Unlock Exclusive Insights with Our New Ecommerce Report. Download Now
Dynamic Keyword Insertion is a feature found in PPC ad platforms such as Google Ads that allows different keywords to be inserted into ads based on customer search queries. As you will see below, this has the potential to transform your PPC ad campaigns and reach customers more effectively.
Dynamic Keyword Insertion allows for real-time ad customization based on what customers are searching for. The simple process is as follows:
You are essentially giving Google a list of keywords that you want to include in your ad copy. Google then inserts these keywords into your ad headlines if a user searches for them! The results are more targeted and specific ads that contain exact match words customers are searching for.
An example will help! Let’s say you have an Ad Group based on your dog food products including the keywords “organic”, “inexpensive”, and “affordable”. Your Ad headline is currently “Want dog food? Try X” where X is your brand (I literally couldn’t think of a made-up brand!).
You can tailor this ad and make it more specific with the use of dynamic keywords. Using specific code in the headline, you could get dynamically generated ads with the following copy:
These would appear when a customer searches using the term affordable, organic, or inexpensive. This isn’t a great example and the ad copy is terrible, but hopefully, you see the idea and the potential benefit. A company offering PPC campaign management services will be able to help you generate far better copy than this!
Dynamic Keyword Insertion has the chance to greatly improve the efficiency and ROI of your PPC ads and it can be a useful tool when used correctly. Benefits include improved targeting and visibility, and a workload reduction.
The obvious benefit of dynamic keyword insertion is the ability to target specific customers better. You are effectively tailoring your ads to suit exactly what your customers are searching for which theoretically should result in a higher conversion chance.
A fact that is often overlooked with DKI is that Google actually makes keywords that are dynamically inserted bold! This might seem like a small difference, but this visual indicator puts emphasis on the keyword and ultimately makes the ad more visible and attractive.
By utilizing Ad Groups and dynamic keyword insertion you can greatly reduce your workload too. For example, if you didn’t use dynamic keywords with an Ad Group, you would then have to create a separate ad with new copy and headlines for each word within that group.
This is incredibly time-consuming whereas with DKI you can create one ad that automatically changes to include each keyword when it is searched for.
Let’s not pretend that DKI is perfect. It isn’t and it should always be used sparingly and with caution. There are several potential drawbacks you must consider when using DKI including ad wording, and landing page generalization.
Dynamic Keyword Insertion doesn’t take into consideration grammar and correct word usage. It is very literal in the sense that it will place keyword A into your ad when keyword A is searched for.
This can result in some weird-sounding ad headlines – mainly when singular and plural versions of words are used. For example, let’s say you have an Ad Group relating to fabric sofas which includes “Premium fabric sofas”, “premium fabric sofa”, and “luxury fabric sofas” and your headline is “Top Prices on {}” where {} is the dynamic keyword.
Can you see where this is going? What happens if someone searches for “premium fabric sofa” on Google? Google Ads will create the dynamic ad with the headline “Top Prices on Premium Fabric Sofa”. This doesn’t exactly read well, does it? It might still get a click, but poor wording like this can put people off and reduce ad effectiveness.
If you have an Ad Group with 5 keywords that you want to implement with DKI you have two options regarding landing pages. Either you create a separate targeted landing page for each keyword within the Ad Group, or you create a generalized landing page that aims to encompass all the keywords.
Neither options are ideal and this is a drawback of DKI. Creating an individual landing page for each keyword takes a heap of time and effort and it could ultimately mean a poor ROI. The option most businesses go for, therefore, is to create a generalized landing page that aims to capture all the Ad Group keywords.
This can work, but you don’t quite have the same effectiveness as a targeted landing page.
As you can see, dynamic keyword insertion has the power to help you target specific customers and align your ad copy with what people are actually searching for. As with any feature like this such as negative keywords in Google Ads, it should be used sparingly and you should always monitor the results and make adjustments where necessary.
In many areas of digital marketing, we are witnessing a rise in the use of AI and automation. By automating processes that were previously performed manually, we can greatly increase our efficiency, get more done, and ultimately make businesses more profitable.
This trend has spread to PPC marketing and in time, it will transform how businesses create and manage their ad campaigns. In this guide, I take a look at PPC automation, what technologies are currently used, and the benefits it provides.
Currently, many steps in PPC marketing are manual. We have to do a lot of work to manage our campaigns. Using tools like Google Ads is not always a quick process and there are a lot of repetitive tasks.
PPC automation aims to address this and automate manual work so you can use your time more effectively. It also takes out some of the guesswork and room for human error that can persist in PPC marketing.
PPC automation is still a work in progress but it is already being used by several major platforms – mainly Google and Facebook:
Google Ads Performance Max model uses AI technology to largely automate a range of PPC processes including budget optimization, attribution, and bidding.
The ads are generated based on your campaign objectives (or goals) such as generating new leads, increasing website traffic, or increasing sales. With your campaign objectives created, Performance Max then goes and does most of the leg work and creates ads to suit.
You can still make changes where necessary and tweak the ads, but this service greatly improves PPC efficiency and allows you to do more with less time and money.
Facebook has its Advantage+ app campaigns that aim at maximising the performance of your ads with minimum effort. This involves a heap of AI machine learning to give you the best ad copy, headlines, and more.
You can essentially create ad campaigns with less user input but still get fantastic results. For example, there is the possibility to create ads in batches of up to 50 at once which greatly reduces your workload in duplicating ad content. The placement of ads is also automated and optimized using AI so you reach the right people at the right time.
You may be wondering what the point of automation in PPC is so let’s look at the benefits:
At its most basic, PPC automation allows you to get more done and can greatly boost your efficiency. Instead of spending time on tedious manual tasks, you can set up the automation and concentrate on other important things which in turn can lead to more growth opportunities.
Automation also helps control PPC spending and make your campaigns more cost-effective. You or the best PPC agency you use can achieve more in a shorter time and hopefully, the automation should yield better results. This all works towards lowering key spending metrics like CPC.
We know the benefits, and we have seen some real-life examples, but in what other ways does PPC automation work?
Aside from Performance Max, Google also has Dynamic Search Ads which are created automatically relating to your website content. When choosing this type of ad, Google analyses your website and matches the content to relative keywords.
If someone then searches for those relevant keywords, Google creates a dynamic ad to match. To take this one step further, Google Ads also has an AI PPC management tool that gives ad suggestions based on info found on your website.
Platforms like Google Adwords allow businesses to utilize custom scripts to make automatic changes to ads while they are running. The scripts are typically created using JavaScript and they can also help with bidding, ad alerts, and analytical reports.
Obviously, coding knowledge is required here, but if your business has someone with this skill, you can greatly improve the efficiency of your Google Ads campaigns and workflow.
IF functions are incredibly powerful and allow you to make automated changes to your ad copy when specific criteria are met. This type of PPC automation gives you the ability to target specific customers, but also work at different stages of the buying process.
For example, maybe you write an IF function that changes the value of a product discount based on who is viewing the ad. Companies often do this for customers who have abandoned their shopping cart before making a purchase.
The initial discount everyone else sees might be 10%, but the IF function can allow your PPC ad to display an improved discount of 15% for those who have abandoned their shopping cart, in the hope it prompts them to reconsider their purchase.
PPC automation is in its infancy and this is only the start. As ad platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads develop technologies, we can expect a greater deal of automation that should make PPC management easier. Add into the fray third-party tools and apps that also utilize automation, and the PPC processes we do today could look very different in a few years.
As the web and how we access it has changed, so have marketing, SEO, and PPC technologies. While computers and laptops once served as the primary access devices, most product searches and research are now done on smartphones.
This has led to a revolution in PPC marketing – in particular, a swing towards mobile PPC and voice search PPC. Voice search PPC taps into the growing number of people who need quick search results and prefer to use their smartphone microphone as opposed to a keypad.
Businesses must capitalize on this in order to keep up with changing trends and prevent their PPC strategies from becoming obsolete and this is what I discuss below. Read on to find out the importance of voice search for PPC, and essential tips such as the type of search language used, local targeting, and landing page optimization for mobiles.
Let’s start with the obvious – yes, voice search is definitely a thing and it is seeing a large rise in usage on search engines like Google. Did you know, for example, it’s estimated that over 50% of searches are done via voice, whether this is with a smartphone or a smart speaker like Amazon Alexa?
Those numbers cannot be ignored, nor can our ever-increasing reliance on smartphones. It’s the way things are going and simply put, people are becoming more comfortable using voice searches. So, businesses must take this into consideration with their SEO and PPC strategies to stay ahead and this is something an international PPC agency can help with.
Voice search PPC is the practice of tailoring your PPC campaigns on platforms like Google Ads for voice searches. Voice searches are typically questions people will ask using the voice search feature on things like Amazon Alexa, Apple’s Siri, and Google Search.
You can do certain things to make sure that your PPC ads are suitable for these voice searches and cater to their nuances compared to typical typed searches.
The first thing you must understand is that how we type and speak are incredibly different and this must be reflected in your voice search PPC.
For example, someone performing a typed search on Google for a pizza restaurant in Rome near the Colosseum might put “pizza restaurant Rome Colosseum”. We typically miss out the stop words and don’t really use complete sentences.
In contrast, a voice search might be “find me a pizza restaurant in Rome near the colosseum”. The sentences are longer, better formed, and usually contain more info. Things like keywords and ad copy for voice search PPC must be altered to account for this.
Voice searches are typically done in a local context. For example, someone might be parked in their car in a city center and want to quickly find a pizza restaurant – they whip out their smartphone and use Siri to find the nearest place.
This emphasis on local context must be reflected in your PPC ad copy and you can do this by utilizing location-based keywords. You can also mention landmarks that people are likely to associate with a location such as “Where can I find a pizza restaurant near the Colosseum”.
As I mentioned above, voice searches are typically done via smartphones or smart devices which means that your landing pages and web content must be mobile-optimized. It’s no good having an amazing voice search PPC ad that then directs the user to an outdated landing page that only loads properly on desktop browsers!
Ad extensions are additional features that you can include in your PPC ads on Google Adwords that improve their functionality and give specificity. One such extension for voice search PPC is the call extension.
This aims to give instant contact information for your business following a search query. Continuing the pizza example, after asking “Where can I find a pizza restaurant near the Colosseum”, a call extension would then allow your pizza restaurant’s phone number to be immediately given and called instead of getting a message like “Would you like to find their phone number?”.
Building on the initial tip relating to search composition, voice search PPC should concentrate on long-tail keywords and question-oriented keywords. These are far more likely to be used in voice searches as opposed to short-term alternatives which are more important for traditional typed search PPC.
There is more emphasis on customer intent and the buying cycle for voice search PPC compared to traditional PPC.
This is because typically the user is much further along the buying circle, or has a more urgent intent when using voice search.
We often use voice searches when we are in a rush, are doing something else too, or need quick results and understanding this means you can match your ad copy better and get the right tone and delivery.
Voice search PPC is the way forward and if current trends continue, the number of people using this search method will only increase. With these tips, you can start to transform your PPC strategies and make sure that voice search users are adequately accounted for.
The PPC landscape is continually changing and it’s important for companies to keep up to date with current trends and future developments. Currently, one of the biggest tech trends that is sweeping multiple industries is the use of AI and machine learning.
Businesses are realizing the potential power of AI, and platforms like ChatGPT are now widely used. In this article, I take a look at PPC machine learning and how AI could potentially be employed to transform how we approach this type of digital marketing.
Machine learning in PPC is already a thing and I only expect it to increase in usage. This is because a human can never do as much as AI concerning data analysis, handling, and usage. It’s not physically possible! Just imagine how awesome it would be if our brains worked as fast as computers and AI.
Because of this disparity, AI is being used to improve the efficiency of PPC campaigns. We will still do the fine-tuning and most of the detailed work, but PPC machine learning can be used to give us access to more data, quicker, and use it more effectively.
As stated, machine learning in PPC is already implemented in multiple platforms but in the near future, this should only increase. To give you a better understanding, I have listed six ways below that AI could reshape PPC marketing.
Bid optimization is one area in which businesses can fall short as they simply don’t have the time and effort to continually monitor bids and get optimum ad placement. PPC machine learning can change this and allow for a near-continuous analysis of bid data so that ads are always optimally placed, for the lowest possible cost.
This includes real-time bid adaptions to react to changes in competition and marketing conditions that humans simply can’t keep up with. This bid optimization will only make PPC campaigns more successful and deliver a better ROI.
Keywords are of course a cornerstone of PPC advertising and SEO, and AI has the potential to transform how these important words and phrases are found. Currently, there is a greater human element involved in utilizing keyword analysis tools to find the best options for your campaigns.
PPC machine learning can take that analysis one step further and provide businesses with a wealth of data so that keywords can be found quicker, and with better end results. AI algorithms can also be used to find previously untapped long-tail keywords that could yield great results for your niche.
Customer behavior is vital to the success of PPC ads and this is something that a b2b PPC agency can help with. By understanding your customers, you can create relevant ad copy and use keywords that they are more likely to search for.
This targeting and behavioral analysis can be time-consuming and this is an area that PPC machine learning can work wonders. Compared to what the average human can analyze, AI can simply do more.
A wider range of data can be analyzed which ultimately means better targeting and a greater understanding of your customers. For example, AI may be able to provide more information and analysis on specific age groups or demographics of customers.
Fraudulent Ads are something that platforms like Google are working to eradicate and already they utilize AI tech to help with this. Algorithms and advanced machine learning are used to route out invalid clicks and fraudulent activity and this is only beneficial for all businesses as it helps improve the quality of the PPC platforms you use.
We all know the importance of A/B testing in PPC campaigns as it allows you to find which ad copy yields the best results while also targeting niches and utilizing different keywords. AI can greatly increase your A/B testing capabilities and give you so much more in terms of variation that would otherwise take a lot of time and effort by an employee.
AI tools that have writing capabilities like ChatGPT also offer the potential to create better ad copy in a shorter time frame.
PPC reporting and analysis is an imperative part of any PPC campaign as it paves the way for continual improvement. You can find weaknesses in things like your keyword use, ad copy, and bids and make necessary changes.
AI automation and PPC machine learning have the potential to automate this analytical stage and provide improvement suggestions quickly. There are also AI tools that allow for predictive analysis and an element of future-proofing of your PPC campaigns to keep ahead of changing market conditions and new trends.
While AI in some digital industries may seem like a fad and something that will fade, I don’t see this as the case with PPC machine learning. AI in PPC won’t eliminate the need for human input, it will just vastly improve the efficiency of PPC campaigns, and redefine what we originally thought was possible.
To stay ahead with your digital marketing, it’s important your business understands the potential AI has, and how it can boost your PPC ads.
© 2025 — ClickSlice All Rights Reserved.
Company No. 10876199 | VAT No. 278157959
