Similar campaigns in the same account will result in the placement of ads display?

[ambhoya]

Hey guys,

I have heard that if I place two similar campaigns, for example, Spa Company A and Spa Company B in the same account, when I search on Google using a shared keyword such as "spa", I will only find either Spa A or Spa B. Both ads will not display concurrently.

Is this true and what is your take on this?

Another question is that how does Google display ads based on daily budget? For instance, I found a campaign using over 90-95% of its daily budget in the afternoon while it is scheduled to run all day long. I searched for one of the campaigns' keyword, but I could not find it anywhere although there is still money left for the day. Is it because Google is saving the impression for later?

Thanks!

[tasman]

We've seen this behavior with some campaigns on Google. We moved the second campaign to another account and they started showing up as they should.

[AdWordsRep]

I have heard that if I place two similar campaigns, for example, Spa Company A and Spa Company B in the same account, when I search on Google using a shared keyword such as "spa", I will only find either Spa A or Spa B. Both ads will not display concurrently.

Is this true and what is your take on this?

Yes, this is true - and very much by design. The intent is to level the playing field so that one advertiser does not dominate the results.

We've seen this behavior with some campaigns on Google. We moved the second campaign to another account and they started showing up as they should.

Just a quick word of caution. It depends on the exact details of course, but opening two accounts in order to show two ads for the same keyword may well be counter to the Terms and Conditions - to which each advertiser agrees when they begin advertising with AdWords.

So, my advice to anyone contemplating this (and who wants to remain in line with the Terms of advertising on AdWords) would be to consult first with AdWords support - letting them know the exact details of the situation that you feel requires running more than one ad at a time on the same keyword.

AWR

[ISGKelly]

The AWR is absolutely correct.

We've experienced this a few times running ads for companies in the same business segment. Even relegating these campaigns to their own accounts can create one ad to appear over another.

The issue that comes into play is double serving. In order to adhere to AdWords guidelines, you need to make sure that the companies are different, and employ a different domain. If not, AdWords will choose to run one over another each day, depending on the performance of one effort versus the other. Affiliate marketers have known this for years.

If you find yourself in this position again, I encourage you to talk with your AdWords rep to find out the best way to approach this. The last thing you want to do is risk being delisted.

[tasman]

In this particular case we are an agency that places ads on Google and have some 14+ accounts to cover all the campaigns being run. Gives us a little latitude on moving customers from one account to another when they are in a similar industry.

[ISGKelly]

Same here - just be careful because if they're in the same MCC, you can still run into troubles. We've got about 30 accounts, and have encountered this issue twice.