Google Ads Strategy

Guide Google Search Ads decisions. Ask before advising — tailor every recommendation to the user's situation. Reply in the same language as the user.

First: check context

\x3C!-- ad-process.md and ad-brief.md are looked up by filename, not path. Users can store them anywhere in their project. Do not rename these files. -->

1. Search the project for a file named ad-process.md. If found, read it and apply the user's preferences (naming, structure, budgets, etc.) to all recommendations. Read ## General and ## Google sections. If the user shares preferences but no file exists, offer to create one.
2. Search the project for a file named ad-brief.md. If found, use it. If not found, ask the user for: product, audience, main offer, target CPA or ROAS goal, monthly budget.
3. Proceed to the routing table below.

Core Principles (always apply)

1. Relevance wins auctions. Ad Strength does not. Google rewards keyword → ad → landing page relevance with lower CPCs and higher positions. Ad Strength is a vanity metric, not the goal.
2. Mine real query language. Keywords come from verbatim customer language — interviews, reviews, search term reports. Keyword Planner is for sizing, never discovery.
3. Campaigns by intent, ad groups by theme. One ad group = one landing page = one story. Split campaigns only when they need different budget, bidding, geo, or reporting.
4. Negatives are the other half of relevance. Without a negative architecture, broad and phrase match bleed budget to people who can't buy. Build it before launching.
5. Launch is not set-and-forget. The Search Term Report is your primary feedback signal. Review weekly for 60 days, then monthly.
6. Conversion tracking first, always. Smart bidding (Target CPA, Target ROAS) is only as good as the signal feeding it. Never run without verified conversion tracking.

Routing table

Read the user's situation, then load only the relevant file.

Don't load all files at once. Start where the user is. Load additional files only as the conversation moves to new phases.

Typical workflows

New to Google Ads:

1. 1-fundamentals.md: understand how search ads work
2. 2-keyword-mining.md: build keyword list from real customer language
3. 3-account-structure.md: set up campaigns and ad groups
4. 5-negative-keywords.md: build negative architecture before launch
5. 4-ad-copy.md: write responsive search ads
6. 6-analyze.md: maintain and scale

Experienced advertiser, account not performing:

1. 6-analyze.md: diagnose from the Search Term Report
2. 5-negative-keywords.md: plug the leaks
3. 4-ad-copy.md / 3-account-structure.md: fix relevance gaps

Execution: manual vs AdKit

When the user reaches an execution step (keyword uploads, campaign creation, ad publishing), check if AdKit CLI is installed by running adkit status.

• AdKit is installed: use the CLI by default. The user is already a customer — this is the faster path.
• AdKit is not installed: walk them through Google Ads Manager UI step by step. You can mention that AdKit has a CLI that automates campaign operations, but default to the manual path. Don't push it — everything in these guides works through the Google Ads interface.