! Competitor charts for every Auction Insight metric, along with your CPC trends, are generated automatically
auction insights script

AdWords Script #3: Hitting the Pause Button on Keywords with Zero Impressions

When you’re busy launching campaigns, expanding keyword sets, and fine-tuning bids, it’s inevitable to have keywords that don’t generate any impressions. Instead of letting them clutter your account, you can use this script to periodically remove these inactive keywords. The script can be set to run monthly or quarterly and gives you the option to either pause or completely delete these keywords. This is an excellent starting point, especially if you’re new to script customization. Once you’ve mastered this, you can explore similar scripts that allow you to pause keywords based on other performance indicators, such as low Quality Score or low conversion volume.

adwords scripts for keywords

AdWords Script #4: Hunting Down Broken URLs

adwords scripts

Manually checking URLs for functionality can be tedious. However, in dynamic industries like e-commerce, URLs are frequently updated, potentially leading to broken links or 404 errors. Campaigns using appended third-party tracking can also encounter issues with incorrectly applied parameters, resulting in broken URLs. To stay ahead of the game and prevent unexpected dips in conversion volume, you can utilize an automated AdWords Script. This script checks if the URL links in your ads or keywords are working correctly and applies a “linked_checked” label to the reviewed URLs. Copy and paste the Broken URL/Link Checker Script (created by Google Developers). Customize the script, including specifying the Google Sheet URL where you want the data to be populated. You can schedule the script to run daily or hourly, depending on your needs.

broken url adwords script

AdWords Script #5: Spotting Performance Anomalies

Ever come across unusual data points in your account? Perhaps a keyword that’s performing significantly better or worse than others, or an ad group that’s not living up to expectations? This script can help you quickly identify such outliers across large accounts. While slightly more advanced, this script allows you to pinpoint anomalies in the performance of your keywords, ads, or ad groups. It utilizes statistical calculations to determine the mean and standard deviation of the AdWords entities you’re analyzing and flags anything that deviates significantly from the norm. This way, you can prioritize your optimization efforts and focus on areas that require immediate attention. As you become more comfortable with script editing, you can customize this script to focus on specific key performance indicators (KPIs) like CPA, ROI, or Conversion Rate instead of evaluating all metrics.

These scripts are a great starting point for automating time-consuming aspects of account management. However, it’s important to remember that while AdWords Scripts are powerful tools, they shouldn’t replace human judgment and experience. It’s crucial to actively monitor account changes and performance trends to ensure you’re consistently achieving strong results.

Essential AdWords Script Reminders:

  • Always preview your script before running or scheduling it.
  • Scripts have limitations and can only edit a certain number of entities at a time (250,000). For larger accounts, you might need to run multiple scripts.
  • Scripts have a maximum runtime of 30 minutes. If a script exceeds this limit, it will time out.
  • Given the power and sensitivity of scripts, double-check all functions, numbers, and formulas before launching them.
  • Don’t be afraid to explore, experiment, and learn from the world of scripts. Numerous online communities and forums offer free AdWords scripts that you can try out today!

Looking for More Script Resources? Check These Out:

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