Google Ads Introduces Channel Prioritization And Budget Allocation via @sejournal, @brookeosmundson
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SEJ ⋅ PPC Google Ads Introduces Channel Prioritization And Budget Allocation Google Ads introduces channel prioritization and budget allocation controls, giving advertisers more flexibility over spending across Search, Performance Max, and other campaigns. SEJ STAFF Brooke Osmundson 14 minutes ago ⋅ 7 min read SEJ STAFF Brooke Osmundson Director of Growth Marketing at Smith Micro Software Bio Follow Google Ads is introducing new controls that let advertisers prioritize channels and limit how much of their campaign budgets can be spent across Google-owned inventory and partner networks. The features, called Channel Prioritization and Budget Allocation, will roll out globally across Search, Shopping, Performance Max, and Demand Gen campaigns over the coming months. Advertisers will be able to designate channels as high or low priority, with the option to cap spending on lower-priority inventory rather than excluding those channels entirely. During a virtual roundtable with Google’s product team, Search Engine Journal received an early demonstration of the features and additional details about how they’ll work, including changes to existing Search campaign settings. Advertisers will be able to label channels as either “High priority” or “Low priority,” depending on where they want their budgets spent first. Google will fund high-priority channels before moving any remaining budget to lower-priority inventory, while still considering Target CPA or Target ROAS goals. For example, an advertiser running a Search campaign could prioritize Google Search and put Search Partners or the Display Network in a lower tier. For Performance Max and Demand Gen, Google will group its owned channels together. That includes Search, YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and Maps, so advertisers won’t be able to prioritize those placements individually. Google’s product team confirmed during the roundtable that every channel will default to “High priority.” Advertisers will have to change those settings themselves if they want certain channels to receive less priority. The budget allocation feature lets advertisers put a percentage limit on how much of their daily budget can go toward lower-priority channels. Say an advertiser wants to test Search Partners but doesn’t want it taking up a large share of their Search budget. They could set it to “Low priority” and limit spending to 20% of their daily budget. Google says it will try to stay within those limits on a best-effort basis, so advertisers shouldn’t assume the percentages are hard caps. During the roundtable, Google confirmed that 0% will also be an option. That means advertisers can prevent spending on a particular channel or channel grouping, including within Performance Max. The budget allocation controls can also be used when campaigns aren’t limited by budget. Google explained that channel prioritization alone generally won’t change much for Target CPA or Target ROAS campaigns that aren’t budget-constrained. The percentage limits give advertisers a way to control spending on certain networks even when there’s enough budget available. For advertisers who have been reluctant to use Search Partners or the Display Network because of traffic quality concerns, this could make testing those networks a little more appealing. Advertisers can set channel priorities at the account level, with separate defaults for each supported campaign type. They can also make changes at the individual campaign level, which will override the account-level settings. The controls will work with shared budgets as well. Google confirmed that API support will be available at launch. The product team also discussed campaign experiments, although it didn’t provide a specific date for when that testing functionality will be available. For Demand Gen, limited feature testing is expected to begin in November. There’s another change advertisers should be aware of, especially those running Search campaigns with the Display Network enabled. During the roundtable, Google’s product team explained that Search campaigns already have some prioritization happening behind the scenes. Currently, Google prioritizes Search inventory over Display when both networks are enabled. That same prioritization doesn’t apply to Search Partners. Starting in February 2027, Google will retire that existing Display spending allocation setup. Since the new controls will default all channels to “High priority,” advertisers who don’t make changes could see their spending shift between networks. Google recommends setting the Display Network to “Low priority” with a 50% budget allocation to maintain the current configuration. The product team also confirmed that advertisers will have a one-click migration option when the new controls launch. Anyone running Search campaigns with Display enabled should review those settings before February, particularly if they want to keep their existing spending preferences. One of the questions raised during the roundtable was why advertisers would need to manually prioritize channels when they’re already using Target CPA or Target ROAS bidding. After all, if conversion tracking is accurate and campaigns are meeting their targets, shouldn’t Google’s bidding system already be deciding where to spend based on performance? Google’s product team acknowledged that AI-driven campaigns have simplified a lot of campaign management. They explained that the goal is to give advertisers more control over their spending while still allowing automation to optimize toward campaign goals.
Source: Search Engine Journal
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